Dr Theodore Koutmeridis is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Warwick, where he was an Onassis Scholar and a Royal Economic Society Junior Fellow. His work on inequality, poverty and crime has earned various prizes, such as the Sir Alec Cairncross Prize in Economics and the 1st Prize in the European Science Days Interdisciplinary Award, and has featured widely, including his TEDx talk on the “Underground Economy”, his “Crime and Prices” video, and his “Democracy Lab” teaching approach. He has received awards for research, teaching, impact and engagement. Among other outputs, his work has been published in the Review of Economic Studies, funded by a £700,000 ESRC–DFID grant, and produced a “REF impact case study” saving around £1 million per year for the NHS. He has contributed to various policy reports and is affiliated with the Institute of Labor Economics, the Advanced Research Centre and Scotland Beyond Net Zero. His work spans disciplinary, methodological and national boundaries, encompassing settings ranging from Indian schools to Polish prisons, research across the USA, the UK, Japan, India and Poland, and academic engagements in Prague, Warsaw and Columbia Universities. He is the recipient of the British Academy Rising Star Award and the RSE Henry Duncan Medal, which, according to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was awarded to him ‘‘for his outstanding work in the field of economics where he combines a clear mastery of the microeconomic methodology, a keen instinct for its empirical applications and a deep commitment to engagement activities.’’
Teaching Economics using the “Democracy Lab” approach – Watch the “video”
Impact Case Study - Increasing financial recoveries for NHS using behavioural economics insights
Research
The Changing Returns to Crime: Do Criminals Respond to Prices?, Review of Economic Studies, 2019, with M. Draca and S. Machin.
Misallocation, Education Expansion and Wage Inequality, submitted.
Shaking Criminal Incentives, submitted, Slides, with Y. Aoki.
Corporate Inequality and Disadvantage in the Workplace, new version soon, with B. Eberth.
Sorting Inequality with Gender-Specific Credit Constraints, new version soon.
Projects
Disadvantage & Participation Accountability Processes: Theory & Evidence from School Development & Management Committees in Karnataka, India, 2018-2023, Co-I, ESRC-DFID, £700,000.
Inequality, Conflict and Violence, research network, 2017-2019, Principal Investigator, funded by the British Academy, £15,000.
Summer Institute series on ‘Community and Change’, annual workshops, 2019-2022. Co-Organiser, funded via Principal’s Fund, £20,000 per year.
The Market for ‘Rough Diamonds’: Information, Finance and Wage Inequality, Doctoral Dissertation, University of Warwick, 2013, funded via Onassis PhD Scholarship, £35,000.
Teaching
Understanding Development: A Multidisciplinary Approach, 0 1 2 3 4 5 6, since 2017.
Behavioural Economics: Theory and Applications, 0 1 2 3 4 5 6, since 2017.
Past Teaching: Labor Economics, Economics of Innovation, Research Methods, Macro, Econometrics.
PhD Methods Training: Identifying Causal Effects, Finding Gaps in the Lit, Advice for Viva.
Media
Teaching Economics using the “Democracy Lab” approach, University of Glasgow post and video.
Do Higher Prices Increase Crime?, University of Glasgow research outreach video.
Interview: RSE Henry Duncan Medal, The Royal Society of Edinburgh, interview on pages 8-9.
The Underground Economy, TEDx talk video.
Brexit and Economics, Interviewed by Dr Emma Carroll, Royal Society of Edinburgh Young Academy.
EPIP Conference Plenary video talk launching Copyright Evidence in the Digital Economy.
Increasing HE participation ‘increases wage inequality’, The Times Higher Education.
Policy
REF Impact Case Study - Increasing financial recoveries for NHS using behavioural economics insights. Joint with Counter Fraud Services, NHS Prevention Team to recover £1-5 million per year. Awards: “NHS Excellence in Innovation Award” and “Glasgow University KE Award in Policy”.
Brexit and the Scottish Economy: Risks, Opportunities and the Revenge of the Disadvantaged. In: Brexit: The Impact on Scotland. Royal Society of Edinburgh, Young Academy of Scotland, 2017.
Consulting Her Majesty’s Government, Intellectual Property Office, UK Government.
Consulting the following RSE Working Groups: “Inequality”; “Brexit & the Economy”; ”Financial Support for Students”; “Brexit & International Students” and “Brexit, Migration & Salary Threshold”; “COVID-19, Inequalities and Human Rights” & “RSE response to the call for evidence by Scottish Government Just Transition Commission”.
Events
Selected Workshops Organised: LSE Crime Workshop, LSE Youngsters in Crime Workshop, BSI events.
Selected Talks: TEDx on The Underground Economy; Crime Lab New York; Public Lecture on Shifting Paradigms; Public Lecture on the Economics of Crime.
PhD Supervision
Praveen, Anandu (PhD in Economics, 2025-2029), “Socio-economic Impact of Return Migration: A Study of Kerala with Special Reference to the COVID-19 Pandemic”.
Selassi Spence (PhD in Economics, 2024-2028, fully funded with a James McCune Smith PhD Scholarship), “Essays in Applied Economics”.
Anh Ngo (PhD in Economics, 2020-2025), “Essays on Poverty Traps”.
Tao Xinyu (PhD in Economics, 2020-2025), “Causal Inference in Policy Evaluation: Methods and Applications”.
Kaizhao Guo (PhD in Economics, 2019-2024, completed), “Automation Technologies and Labour Market Outcomes”, Adam Smith Business School Excellence in Research Award.
Daniel Siwecki (PhD in Economics, 2019-2023, fully funded with a College of Social Sciences PhD Scholarship - completed), “Essays on Universal Basic Income”.
Erika Leigh Anderson (PhD in Economic and Social History, 2018-2022 - completed), “Essays on Corporate Social Responsibility”.
Jinglin Wen, (PhD in Economics, 2018-2022, fully funded with a PhD Scholarship - completed), “Essays on Gender and Criminal Justice”, Adam Smith Business School Excellence in Research Award.
Prateek Chandra Bhan (PhD in Economics, 2017-2021, College of Social Sciences PhD Scholarship - completed), “Essays in the Economics of Hope”, Adam Smith Excellence in Research Award.
Jaakko Miettinen (PhD in Economics, 2014-2018, fully funded with a CREATe Microeconomics Scholarship - completed), “Essays on the Economics of Copyright”.
Contact
Office: 534. Address: Adam Smith Business School, 2 Discovery Pl, Glasgow G11 6EY.
Office Hours: Wednesdays 16:30-18:30. Please sign up here, or email me for an appointment.