School of Economics - Centre for Policy Evaluation

PhD Studentship

The Centre for Policy Evaluation at the School of Economics invites applications from suitably qualified students to take up a PhD studentship to support PhD thesis research on the comparative performance of ex ante and ex post methods for tax and welfare policy evaluation. The programme of research identifies a range of weaknesses with traditional policy evaluation methods, and explores the following questions and themes:

• How good are ex ante evaluation methods at predicting responses to public policy reform?
• How do alternative evaluation techniques stack up against one another when analysing a known policy intervention?
• Can one combine ex ante and ex post evaluation methods in a way that validates the former, and increases the scope of the latter?
• To what extent can evaluation methods evolve to predict wider economic impact of public policy reform;
• Can evaluation methods be developed in a way that might assist in the optimal design of tax and welfare policies?

This studentship is available from October 2005 for a period of three years. Its value is determined by the standard ESRC stipends. Currently, these amount to £10,500 per annum in maintenance awards, plus full-time tuition fees.

For further details and informal enquiries, please contact Professor Alan Duncan, tel: 0115 846 6107 or Email: Alan.Duncan@Nottingham.ac.uk. Closing date: 1 September 2005.

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