Melvyn Coles

Professor Melvyn Coles is a Professor of Economics at the University of Essex since 1997, specializing in labor and macroeconomic theory. He holds a PhD from Princeton University (1997) and has conducted research on equilibrium trade with frictions, labor markets, and marriage markets. His work explores topics like wage-tenure contracts, unemployment dynamics, and optimal policy design.

Education: B.A. in Mathematics (First Class Honors) from Cambridge University, MSc in Economics and Econometrics (Southampton University), and PhD in Economics (Princeton University).
Research Interests: Labor market frictions, marriage market dynamics, unemployment policy, and equilibrium wage structures.

Publications span over 40 articles in top journals, including Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Political Economy, and Econometrica. His work addresses structural decomposition of wage inequality, optimal unemployment insurance, and business cycle impacts on labor turnover.

He has supervised numerous PhD and Master’s students, including Ashley Nicole Burdett (2024), Federico Sciacca (2018), and Luz Adriana Florez (2014). His research has been funded by grants such as the ESRC-funded project on recession impacts (2011).