Francesco Giavazzi is a Professor in the Department of Economics, Politics and Decision Sciences at Bocconi University, specializing in macroeconomics and political economy with active research output through 2024. His research centers on fiscal policy mechanisms, austerity impacts, and political-economic interactions. Key investigations include how government spending cuts versus tax increases affect economies differently, the role of timing in fiscal adjustments, and empirical analyses of terrorist attacks' influence on voting behavior using Twitter data. His work bridges theoretical economic models with real-world political phenomena. Recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on European fiscal policy challenges, with significant contributions through high-impact journals and books. His collaborative work with Carlo Favero and the late Alberto Alesina forms a distinctive research lineage examining austerity effectiveness across different economic contexts and institutional settings.
Marios Koutsias is a Senior Lecturer at Essex Law School, University of Essex, specializing in EU Commercial Law, Company Law, and Data Protection. He holds an LLB from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an LLM in EU Law from the University of Essex, an MA in Politics and International Relations from King's College London, and a PhD in Law from the University of Essex. Prior to his academic career, he practiced as a lawyer on Greek Law and European Union Law in Thessaloniki and Brussels, and remains a member of the Thessaloniki Bar Association, Greece. His educational background includes: LLB from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece LLM in EU Law from University of Essex MA in Politics and International Relations from King's College, London PhD in Law from University of Essex Dr. Koutsias' research focuses on Company Law, Corporate Governance, Comparative Company Law, European Union Law with a special emphasis on the Internal Market, and Privacy and Data Protection. His work critically examines shareholder primacy versus stakeholder theory, the influence of national cultural identities on corporate governance frameworks, and the evolving landscape of data protection regulations in the digital economy. He has made significant contributions to understanding how Brexit might reshape European corporate governance paradigms and the tensions between commercial interests and privacy rights in global trade. His publication record reveals a strong interdisciplinary approach, connecting theoretical legal concepts with practical commercial applications. The research trends show increasing focus on post-Brexit regulatory alignment, stakeholder governance models, and data protection challenges in international commerce. His most recent 2025 article argues that Brexit should not sever UK-EU privacy regulatory connections to protect both trade interests and human rights. Dr. Koutsias supervises PhD students in Law with expertise in corporate governance frameworks across different jurisdictions. His current supervisees include Tioluwani Comfort Tioluwani and Iman Abdulrahman M Alfaraj, while he has successfully guided seven PhD students to completion since 2016, including Christina Gkampitsaki (awarded January 2024) and Tioluwani Comfort Tioluwani (awarded December 2023). His teaching responsibilities encompass Company Law (LW225), Law of the European Union (LW302), Final Year Research Project (LW304), Introduction to the Law of the European Union (LW430), Industry Placement (LW811), and Data Protection Law in the Digital Age (LW656). He has secured research funding including the 2019 Mondaq KTP 2 grant from Innovate UK. Dr. Koutsias has co-authored three significant books: 'Company Law in the New Europe' and 'The Nature of Corporate Governance: The Significance of National Cultural Identity' (both Edward Elgar Publishers), and 'Company Law' by Palgrave with Professor Janet Dine, which is considered one of the leading textbooks in the field. He also serves as a Specialist Contributor to Gore Brown on EU Company Law publications, demonstrating his recognized expertise in this specialized area.
Frank Cowell is a Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics (LSE), where he serves as a CASE (Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion) and STICERD (Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines) Associate. His academic work spans several decades with publications dating from the early 1990s through to 2018, demonstrating sustained scholarly contribution to the field of economics. Professor Cowell's research primarily focuses on inequality and poverty measurement, income and wealth distribution, taxation, and social mobility. His work combines theoretical economic analysis with empirical applications across different countries and contexts. His research interests include methodological approaches to measuring inequality, particularly addressing challenges related to top incomes and wealth concentration, as well as examining the relationship between social identity and redistributive preferences. His publication record reveals consistent engagement with methodological issues in inequality measurement, with numerous papers addressing statistical robustness, decomposition techniques, and comparisons of income and wealth distributions across countries. His more recent work has increasingly focused on wealth distribution, inheritance, and intergenerational mobility, reflecting evolving scholarly interest in these areas. He has collaborated extensively with researchers across Europe, particularly on cross-national comparative studies using datasets like the Luxembourg Wealth Study. Professor Cowell has made significant contributions to the theoretical foundations of inequality measurement, developing alternative approaches that address limitations in conventional indices. His work on median-normalized inequality measures represents an important methodological innovation aimed at better capturing changes at the top of the income distribution. Throughout his career, Cowell has examined the relationship between economic theory and empirical measurement, often bridging gaps between abstract welfare economics and practical policy applications. His research has implications for tax policy design, social welfare programs, and understanding the dynamics of economic inequality across different populations and time periods. As a CASE and STICERD Associate, Professor Cowell contributes to LSE's research environment focused on social exclusion, inequality, and public policy analysis. His work has been published in numerous discussion papers, journal articles, and book chapters, establishing him as a significant contributor to the field of distributional economics.
Scott Rick is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, holding a PhD in Behavioral Decision Research from Carnegie Mellon University (2007) and a post-doctoral fellowship at Wharton. His research focuses on the emotional drivers and consequences of consumer financial decisions, particularly the behaviors of tightwads and spendthrifts. He aims to understand deviations from economically rational or happiness-maximizing decisions and design interventions to improve consumer well-being. Education: PhD in Behavioral Decision Research, Carnegie Mellon University, 2007 Post-doctoral Fellowship at Wharton School, 2007–2009 Research Interests: Dr. Rick explores how emotions influence financial decisions, including spending habits, debt management, and interpersonal financial dynamics. His work spans consumer psychology, behavioral economics, and policy design. Recent projects investigate couples' financial decision-making and bank account structures' impact on relationships. Publications & Media: Rick has published in top journals like Journal of Consumer Research and Neuron , with media coverage in New York Times , Wall Street Journal , and NPR . His 2024 book Tightwads and Spendthrifts addresses financial challenges in relationships. Recent studies include subjective knowledge differences in couples and the effects of co-branded credit cards. Awards & Impact: Recognized with research and teaching awards at Ross. His work informs policy interventions and marketing strategies to enhance consumer decision-making quality and well-being.
Monica Prasad is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Economic and Political Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. Her research focuses on comparative historical sociology, economic sociology, and political sociology, with a particular emphasis on the historical and political drivers of tax policy and progressive governance. Education: PhD in Sociology from the University of Chicago Research Highlights: Prasad’s work explores how U.S. political economy differs from other advanced industrial nations. Her book Starving the Beast examines the origins of Republican tax-cut policies, arguing that they stem from unique structural conditions in the U.S. political economy. Her earlier work, The Land of Too Much , analyzed similar themes. Her research integrates archival evidence with comparative historical analysis. Awards and Honors: Fulbright Award NSF CAREER Award Russell Sage and Guggenheim Fellowships Multiple book and article awards Grants and Advising: While specific grants or advising details are not elaborated, her career reflects sustained support through major fellowships and grants. No lab or team affiliations are explicitly mentioned in the provided text.
Zakaria BABUTSIDZE is a Professor of Economics at SKEMA Business School in France, where he has been teaching since 2011, progressing from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor and finally to full Professor in 2021. His academic affiliations also include positions at Côte d'Azur University, Sciences Po Paris (where he serves as an Economist at OFCE since 2011), and previous visiting positions at institutions including Griffith University, North Carolina State University, and Maastricht University. His research interests span behavioral and environmental economics, with a particular focus on consumer decision-making in digital contexts, green consumer behavior, social networks, and agent-based modeling of economic phenomena. BABUTSIDZE has made significant contributions to understanding how digital environments shape consumer interactions, environmental attitudes, and trust formation. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward interdisciplinary research combining economics with psychology, computer science, and environmental studies. His work frequently employs experimental methods, both laboratory and field-based, to examine consumer behavior in digital environments, the impact of social networks on market dynamics, and the relationship between media consumption and environmental attitudes. SMBG special prize for innovation 2015 (awarded to MSc Digital Business in capacity of Academic Director) The Best Young Scholar Paper Award 2011 (DIME final conference / DIME network of Excellence) The Outstanding PhD Paper Award 2009 (European Meeting on Applied Evolutionary Economics) As an academic advisor, BABUTSIDZE has supervised multiple doctoral students at SKEMA Business School and Université Côte d'Azur. His research has been supported by numerous grants from Université Côte d'Azur, the Sloan Foundation, and other institutions. He is also actively involved in conference organization and serves as a reviewer for numerous prestigious economics and interdisciplinary journals.
Paulo Jorge Varela Lopes Dias is an Assistant Professor in the Accounting Department at ISCTE Business School, ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute. He also serves as an Associate Researcher at BRU-Iscte - Business Research Unit. His academic career is centered on tax accounting and financial management with strong connections to practical business applications. Education: PhD in Accounting (ISCTE-IUL, 2016) MBA in Management (ISCTE, 2004) Postgraduate Degree in Finance (ISCTE-IUL, 2001) Bachelor's degree in Business Organization and Management (Modern University, 1998) Professor Dias specializes in tax accounting with research focusing on book-tax differences, earnings management, effective tax rates, tax aggressiveness, and tax avoidance. His work examines the relationship between accounting practices and tax regulations, analyzing how companies navigate the differences between financial and tax reporting requirements. He investigates how these differences impact financial statement quality and corporate decision-making processes, particularly in the Portuguese business context. As an academic leader, Professor Dias directs the Master's in Management at ISCTE-IUL and the postgraduate program in Tax Management at INDEG-ISCTE. He coordinates multiple tax-related courses including Taxation, Corporate Taxation, Corporate Tax Management, Principles and Procedures of Tax Litigation, and Taxation of Non-Residents. Advising: Doctoral Theses: 2 total (1 in progress, 1 completed) Master's Dissertations: 73 total (17 in progress, 56 completed) Master's Final Projects: 15 total (1 in progress, 14 completed) His students' research covers diverse tax-related topics including multinational taxation, tax literacy, green taxation, tax avoidance strategies, corporate governance implications, and international tax comparisons. Many theses examine the Portuguese tax environment while others take comparative international approaches.
Saskia Kohlhase is an Associate Professor at the Department of Accounting, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University Rotterdam. She is an affiliated member of ERIM (Erasmus Research Institute of Management) since 2016. Her research focuses on taxation, ESG regulation, and corporate social responsibility reporting, particularly examining cross-border tax strategies, loss-firm tax incentives, and transfer pricing mechanisms. She teaches taxation and financial accounting at both undergraduate and master’s levels, coordinating courses like 'Taxation' and 'Financial and Tax Consulting'. Dr. Kohlhase holds a PhD from Vienna University of Economics and Business (2016), where her thesis earned the prestigious Nürnberger Steuergespräche Award. Her work has been published in top journals such as the Journal of Accounting and Economics and Journal of International Business Studies. She actively serves on editorial boards (e.g., Accounting and Business Research) and reviews for leading journals like The Accounting Review. Her research trends emphasize multinational corporate tax strategies, organizational structure impacts of taxation, and ESG regulatory implications. Articles frequently analyze transfer pricing, tax system comparisons, and loss firm behaviors. Beyond academia, she organizes the Dutch Workshop on Corporate Taxation and collaborates with institutions like Duke University. Her advisory work includes mentoring PhD students like Masoud Mohebbi and contributing to policy discussions through RSM Discovery publications. Key awards include the 2016 Nürnberger Steuergespräche Award for her doctoral research. Her collaborative efforts extend to editorial roles and peer-review activities across multiple journals and networks, reinforcing her influence in global accounting and taxation discourse.
Adam A. Millsap is a Lecturer in the MS in Applied Economics program at Johns Hopkins University, based at the Hopkins Bloomberg Center in Washington, D.C. He also serves as a Senior Fellow at Stand Together Trust, focusing on economic opportunity issues, urban development, and public policy. His educational background includes: Bachelor of Science in Economics from Miami University in Ohio Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Religion from Miami University in Ohio Master's degree in Economics from Clemson University PhD in Economics from Clemson University Millsap's research focuses on the intersection of urban economics and public policy, with particular expertise in housing markets, occupational licensing, economic mobility, and state-level economic development. His work examines how regulatory frameworks impact housing affordability, labor market dynamics, and regional economic growth patterns. He frequently analyzes the relationship between government policies and economic outcomes, with a special emphasis on how regulatory barriers affect workforce participation and geographic mobility. His publication record reveals a consistent focus on policy-relevant economic research, particularly examining how regulatory environments shape economic outcomes. His recent work shows increasing attention to housing policy reforms across states, occupational licensing barriers, and the economic impacts of regulatory differences between states. His research demonstrates how supply-side constraints in housing markets drive affordability challenges and how occupational licensing creates unnecessary barriers to work. Millsap has established himself as a prominent commentator on economic policy, regularly contributing to Forbes and appearing in major national and regional publications including USA Today, U.S. News and World Report, Real Clear Policy, The Hill, Detroit Free Press, Orlando Sentinel, Cincinnati Enquirer, and Orange County Register. His book Dayton: The Rise, Decline, and Transition of an Industrial City provides a detailed economic history of his hometown and examines broader patterns of industrial city development. Throughout his career, Millsap has taught economics at multiple institutions including Johns Hopkins University, Florida State University, Clemson University, and George Mason University, bringing his research expertise into the classroom. His policy-focused scholarship bridges academic research and practical policy applications, making complex economic concepts accessible to broader audiences while maintaining academic rigor.
Landon Palmer is a film and media historian specializing in the intersections of motion pictures, media industries, and popular music. As an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Creative Media at the University of Alabama, he investigates historical power dynamics in media production and the evolution of transmedia stardom. Ph.D. in Communication and Culture (Indiana University-Bloomington, 2017) M.A. in Cinema Studies (New York University, 2009) B.A. in Cinematic Arts (University of Southern California, 2007) His research focuses on media-industry convergence, cinematic representations of difference, and the technological and cultural shifts shaping moving image media. He has published extensively in journals like Journal of Cinema and Media Studies and Screen , with a first book on rock stardom in cinema and a forthcoming book on Motown Productions. Palmer teaches courses spanning film history, media theory, and television criticism, emphasizing humanistic analysis of cultural contexts in media consumption.
Dr. Carlijn Kamphuis is an Associate Professor of Public Health at Utrecht University's Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science within the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Her research focuses on socioeconomic inequalities in health, employing systems thinking to unravel complex interactions between environmental, policy, and individual factors. She leads major projects like Minding the Gap (2023–2028), exploring childhood poverty and mental health, and the VIDI project (2019–2024) on systems approaches to health disparities. Education: PhD in Public Health from Erasmus University Medical Center (2008), awarded the Dutch Public Health Prize. Notable awards include the L'Oréal UNESCO For Women in Science Award (2016) and a VIDI grant (2018). She has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and collaborates closely with policymakers and communities to translate research into actionable policies. Key projects include the IGLO consortium evaluating holistic housing renovations in Utrecht, and the Policy Evaluation Network (PEN) assessing food and activity policies across Europe. She chairs the Program Advisory Committee for her department and advises on initiatives like the One Book One Campus project. Her work emphasizes participatory approaches, including an advisory board of individuals with lived socioeconomic insecurity experiences. Research themes span urban health, policy evaluation, and systems dynamics, with a focus on reducing health inequalities through systemic interventions. Her recent articles analyze mechanisms linking housing, policy, and mental health, while future work continues to explore complex adaptive systems in public health.
Marco Ercolani is an Associate Professor in Econometrics at the Department of Economics , Birmingham Business School , University of Birmingham . His research applies econometric methods to socio-economic issues in health, ageing, education, and labour markets. He teaches courses in quantitative methods, labour economics, and time series regression. Education: B.A. in Economics, University of Sussex M.A. in Econometrics, University of Essex Ph.D. in Economics, University of Essex His research interests focus on applied econometrics , particularly using cross-sectional, panel, and time-series data to test theories against real-world data. Key areas include sickness absence behaviour, seasonal economic cycles, Euro adoption effects on prices, and labour market outcomes across age groups. He emphasizes 'bringing data to theories' and develops custom statistical programming for non-standard analyses. The recent publications reflect a strong trend in interdisciplinary applied research, combining econometrics with public health (antibiotic disposal, antimicrobial resistance), environmental economics (climate change and migration), education policy (subject choice, student performance), and development economics (time poverty in Ghana, intergenerational mobility). His work increasingly involves policy-relevant analysis, including commissioned reports for the UK Department for Transport. Scientific Contributions: Developed statistical software (SAVE9) for Stata. Authored book chapters on China's economic dualism and Euro inflation effects. Published book reviews in The Economic Journal . He supervises PhD students in labour econometrics and collaborates widely across disciplines. His work appears in journals such as Economics of Education Review , Feminist Economics , The Energy Journal , and Higher Education . He is actively engaged in current research and policy analysis, contributing to both academic discourse and practical policy solutions. Laboratory/Research Group: Member of the Econometrics Research Group within the Department of Economics at the University of Birmingham.
Bradley Blayock is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the Price College of Business , University of Oklahoma, where he holds the Rath Chair in Accounting . His research centers on the intersection of corporate taxation and financial reporting, with publications in top-tier journals such as The Accounting Review and Contemporary Accounting Research . Ph.D. in Business Administration (Accounting), University of Washington (2011) Master of Accountancy in Taxation, Brigham Young University (2006) Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Brigham Young University (2006) Research Focus: Corporate tax compliance, earnings management, and the implications of book-tax differences on financial decision-making. His work explores how tax avoidance strategies interact with corporate governance and financial stability. Publications Trends: His recent articles (2015-2017) analyze book-tax conformity, leverage dynamics, and earnings persistence, while earlier works (2012) establish foundational links between tax strategies and financial reporting integrity. Contact: Email bradley.blaylock@ou.edu | Phone (405) 325-5784
Záboj Horák is an Associate Professor at the Department of Legal History, Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague. He specializes in church law, canon law, confessional law, and the legal history of churches with particular focus on Czech lands, Poland, Greece, Byzantium, Russia, the USSR, and countries of Asia and Latin America. His work also encompasses the intersection of law and the Bible, and the historical and contemporary relationship between state and religious institutions. Horák's research interests span across multiple dimensions of religious law. His primary focus is on church law in all its aspects, including canon law, confessional law, and the legal history of churches. He has extensively studied the relationship between state and religious institutions across different historical periods and geographical contexts, with particular attention to Central and Eastern Europe. His work frequently addresses contemporary issues of religious freedom, church-state relations, and the legal status of religious communities in pluralistic societies. Horák approaches these topics from both historical and theoretical perspectives, examining how legal traditions have evolved and how they function in modern legal systems. His recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on church law, canon law, and confessional law across various contexts. There's a strong emphasis on international and comparative perspectives, with publications covering Czech, Polish, German, Nordic, and American religious legal systems. Horák frequently contributes to conference proceedings, particularly the annual Church and State conferences in Brno, and serves as an editor for the Review of Church Law. His work shows a clear progression from historical studies to contemporary legal issues, particularly regarding religious freedom, church-state relations, and the legal status of religious communities in modern societies. Jury Prize for the Explanatory Dictionary of Church Law (2013) Award for the book Religion and Law in the Czech Republic (2016) Award for the book Confessional Law (2017) Award for the book Church Law (2018) Horák has been actively involved in numerous research projects funded by the Czech Science Foundation, Ministry of Education, and Charles University. He has served on various academic councils including the subject council of the Charles University Grant Agency. His international collaborations include membership in the Eurel Network, International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, European Consortium for Church and State Research, and the Ecclesiastical Law Society. He has organized multiple international conferences on church-state relations, particularly the annual Church and State conferences in Brno. Horák is a key figure in the Society for Canon Law, serving as deputy chairman, and contributes to several academic journals including the Review of Church Law as a member of the editorial board. He actively participates in the European Consortium for Church and State Research and serves on the scientific councils of international journals focused on church law. His work bridges academic research with practical applications through his involvement in policy discussions regarding religious freedom and church-state relations in the Czech Republic and internationally.
Dennis De Widt is an Associate Professor (Reader) in Accounting and Finance at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. His research focuses on public sector accounting and taxation with particular emphasis on public audit, tax administration, and local government finances across multiple countries including the UK, Germany, Netherlands, United States, and South Africa. His research interests encompass Intergovernmental and local government finances , Public budgeting and accounting , Public sector auditing , and Tax policy and administration (including transfer pricing). His work takes an interdisciplinary and internationally comparative approach, examining institutional dimensions of public financial management across different governance contexts. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on cooperative tax compliance models, public sector audit innovation, and the institutional pressures affecting tax administration systems. His research spans both traditional public finance topics and emerging areas where technology intersects with public financial management, such as AI applications in customs classification. Visiting Professorship, Université de Poitiers, L'Institut d'administration des entreprises (IAE), spring 2025 Wiley award Top Cited Article in Financial Accountability & Management, 2023 Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) De Widt actively supervises doctoral students and has served as external examiner at institutions including University of Leicester and University of the Witwatersrand. He holds significant grant funding including the Cardiff University-University of Illinois System Grants Programme award (£4,000, 2025) and European Parliament Subcommittee on Tax Matters funding (£12,500, 2022). He contributes to policy through roles as Independent Adviser to the Welsh Government's Local Government Finance Distribution Sub-Group and as Executive Board Member of the British Accounting & Finance Association Special Interest Group for Public Services and Charities. He leads the Public Sector Accounting, Finance and Taxation Research Group (PACCFINTAX) at Cardiff Business School and serves as Associate Research Fellow of the Tax Administration Research Centre at the University of Exeter Business School.
