Economics
The Department of Economics at Queen's Business School brings together expertise on fields including the economics of networks and institutions, cooperative and non-cooperative game theory, labour economics and social policy, development and population economics, and economic and business history.
We pride ourselves in delivering research-led teaching to both undergraduates and postgraduates, and our academic staff regularly consult with think tanks and policymaking institutions in the UK and Ireland.

Economics at Queen's
The Department of Economics at Queen’s Business School consists of over 20 full-time academic staff members, conducting researching across the discipline of economics and allied social sciences.
Latest Publications
A hybrid Fermatean Fuzzy approach based on a novel score function for solid waste management
- Palash Dutta
- Alakananda Konwar
- Rajnish Kumar
- Niladri Palit
Why are corporations terminated? A century of evidence from the Netherlands
- Chris Colvin
- Abe de Jong
- Philip Fliers
- Florian Madertoner
Patently peculiar: patents and innovation in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Homer Wagenaar
- Chris Colvin
Scarring and selection in the Great Irish Famine
- Matthias Blum
- Chris Colvin
- Eoin McLaughlin
NI Productivity 2040: Addressing Northern Ireland’s productivity gap for greater prosperity
19 March 2025
Economics Research Project Spotlight
The equality and efficiency of school choice allocation
In Northern Ireland, parents of children in their final year of primary school rank available secondary schools. Parental preferences are collected and pupils are allocated to schools by an algorithm. Recently, the number of dissatisfied parents has majorly increased. Dr Josue Ortega is undertaking a ground-breaking research project for Northern Ireland, creating a new fairer and more efficient algorithm.
New Algorithm set to Improve Allocation of Pupils to Schools in Northern IrelandMeasuring the legacy of the Ireland’s Great Famine
Dr Chris Colvin studies the health impact of the Great Irish Famine by comparing cohorts born during the Famine with those born immediately before and immediately after. The research, published in the journal Economic History Review, makes use of data on human stature collected from prison registers. Read more about policy lessons from the Famine in the Economics Observatory by Dr Chris Colvin, Dr Alan Fernihough, and recent economics PhD graduate Dr Áine Doran. Click button below.
Economics Observatory