I am willing to supervise doctoral students in the areas of labour economics, especially on the youth labour market, transition behaviour in the adult labour market and search and matching in the labour market, and in the field of education economics, particularly with respect to secondary school choice and quasi-markets, and the economics of Higher Education. Other topic areas in labour and education would be considered.
My current research is in three areas: (i) a comparative analysis of spatial variations in youth unemployment in Italy, Spain and the UK using LFS data for the period 1993-2010; (ii) an investigation of causal links between test scores, truancy and youth unemployment using multiple versions of the Youth Cohort Surveys; and (iii) the analysis of the effect of HE funding regime changes on student dropout behaviour using HESA data.
Steve Bradley is a Professor of Economics. He was educated at Leeds Metropolitan University and Lancaster University from which he holds masters and doctorate degrees. Prior to his entry to academia, Steve spent ten years working in Local Government as a member of the Education Department of Lancashire County Council.
His research interests fall into two areas – Education Economics and Labour Economics. He has published widely on issues related to the operation and impact of introducing a quasi-market in the secondary education sector, and the econometric analysis of educational policy. Published work in the field of Labour Economics includes the employer selection and recruitment, tests of theories of labour market matching, the effect of employment protection on worker effort.
Recently, he has, in conjunction with colleagues in the Department, completed a Nuffield Foundation-funded project evaluating the impact of the specialist schools policy on educational and labour market outcomes. Professor Bradley's current research interests focus on the determinants of youth unemployment and economic inactivity for Britain, Italy and Spain, the effect of teaching quality on the educational attainment of secondary school pupils and the analysis of transition behaviour in the adult labour market.
In his role as PVC (International) Professor Bradley has responsibility for international teaching and research partnerships, and the recruitment of overseas students to the Lancaster campus.
Education Economics: Economics of secondary schooling, including the investigation of the effects of quasi-market forces in secondary education, and the educational gender gap. Econometric analysis of pupil attainment, truancy and part-time work; ethnic differences in educational attainment. Labour Economics: The analysis of the youth labour market, including the school-to-work transition, the evaluation of training programmes and the history of youth training provision in the UK. The empirical analysis of matching models. Economics of unemployment: Micro-econometric analysis of labour market transitions.
Pro-Vice Chancellor (International), Lancaster University
Undergraduate: Introduction to Economics - special module on Business Economics. Applied Economics. Urban and Regional Economics.
Postgraduate: Economics of Human Resources
