Professor Alexandros Zangelidis

Biography

I joined Economics at the University of Aberdeen in 2003. My research interests are in the areas of labour economics and health economics. I have worked on issues related to human capital, labour supply, well-being, socio-economic inequality and utilization of healthcare, among others. In pursuing my research agenda, I have also devoted time and effort in securing external funding. To this end, I have led a number of funded projects (Chief Scientist Office, Nuffield Foundation,) and participated in larger EU projects. I have published in various international journals including the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Labour Economics, Industrial Relations, and Social Science and Medicine. My research has been impactful, as evidenced by the invitations I received to give expert testimony to the Scottish Parliament and to the Scottish Government.

More recently I have been instrumental in developing networks among stakeholders (info: video) that has resulted in the setup of the Scottish Eyecare for Everyone (SEE) network – a unique collaboration between practitioners and policy makers aimed at improve eye care with research informed policy (more info here).

Research Overview

My research has primarily focused on empirical issues related to Labour Economics, Health Economics and Political Economy. In particular, the main themes of my research are on: (i) labour supply, where I investigated issues on human capital and the transferability of skills, labour mobility, second job-holding and sickness absence; (ii) economic inequality, where I explored how inequality affects individuals’ behaviour in relation to volunteering, political participation and their well-being; (iii) socio-economic inequalities in healthcare, where I explored disparities in the demand for healthcare.

These themes are highly topical and policy relevant so my publications have attracted press attention, examples include articles in New York Times (2019) (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/10/opinion/pelosi-trump-lobbying-democrats.html) and the Times (2016) (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/why-we-won-t-pull-a-sickie-if-team-suffers-33cswj2n8)  and two recent TV interviews (2019).

The relevance of my research is also reflected in the invitations I received to submit evidence as an expert witness to the Scottish Parliament: (i) the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee (2017) and (ii) the Cross Party Group on Visual Impairment (2018). I also provided expert opinion to the Scottish Government (2018) on eyecare issues