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Duncan Thomas

Norb F. Schaefer Professor of International Studies in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences at Sanford School of Public Policy

Lecturer at Alliance Manchester Business School

Schools

  • Alliance Manchester Business School
  • Sanford School of Public Policy

Expertise

Links

    Biography

    Sanford School of Public Policy

    Thomas'' research interests focus on population health and development. His work delves inside the black box of the family to provide empirical evidence on how resources are allocated within families in very low resource environments and highlights the role of female empowerment in improving the well-being of the next generation. Understanding the mechanisms that explain why healthier people are richer is a theme that runs through much of his research. He implemented a large-scale randomized intervention in Indonesia and established the causal impact of poor nutrition on economic prosperity among adults. Related research examines the impact of unanticipated financial shocks in Indonesia, Russia and the United States on health and well-being. The immediate and longer-term impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on a broad array of indicators of well-being are explored to identify the behaviors and coping mechanisms that are most effective in the aftermath of a devastating disaster.

    Thomas has invested heavily in the design and implementation of large-scale population-based longitudinal surveys that contribute to the information infrastructure for scientific research. This includes co-directing waves of the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) and Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS). His work has emphasized measurement of health using biomarkers, innovative measurement of economic status and preferences and the importance of minimizing attrition in longitudinal surveys. This includes following migrants who were interviewed in Mexico and have subsequently been interviewed in both the U.S. and Mexico to better understand the causes and consequences of international migration.

    Thomas'' research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Hewlett Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and the World Bank. His work has been published in such journals as the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, Economic Journal, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Demography, Population Studies and the American Journal of Public Health. He was elected Vice President of the Population Association of America and has served on its Board of Directors. He is an elected Fellow of the Bureau for Research on the Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) and has served as its President. He directs the Development Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. He has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors at the National Center for Health Statistics and on the Committee on Population at the National Academy of Sciences. He has been a co-editor of the Journal of Development Economics, the Journal of Human Resources and Economic Development and Cultural Change. He is on the editorial board of the American Economic Journal-Applied Economics and the Economics of Human Biology.

    Education

    Ph.D., Princeton University (1986)

    B.S., University of Bristol (1981)

    Alliance Manchester Business School

    Biography

    Duncan joined the 5 RAE research scored and teaching top-scoring 24 QAA Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (PREST) research centre at the University of Manchester in 2002, now the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research within Manchester Business School. He has published in academic journals (e.g. Research Evaluation) and professional journals (e.g. Water & Wastewater Treatment, Utility Week), has led research projects as principal investigator, and has worked in interdisciplinary, international teams.

    He has been funded by a variety of organisations, including: EU FP7 IDEAS Programme (ERC); Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC); Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC); EU FP6; European Commission (EC) JRC-IPTS; EC JRC-EuroFound; PRIME Network of Excellence; ESTO; Defra; Department of Health; Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Dstl/MOD; Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO); British Council; Environment Agency (EA); NWDA; Ofwat; Tekes (Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation); and UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR).

    His professional qualifications and experience includes:

    • MEnt (Tech) - 2006 - University of Salford (with Distinction).
    • PhD - 2002 - ESRC CASE Award with United Utilities; University of Manchester (supervisor Prof. Luke Georghiou).
    • MSc - 1998 - Technical Change and Industrial Strategy; PREST.
    • Research Engineer - 1994-97 - Thorn EMI''s Central Research Laboratories.
    • BSc (Hons) ARCS - 1995 - Physics; Imperial College, London.

     From 2014 Duncan will be trying out a new form of teaching led by Prof. Dale Whittington by launching a MOOC (massive open online course) via Coursera on Water Supply and Sanitation Policy in Developing Countries.

    Further information

    Additional Information

    Duncan currently teaches on water supply and sanitation planning and policy in developing countries (BMAN72192) led by MBS colleague, Dale Whittington (a video summary of the course content is available, as are video highlights of a guest lecture by Tony Allan). For 2014, Dale and Duncan are offering a brand new version of this course via Coursera as a MOOC (massive open online course). This Water Supply and Sanitation in Developing Countries MOOC is free and open to everyone and further details are available here.

    Separately Duncan has also given MBS Executive Education sessions on innovation for major UK water companies in 2009 and 2012. He has also previously designed and delivered an MSc course unit on Sustainable Policies for Science, Technology and Innovation - and has given guest lectures on technology assessment and evaluation from a sustainability perspective, as well as on qualitative research methods (interviews, case studies). Recently he has supervised Masters dissertations and currently supervises two full-time PhD researchers.

    Duncan was formerly a contributing editor for the British Council’s monthly Science Insight bulletin, has undertaken curriculum innovation, has been involved with various committees and interest groups around the University of Manchester, and co-organised the MIoIR seminar series (during 2003-06). He enjoys music performance, recording and production, and photography and film-making (see One Day Films). 

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