About
Economist Timothy Besley investigates how institutions shape economic policy decisions, particularly improving the quality of economic policy-making and reducing instability.
Improving the rule of law and enhancing political accountability is core to this, as is building a role for independent expert bodies. Besley’s research also considers how changing norms and preferences shape policy decisions and affect how an economy evolves. Many of the major changes in the economy in the past 50 years, such as the economic empowerment of women and increasing international co-operation, have required citizens and policy-makers to change their outlook.
Awards
- Foreign Honorary Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2014
- President, European Economic Association, 2010
- Foreign Honorary Member, American Economic Association, 2007
- Yrjo Jahnsson Prize, 2005
- Fellow of the British Academy, 2001
- Fellow of the Econometric Society, 2000
Relevant Publications
Besley, T., and S. Coate. “An Economic Model of Representative Democracy.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 112, no. 1 (1997): 85–114.
Besley, T., and Torsten Persson. Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters. The Yrjö Jahnsson Lectures. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011. (Translated into Chinese, 2015.)
Besley, T., and H. Mueller. “Estimating the Peace Dividend: The Impact of Violence on House Prices in Northern Ireland.” American Economic Review 102, no. 2 (2012): 810–33.
Besley, T., and H. Mueller. “Estimating the Peace Dividend: The Impact of Violence on House Prices in Northern Ireland.” American Economic Review 102, no. 2 (2012): 810–33.
Besley, T. Principled Agents? The Political Economy of Good Government. The Lindahl Lectures. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. (Translated into Chinese, 2009; Hungarian, 2011.)
Mirrlees, J. et al. (final report of the Mirrlees Review). Tax by Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Besley, T., and T. Persson. “The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation and Politics.” American Economic Review 99, no. 4 (2009): 1218–1244.
Besley, T., and M. Ghatak. “Competition and Incentives with Motivated Agents.” American Economic Review 95, no. 3 (2005): 616–36.
Besley, T., and R. Burgess. “The Political Economy of Government Responsiveness: Theory and Evidence from India.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 117, no. 4 (2002): 1415–1452.