Sir Stephen John Nickell, (born 25 April 1944) is a British economist and former warden of

Nuffield College, Oxford Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

, noted for his work in labour economics with

Richard Layard Peter Richard Grenville Layard, Baron Layard FBA (born 15 March 1934) is a British labour economist, currently working as programme director of the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. Layard was Senior Research ...

and Richard Jackman. Nickell and Layard hypothesised the tendency for reduced

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...

to lead to

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

resulted from its effect on competitive bargaining in the labour market He is currently a member of the

Office for Budget Responsibility The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally ...

's Budget Responsibility Committee.

Education

Nickell was educated at

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Small things grow in harmony , established = , closed = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = , type = Independent school (UK), Independent day school , religion ...

and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

where he was a student of Pembroke College, Cambridge and studied the

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. From 1965 until 1968 he was a mathematics teacher at Hendon County School. He was a postgraduate student at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

, where he was awarded a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast ...

degree and was awarded the

Ely Devons Ely Devons (29 July 1913 – 28 December 1967), an economist and statistician, was born in Bangor, Gwynedd North Wales, lived most of his life in Manchester and died after a long illness at St Thomas Hospital in London. He was survived by his wi ...

Prize.

Career and research

Nickell worked at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

from 1970 until 1984, and again from 1998 until 2006, initially as Lecturer (1970–77), Reader (1977–79), and Professor of Economics (1979–84). From 1984 until 1998 he was Professorial

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

, Professor of Economics in the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, and Director of the

Institute of Economics and Statistics. From 1998 until 2006 he returned to the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

as School Professor of Economics. He was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) from June 2000 to May 2006, when he was replaced by

David Blanchflower David Graham Blanchflower, (born 2 March 1952), sometimes called Danny Blanchflower, is a British-American labour economist and academic. He is currently a tenured economics professor at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. He is also a ...

effective in the June 2006 meeting. In his final six meetings on the MPC, Nickell was the only member in favour of a decrease in the repo rate by 25 basis points; all the other members voted to maintain the repo rate at 4.5% with the exception of David Walton who supported an increase by 25 basis points in Nickell's final meeting. In 2004 he became a Research Fellow of the

Institute for the Study of Labor The IZA - Institute of Labor Economics (german: Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit), until 2016 referred to as the Institute of the Study of Labor (IZA), is a private, independent economic research institute and academic network focused o ...

. According to the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

Keynes Lecture, delivered in September 2005, he argued "In what follows we shall, among other things, argue that there has not been a spending boom, the non-spending boom was not credit-fuelled and there has probably not been a house price bubble." He was warden of

, from 2006 to 2012, and was the first chair of the

National Housing and Planning Advice Unit The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU) was a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation (officially termed a non-departmental public body) set up by the Government of the United Kingdom in 2006 and formally launched in June 20 ...

from June 2007 until November 2009. In June 2007, when interviewed on the state of the UK housing market he was quoted as saying, "It might settle back a little, or remain relatively flat for a bit, but I don't think there's any fundamental overvaluation. Over the next few years it might keep on edging upwards." In a February 2008

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

interview, he said: 'The actual size of the downturn is minute, how big is it going to be? I don't know, but it won't be very big.' The Bank of England estimated that by Q1 2009, due to declining house prices, 7% of owner-occupied mortgagors were in negative equity, equivalent to around 700,000 households. His former doctoral students include

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, Jan Hatzius, and

Gina Raimondo Gina Marie Raimondo (; born May 17, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and venture capitalist who has served as the 40th United States Secretary of Commerce since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the 75th g ...

Awards and honours

Nickell was appointed

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2007 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2007 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to economics and was knighted in the

2015 Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

. He was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in the United Kingdom # C ...

(FBA) in 1993, a

Fellow of the Econometric Society In the scientific discipline of economics, the Econometric Society is a learned society devoted to the advancement of economics by using mathematical and statistical methods. This article is a list of its (current and in memory) fellows. Fellows ...

(1980, a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Economic Association (1997), and a Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

(2006). He is a past President of the

Royal Economic Society The Royal Economic Society (RES) is a professional association that promotes the study of economic science in academia, government service, banking, industry, and public affairs. Originally established in 1890 as the British Economic Association, ...

. In July 2008 he was awarded an honorary

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

degree by the

University of Warwick , mottoeng = Mind moves matter , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £7.0 million (2021) , budget = £698.2 million (202 ...

Publications

A list of publications from 1999 until 2004 is available on the lse website In addition to the publications mentioned above, Nickell's publications from 2009-2010 can be found on the Nuffield College website. They include
The British Housing Market: What has been happening?
from July 2009,
The Impact of Immigration on Occupational Wages: Evidence from Britain
which was a joint paper written with Jumana Saleheen from October 2009, and
Does Relative Income Matter? Are the Critics Right?
which was a joint paper written with Richard Layard and Guy Mayrez from March 2009.

References

External links

Institute for the Study of Labor

Stephen John Nickell FBA, CV complete up to 2006 (11 pages)

HM Treasury
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nickell, Stephen Labor economists British economists Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Econometric Society Schoolteachers from London Statutory Professors of the University of Oxford People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of the London School of Economics Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor 1944 births Living people Wardens of Nuffield College, Oxford Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences