The UCL Department of Economics is one of nine Departments and Institutes within the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. It is the oldest department of economics in England and is research-intensive, currently headed by Professor Fabien Postel-Vinay.

History

In 1824,

Jean-Baptiste Say Jean-Baptiste () is a male French name, originating with Saint John the Baptist, and sometimes shortened to Baptiste. The name may refer to any of the following: Persons * Charles XIV John of Sweden, born Jean-Baptiste Jules Bernadotte, was K ...

expressed his enthusiasm for the creation of a Chair of Political Economy in London in a letter to

Jeremy Bentham Jeremy Bentham (; 4 February Dual dating, 1747/8 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.

5 February 1748 Old Style and New Style dates, N.S. 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

– 6 June 1832) was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer regarded as the founder of mo ...

, reading: ''“

Joseph Hume Joseph Hume Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (22 January 1777 – 20 February 1855) was a Scottish surgeon and Radicals (UK), Radical Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), MP.Ronald K. Huch, Paul R. Ziegler 1985 Joseph Hume, the People's M.P ...

tells me that you are going to establish a Chair of Political Economy in London. Bravo! Teach where the true national interests lie, and those who set personal interests against them will not have it easy". Bentham'' was a significant influence on the creation of UCL, often described as its ‘spiritual father’, and Hume was a member of the college’s original council. The Chair of Political Economy at UCL was created in 1828 in memory of

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist, politician, and member of Parliament. He is recognized as one of the most influential classical economists, alongside figures such as Thomas Malthus, Ada ...

, establishing the first Department of Economics in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The first holder of the Chair was

John Ramsay McCulloch John Ramsay McCulloch (1 March 1789 – 11 November 1864) was a Scottish economist, author and editor, widely regarded as the leader of the Ricardian school of economists after the death of David Ricardo in 1823. He was appointed the first pr ...

William Stanley Jevons William Stanley Jevons (; 1 September 1835 – 13 August 1882) was an English economist and logician. Irving Fisher described Jevons's book ''A General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy'' (1862) as the start of the mathematical method i ...

held a professorship of economics at UCL between 1876 and 1880.

Research

In the 2014

Research Excellence Framework The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is ...

(REF2014), the Department received an overall grade-point average of 3.78 (out of 4) - the highest of any department in Economics and Econometrics, or any field, in the UK. REF2014 also showed that 79% of all indicators of output were rated at the highest 4* level.

Research centres and publications

The department is currently involved with numerous research centres and publications: * Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice (CEMMAP) — directed by

Andrew Chesher Andrew Chesher, FBA (born 1948) is a British economist and the William Stanley Jevons Professor of Economics and Economic Measurement at the Department of Economics, University College London and Director of the ESRC Centre for Microdata Meth ...

* Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP) — directed by

Richard Blundell Sir Richard William Blundell CBE FBA (born 1 May 1952 in Shoreham-by-Sea) is a British economist and econometrician. Blundell is the David Ricardo Professor of Political Economy at the Department of Economics of University College London and ...

*Centre for Finance — directed by Antonio Guarino *

Centre for Macroeconomics The Centre For Macroeconomics (CFM) is a research centre in London dedicated to the investigation and development of new methodologies and research in order to inform economic policy decisions. It also focuses on ways to alleviate the effects of ...

— co-directed by Morten Ravn *Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM) — directed by Christian Dustmann and Ian Preston *Centre for Teaching and Learning in Economics (CTaLE) — directed by Parama Chaudhury, and cofounded by Parama Chaudhury, Cloda Jenkins, and Frank Witte *Microeconomic Insights — Editorial board including Orazio Attanasio and Richard Blundell * CORE (Curriculum Open access Resources in Economics) — cofounded by Wendy Carlin * James M. and Cathleen D. Stone Centre on Wealth Concentration, Inequality and the Economy – directed by Wendy Carlin and

Imran Rasul Imran Rasul (born 29 July 1974) is a British Pakistani economist and academic. He is Professor of Economics at the University College London, managing editor of the Journal of the European Economic Association, and co-director of the Centre for ...

Relationship with the IFS

The Department has forged a close relationship with the nearby

Institute of Fiscal Studies The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) is an independent economic research institute based in London, United Kingdom, which specialises in UK taxation and public policy. It produces both academic and policy-related findings. The institute's ...

, with many Professors holding positions at both institutions, a high degree of research collaboration, and regular talks given by faculty members at each institution. Director of the IFS, Paul Johnson, is currently serving as a visiting professor at the department.

Rankings

In the 2021 ''

Complete University Guide Three national rankings of universities in the United Kingdom are published annually by the ''Complete University Guide'' and ''The Guardian'', as well as a collaborative list by ''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times''. Rankings have also been pro ...

'', the programme is ranked fourth nationally, reentering the top five where it had been consistently from 2008 to 2020. The ''

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a Catholic research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg, Netherlands. Tilburg has a student population of about 19,1 ...

Economics Ranking'' is a worldwide ranking of Economics schools based on research contribution placing UCL third in Europe, and 15th globally. Similarly, the ''

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

'' sees UCL place fourth in Europe, and 16th globally. The 2020 ''

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

'' places UCL fourth in Europe for Economics, and 15th globally. In the 2021 ''

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

by subject'', UCL is ranked fourth in Europe, and 16th globally for Economics & Econometrics.

The Economist’s Society

Th
Economist’s Society
is the Official Departmental Student Society, run by an elected student committee for the undergraduate population of the Economics Department. All undergraduates of the Department are automatically members. The Society puts on numerous academic and social events throughout the academic year, including a Speaker Series, the UCL Economics Conference, the inter-university Economics Debate, and the flagship social event ‘The David Ricardo Ball’. Notably, the Society hosted

Mark Carney Mark Joseph Carney (born March 16, 1965) is a Canadian politician and economist who has served as the 24th and current Prime Minister of Canada, prime minister of Canada since 2025. He has served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, lead ...

as he gave his last public speech as

Governor of the Bank of England The governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the bank, with the incumbent choosing and mentoring a successor. The governor ...

on 5 March 2020 in the Institute of Education’s Logan Hall. Th
Economic Tribune
the quarterly Official UCL Economics Magazine, is published by the Senior Editorial Team of the Society.

Notable current faculty

Notable alumni and former faculty

References

External links

UCL Faculty of Social and Historical SciencesUniversity College London
{{University College London, academics Departments of University College London Economics departments in the United Kingdom University College London 1828 establishments in England 1828 in London