Research
Research interests:
Agricultural economics, applied econometrics, applied game theory, British and Irish history (17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries), business history, cliometrics, demography, economics of education and education history, economic geography, economic growth and development theory, economic history, environmental economics, European history (18th, 19th and 20th centuries), financial history, institutional economics, international history, penal history, social history and regulatory economics.
Agricultural economics, applied econometrics, applied game theory, British and Irish history (17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries), business history, cliometrics, demography, economics of education and education history, economic geography, economic growth and development theory, economic history, environmental economics, European history (18th, 19th and 20th centuries), financial history, institutional economics, international history, penal history, social history and regulatory economics.
'Genuine Savings as a measure of Sustainable Development: Towards a GDP replacement'
Investigators: Cristian Ducoing, Eoin McLaughlin, and Les Oxley
Funded by: Riksbankens Jubilesfond
This projects aims to trace levels of sustainability from the mid 19th century to today using the Genuine Savings metric (henceforth, GS) . GS is an indicator propagated by the World Bank and frequently used in economics research; it measures progress and development and has proven to be an relevant indicator of sustainable development. GS is based on the concept of wealth accounting, and addresses shortcomings in conventional metrics of economic development by incorporating broader measures of saving and investment, including human capital (education), and natural resources by accounting for social costs of pollution and natural resource depletion. Its value as an indicator is determined the possibility to predict future standard of living on basis of genuine investments of the past. A central shortcoming of GS data provided by the World Bank is its limited historical coverage; conventional GS data usually covers the period after 1970s. This limits the empirical studies linking past genuine investment and the future development of the standard of living. Our project addresses this gap by providing consistent historical estimates of GS since 1850 the necessary figures for economists, policy makers and general public to assess the role of sustainable development in a more holistic fashion. Several Sustainable Development Goals are enhanced when GS are used, such as "Affordable and Clean Energy", "Decent Work and Economic Growth" and "Climate action".
Project Website
Investigators: Cristian Ducoing, Eoin McLaughlin, and Les Oxley
Funded by: Riksbankens Jubilesfond
This projects aims to trace levels of sustainability from the mid 19th century to today using the Genuine Savings metric (henceforth, GS) . GS is an indicator propagated by the World Bank and frequently used in economics research; it measures progress and development and has proven to be an relevant indicator of sustainable development. GS is based on the concept of wealth accounting, and addresses shortcomings in conventional metrics of economic development by incorporating broader measures of saving and investment, including human capital (education), and natural resources by accounting for social costs of pollution and natural resource depletion. Its value as an indicator is determined the possibility to predict future standard of living on basis of genuine investments of the past. A central shortcoming of GS data provided by the World Bank is its limited historical coverage; conventional GS data usually covers the period after 1970s. This limits the empirical studies linking past genuine investment and the future development of the standard of living. Our project addresses this gap by providing consistent historical estimates of GS since 1850 the necessary figures for economists, policy makers and general public to assess the role of sustainable development in a more holistic fashion. Several Sustainable Development Goals are enhanced when GS are used, such as "Affordable and Clean Energy", "Decent Work and Economic Growth" and "Climate action".
Project Website
External Shocks and Fiscal Sustainability
Investigator: Sean Kenny
Collaborators: Eoin McLaughlin & Rebecca Stuart
Funded by: SFI-IRC Pathway Programme
Ireland’s present economic position is unique, resulting from a dual Covid-19/Brexit shock. This project studies the last comparably turbulent period in Irish economic history, when a sequence of external economic shocks hit the economy over the years 1938-58 (WWII, the sterling devaluation in 1949 and the crisis of 1955). In essence, ESFS will attempt to quantify the relationship between uncertainty shocks and their relationship with the cost of government borrowing, via their transmission through the real economy and government debt markets. The project will produce a new database containing original series for uncertainty and bond yields at daily frequency. These series are tested for their sensitivity to external shocks. Regarding yields, such sensitivity may represent the vulnerability/strength of government financing capabilities during previous emergency episodes. Uniquely, this project will model the effects of uncertainty not only upon the economy, but also upon the cost and sustainability of government financing. ESFS will contribute to contemporary policy debates by providing authorities with key economic insights drawn from testing the most recent period of comparable turbulence. This historical approach has the advantage of allowing us to observe how the government’s ability to finance activity before, during and after previous external emergencies was affected.
Investigator: Sean Kenny
Collaborators: Eoin McLaughlin & Rebecca Stuart
Funded by: SFI-IRC Pathway Programme
Ireland’s present economic position is unique, resulting from a dual Covid-19/Brexit shock. This project studies the last comparably turbulent period in Irish economic history, when a sequence of external economic shocks hit the economy over the years 1938-58 (WWII, the sterling devaluation in 1949 and the crisis of 1955). In essence, ESFS will attempt to quantify the relationship between uncertainty shocks and their relationship with the cost of government borrowing, via their transmission through the real economy and government debt markets. The project will produce a new database containing original series for uncertainty and bond yields at daily frequency. These series are tested for their sensitivity to external shocks. Regarding yields, such sensitivity may represent the vulnerability/strength of government financing capabilities during previous emergency episodes. Uniquely, this project will model the effects of uncertainty not only upon the economy, but also upon the cost and sustainability of government financing. ESFS will contribute to contemporary policy debates by providing authorities with key economic insights drawn from testing the most recent period of comparable turbulence. This historical approach has the advantage of allowing us to observe how the government’s ability to finance activity before, during and after previous external emergencies was affected.
'Re-writing the rulebook of landownership: analysing and assessing the economics of community landownership'
Investigators: Annie Tindley and Eoin McLaughlin
Funded by: Scottish Universities Insight Institute
This project is developing understanding of the economic structures and outcomes of community ownership, an innovative form in the European and developed world context. Scottish land reform, which promotes community ownership as a socially just and equitable model, is an urgent political issue and will remain so for some years. This is because the Scottish Government expects that land reform will generate a range of outcomes beyond those directly related to land – re-population, employment, environment, sustainable development, entrepreneurial behaviors, housing and health. These priorities must also be balanced with constraints on the public purse, and robust discussion around the economics of community landownership, particularly in relation to the economic viability of upland land in Scotland, is urgently required.
See project website
'A messy divorce? Irish debt and default, 1891-1938'
Investigator: Eoin McLaughlin
Funded by: Leverhulme Trust
Abstract: The Irish land question and land ownership were central components of Irish nationalism in the nineteenth century. UK government backed land purchase schemes had long-term financial implications that became central issues when Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom. This project is a quantitative study of bonds guaranteed by the UK government to finance the transfer of land ownership from landlords to tenants in Ireland (North & South). These bonds were traded over a turbulent period of time and they can help to answer how markets responded to Irish partition, Independence, Civil War and 'default'.
Media Coverage: The project has been referred to in The Economist see here and the Financial Times, see here
Blog coverage: Posts on Finance long run, Positive Check and NEP-HIS
What can prison inmates tell us about Ireland in the nineteenth century?
Investigators: Matthias Blum, Chris Colvin, Laura McAtackney, Eoin McLaughlin
Funded by: Arthur H. Cole Grant-in-Aid of Research, Economic History Association; CHSS Challenge Investment Fund, University of Edinburgh
The analysis of anthropometric data on Irish prison inmates allows us to quantify the effects of nineteenth century penal reforms.
Project website
Investigators: Matthias Blum, Chris Colvin, Laura McAtackney, Eoin McLaughlin
Funded by: Arthur H. Cole Grant-in-Aid of Research, Economic History Association; CHSS Challenge Investment Fund, University of Edinburgh
The analysis of anthropometric data on Irish prison inmates allows us to quantify the effects of nineteenth century penal reforms.
Project website
History and the future: predictive power of sustainable development indicators
Investigators: David Greasley, Nick Hanley, Les Oxley and Paul Warde
Researchers: Eoin McLaughlin and Jan Kunnas
Funded by: Leverhulme Trust
Since the Rio summit of 1992 governments have sought indicators of future human well-being which are comprehensive, simple to use, but have predictive power. Economists have developed theories and indicators of sustainable development which link human well-being, the capital stock broadly defined and resource depletion. The most commonly cited of the indicators is Genuine Savings (GS). GS measures the net depletion or accumulation of all capital stocks in a given time period, where “capital” includes produced, natural, human and social capital. The key idea is that different forms of capital, produced, natural and human may be substituted to sustain development. We see the historical perspective as being a valuable way in which to investigate the predictive ability indicators of sustainability. GS has been adopted by the World Bank as a useful indicator of the sustainability of economic development for countries world –wide, however very little is known about the predictive power of GS. The central proposition of the project is that historical data provides a plausible but neglected route for testing the predictive power of GS. The project focuses on Britain’s experience of sustainable development since 1750, and also looks at sustainability in the Netherlands, Sweden, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
Investigators: David Greasley, Nick Hanley, Les Oxley and Paul Warde
Researchers: Eoin McLaughlin and Jan Kunnas
Funded by: Leverhulme Trust
Since the Rio summit of 1992 governments have sought indicators of future human well-being which are comprehensive, simple to use, but have predictive power. Economists have developed theories and indicators of sustainable development which link human well-being, the capital stock broadly defined and resource depletion. The most commonly cited of the indicators is Genuine Savings (GS). GS measures the net depletion or accumulation of all capital stocks in a given time period, where “capital” includes produced, natural, human and social capital. The key idea is that different forms of capital, produced, natural and human may be substituted to sustain development. We see the historical perspective as being a valuable way in which to investigate the predictive ability indicators of sustainability. GS has been adopted by the World Bank as a useful indicator of the sustainability of economic development for countries world –wide, however very little is known about the predictive power of GS. The central proposition of the project is that historical data provides a plausible but neglected route for testing the predictive power of GS. The project focuses on Britain’s experience of sustainable development since 1750, and also looks at sustainability in the Netherlands, Sweden, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand.
PhD thesis:
Eoin McLaughlin (2009). Microfinance institutions in nineteenth century Ireland, 2 volumes. Department of History, National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Available online
Summary:
My PhD research is an analysis of the history and development of microfinance institutions in nineteenth century Ireland. My research focused on the legislative environment facing microfinance institutions in nineteenth century Ireland, the role of institutional imitation, and analysing the contradiction between economic and social goals. My research also focused on the role of government intervention in the Irish economy through large scale long term lending programmes and analysing the influence of emigration and remittances on the microfinance sector.
Eoin McLaughlin (2009). Microfinance institutions in nineteenth century Ireland, 2 volumes. Department of History, National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Available online
Summary:
My PhD research is an analysis of the history and development of microfinance institutions in nineteenth century Ireland. My research focused on the legislative environment facing microfinance institutions in nineteenth century Ireland, the role of institutional imitation, and analysing the contradiction between economic and social goals. My research also focused on the role of government intervention in the Irish economy through large scale long term lending programmes and analysing the influence of emigration and remittances on the microfinance sector.