Address:
31 Buccleuch Place
Edinburgh EH8 9JT, U.K.
Email: jonathan.thomas AT ed.ac.uk
Edinburgh University, Professor of Economics, 2002-present
University of St Andrews, Professor of Economics, 1999-2002
University of Warwick, Professor of Economics, 1995-1999
University of Warwick, Senior Lecturer in Economics, 1992-1995
University of Warwick, Lecturer in Economics, 1985-1992
University of Bristol, Temporary Lecturer in Economics, 1984-1985
University of Cambridge, Department of Applied Economics, Junior Research Officer, 1982-1983; Research Officer, 1983-1984
Fellow of the Econometric Society, 2007
Fellow of the British Academy, 2002
IFO/Center of Economics Studies, University of Munich, Fellow
Honorary Professor of Economics, University of Warwick 2000-2013
Visiting Professor of Economics, University of St Andrews 2002-2006
Edinburgh University, Visiting Professorial Fellow, 2001-2002
University of Oxford, Nuffield College, Visiting Fellow, 1998
University of Munich, CES, Visiting Fellow, 1997.
Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Visiting Professor, 1993.
University of Bonn, Economics Department, Visiting Academic, 1991
Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research, 1991
University of Konstanz, Visiting Assistant Professor, 1987-1988
Research Interests
Dynamic contracts
Contract theory as applied to labour economics
"The persistent effects of a change in government consumption," Economics Letters, 9 (1982).
"Self-enforcing wage contracts" (with Tim Worrall), Review of Economic Studies, 55 (1988), pp.541-554.
"Asymptotic efficiency in principal-agent models with hidden information" (with Ben Lockwood), Economics Letters, 30 (1989), pp.297-301.
"Income fluctuation and asymmetric information: an example of a repeated principal-agent problem" (with Tim Worrall), Journal of Economic Theory, 51(1990), pp.367-390.
"Sovereign debt: ignorance can be bliss", Journal of Development Economics, 39 (1992), pp.389-396.
"Cartel stability in an exhaustible resource model", Economica, 59 (1992), pp.279-293.
"Multiplier effects in a neoclassical model with a production lag", Metroeconomica, 43 (1992), pp.349-367.
"Non-computable rational expectations equilibria", Mathematical Social Sciences, 25 (1993), pp.133-142.
"Foreign direct investment and the risk of expropriation" (with Tim Worrall), Review of Economic Studies, 61 (1994), pp.81-108.
"Sub-game perfect attainment of minimax punishments in discounted two-person games", Economics Letters, 47 (1995), pp.1-4.
"The confidence heuristic: a game theoretic analysis" (with R. McFadyen), Journal of Economic Psychology, 16 (1995), pp.97-113.
"Probabilistic voting, campaign contributions and efficiency" (with Derek Clark), American Economic Review, 85 (1995), pp.254-259.
"Reputation and commitment in two-person repeated games without discounting" (with Martin Cripps), Econometrica, November 1995, 63 (6), 1401-1419.
"A non-cooperative analysis of Hotelling's location game" (with H. Bester, A. de Palma, W. Leininger and E.L. von Thadden), Games and Economic Behavior, 1996, 12, 165-186.
"Reputation in perturbed repeated games" (with Martin Cripps and Klaus Schmidt), Journal of Economic Theory, May 1996, 69 (2), 387-410.
"Reputation and Perfection in Repeated Common Interest Games" (with M.W.Cripps), Games and Economic Behavior, 1997, 18 (2), 141-158.
"Economic and psychological models of job search behavior of the unemployed"(with R. McFadyen), Human Relations, 50 (1997), 1461-84.
"Pooling sovereignty risks: the case of environmental treaties and international debt" (with E. Mohr), Journal of Development Economics, 1998, 55, 173-190.
"Reputation and experimentation in repeated games with two long-run players" (with Bob Evans), Econometrica, 1997, 65 (5), 1153-1173.
"IMF Conditionality as a Screening Device" (with S. Marchesi), Economic Journal, 1999, 109 (Conference Supplement), 111-125.
"Mutual Insurance, Individual Savings and Limited Commitment" (with Ethan Ligon and Tim Worrall), Review of Economic Dynamics, April 2000, 3 (2), 216-246.
"Cooperation and Punishment" (with Bob Evans), Econometrica, July 2001, 69 (4), 1061-1075.
"An analysis of labour adjustment costs in unionized economies" (with L. Modesto), Labour Economics, 2001, 8, 475-501.
"Informal Insurance Arrangements in Village Economies" (with Ethan Ligon and Tim Worrall), Review of Economic Studies, January 2002, 69, 209-244.
"Gift-giving, Quasi-Credit and Reciprocity" (with Tim Worrall), Rationality and Society, 2002, 14(3), 308-352.
"Gradualism and Irreversibility" (with Ben Lockwood), Review of Economic Studies, 2002, 69(2), 339-356.
"Some Asymptotic Results in Discounted Repeated Games of One-Sided Incomplete Information" (with Martin Cripps), Mathematics of Operations Research, 2003, 28(3), 433-462.
"Bankruptcy Proceedings for Sovereign State Insolvency and their Effect on Capital Flows", International Review of Economics and Finance, Vol. 13, Issue 3 , 2004, Pages 341-361.
"Default Costs, Willingness to Pay, and Sovereign Debt Buybacks," Journal of Restructuring Finance, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2004, 35-47.
"Bankruptcy Proceedings for Sovereign State Insolvency," The World Economy, vol. 27, no. 2, February 2004, pp. 265-279 (15).
"Fair pay and a Wagebill Argument for Wage Rigidity and Excessive Employment Variability", Economic Journal, Vol. 115, October 2005, 833-859.
"Wage Dynamics, Cohort Effects and Limited Commitment Models," (with Pedro Martins and Andy Snell), Journal of the European Economic Association, Vol 3(2-3), April-May 2005, 350-359.
"Unemployment Insurance under Moral Hazard and Limited Commitment: Public versus Private Provision," (with Tim Worrall) Journal of Public Economic Theory, 9 (1), 2007, pp. 151-181.
"Limited Commitment Models of the Labour Market," (with Tim Worrall), Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 54 (5), November 2007, pp. 750-773.
"Labor Contracts, Equal Treatment, and Wage-Unemployment Dynamics" (with Andy Snell), American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 2(3), 2010, 98–127. DOI:10.1257/mac.2.3.98.
“Downward Wage Rigidity in a Model of Equal Treatment Contracting” (with Pedro Martins and Andy Snell), Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Special Issue: Price and Wage Dynamics, Volume 112, Issue 4, December 2010, pages 841–863, DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9442.2010.01628.x
"Measuring What Employers Do about Entry Wages over the Business Cycle: A New Approach” (with Pedro Martins and Gary Solon), American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 4 (4), 36-55, October 2012.
“Optimal Punishment in Contests with Endogenous Entry” (with Zhewei Wang) Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Volume 91, July 2013, Pages 34–50.
“A competitive model of worker replacement and wage rigidity” (with Andy Snell and Zhewei Wang), Economic Inquiry, 53, 1, Jan 2015 pp. 419-430.
“Marginal Subsidies in Tullock Contests” (with Zhewei Wang), Journal of Public Economic Theory, Volume 19, Issue 2, Pages 511–526, April 2017 [DOI: 10.1111/jpet.12203].
“Bias in Returns to Tenure When Firm Wages and Employment Comove: A Quantitative Assessment and Solution” (with Andy Snell, Pedro Martins and Heiko Stüber), Journal of Labor Economics 2018, 36:1, 47-74.
“Stochastic Stability of Monotone Economies in Regenerative Environments” (with Sergey Foss, Vsevolod Shneer and Tim Worrall), Journal of Economic Theory, January, 2018, Volume 173, pages 334-360. [ doi:10.1016/j.jet.2017.11.004 ] .
“Dynamic Relational Contracts under Complete Information” (with Tim Worrall), Journal of Economic Theory, May 2018, Volume 175, pages 624-651. [ doi:10.1016/j.jet.2018.02.004 ]
"Downward real wage rigidity and equal treatment wage contracts: theory and evidence,” (with Andy Snell and Heiko Stueber), Review of Economic Dynamics, October 2018, Volume 30, pages 265-284. [doi:10.1016/j.red.2018.06.001 ]
“Self-enforcing wage contracts redux”, (with Tim Worrall), Nov 2023, Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. 179, 3-4, p. 441-469.
"Worker replacement, equal treatment and wage rigidity" (with Andy Snell, Heiko Stueber), Jan 2024, European Economic Review. Vol. 161. 104622.
“Bias in estimating returns to tenure: The impact of monopsony power” (with Andy Snell & Pedro Martins), Feb 2025, Economics Letters. 247, p. 1-5 5 p., 112105.
"Some micro and macro implications of inventories," in F.H.Hahn (ed.), The Economics of Games, Information and Missing Markets, (1989), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
"Learning and reputation in repeated games of incomplete information" (with Martin Cripps), in Rationality and Learning in Economics, edited A.Kirman and M.Salmon, Oxford: Basil Blackwell (1995), pp.276-307.
"Pareto efficiency", in A. Kuper and J. Kuper (eds.), The Social Science Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition, 1996.
Comment on "A Theory of the Onset of Currency Crises", in The Asian Financial Crisis: Causes, Contagion and Consequences, edited P.R. Agenor, M.Miller, D. Vines, A. Weber, CUP 1999.
"Discussion of Incomplete contracts, the port of Gaza, and the case for economic sovereignty," in The Economics of Palestine: Economic Policy and Institutional Reform for a Viable Palestinian State, edited by David Cobham and Nu’man Kanafani.
Royal Economic Society Council member, 2007-2012.
Member of the British Academy Economics Section Standing Committee, 2008-2013.
2008 Research Assessment Exercise, Economics and Econometrics Sub-Panel Member.
2014 Research Excellence Framework Economics and Econometrics sub-panel member.
2020 Hong Kong RAE, Business & Economics Panel Member
Recent Administration
Research Director, Business School & Economics, and member of management team, 2007-2009
Director, Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics MSc, 2010-2017
Postgraduate Taught Director 2010-2020
Interim Head of School 2021-2022
Teaching Allocation, School of Economics 2022 –
Postgraduate Exam Board Convener, School of Economics Sep 2023-Feb 2025.
Interim Research Director, School of Economics, Semester 1 2024-25
Interim Undergraduate Pre-Honours Exam Board Convener, School of Economics April 2025 - Sep 2025
1994/96 ESRC: "The Role of the IMF in the World Economy", with Prof. M. Miller and Dr. W. Perraudin (Cambridge), £130,010.
1997/98 ESRC: "A Bankruptcy Code for Sovereign Debtors", with Prof. M. Miller and Dr. W. Perraudin (Birkbeck).
2001/2004 ESRC: “Moral hazard and Financial Institutions” with M. Miller (Principal Investigator), L. Zhang and S. Ghosal (R000239216). Graded “outstanding”.
2004/2006 ESRC: “Self-enforcing and Dynamic Relational Contracts” (Principal Investigator) with Tim Worrall. (RES-000-23-0865), £154,974. Graded “outstanding”.
2007/2010 ESRC: “Cohort effects within firms, and their implications for labour market outcomes and the business cycle” (Principal Investigator). (RES-062-23-0546), £342,976.
2015/2020 ESRC: “Labour and Credit Market Foundations of the Macroeconomy” (Co-I); Moore, J (Principal Investigator) (ES/L009633/1) £5,929,511.
2017/19 DG Employment, European Commission - CoBExt – “Economic Analysis of Collective Bargaining Extensions” (Co-I); Pedro Martins QMUL (PI) (VP/2016/004/0093) €405,227
2020/22 DG Employment, European Commission, ‘Employer representation in collective bargaining’, (Co-I) (PI: D. Nicolitsas, €392k)