Welcome to TAM

The Research Cluster in Theoretical and Applied Microeconomics produces cutting-edge research in the core areas of Microeconomics. It continues a long tradition in the economics department of research based on advanced quantitative methods, such as game theory and microeconometric theory.

The breadth of the research conducted in TAM contributes to a variety of interconnected fields. Recent research in Behavioural and Experimental Economics focusses on equilibrium concepts in games, heuristics in decision making, quantum decision theory, identity and redistribution, public goods games, expertise and advice, as well as social norms and similarity judgements.

Researchers in Labour, Education and Health Economics have contributed to our understanding of issues such as job search and wage growth, migration and unemployment, geographic mobility in academia, effort and educational attainment, school choice and segregation, higher education admission standards, fertility and human capital, as well as physician remuneration.

Recent work in Public Economics and Political Economy has focussed on clubs goods, weak states and the mafia, socialism and the rise of fascism, accountability and electoral competition, polls and election outcomes, as well as disclosure rules and transparency.

Another line of research in Industrial Organisation and Economic Theory investigates issues related to oligopoly and collusion, competition policy and competition law enforcement, contract and contest theory, strategic experimentation and patents, mergers and innovation, pricing strategies and competition, as well as auction and mechanism design.

Researchers working on Information and Financial Economics as well as Corporate Finance have investigated bank lending, the connection between information and risk sharing, network models of contagions, politically motivated interventions in financial markets, as well as board independence and corruption.

TAM is also home to a group of researchers interested in Socio-Economic Networks studying phenomena such as polarization, cultural transmission, segregation, and homophily as well as social distancing in a pandemic.

The TAM cluster also hosts the Leicester Social Sciences Laboratory LEXECON where our researchers use experimental methods to conduct their research.

In addition, TAM hosts a lively seminar series in which it welcomes external researchers to present their latest research. The newest TAM papers can be viewed in the discussion paper series.