I take a direct interest in public policy issues both for their own sake and in connection to my interests in economics, its application and limitations. Work in this area also partly leverages my (short but intense) experience in the South African public sector. A fair amount of my teaching has also been in related areas: I previously convened and taught on the third year undergraduate course in public economics at the University of Cape Town and from 2016 to 2021 designed, convened and taught courses on industrial policy at the University of Johannesburg.
A great deal of my public engagement in South Africa concerns public finance and public economics issues, but I also conduct research on specific policy issues – like the use of evidence in the decision to implement various tax incentives, the evidential basis for and the role of the Parliamentary Budget Office in relation to public finance oversight, and (most recently) energy policy.
Some of my policy-related research projects underway with co-authors include topics in education and higher education, which also fall under the umbrella of my economics work.
I am also part of a project on the dynamics of urban housing markets in South Africa, along with Alain Pholo Bala, Tim Brophy and Andy Kerr; we hope to produce a series of applied microeconometric papers over the next few years (2019-).