Professor Francis Green

Profile

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Professor of Economics

Office: Cg.3 Keynes
Telephone: +44 1227 827305
Email: Francis Green

Francis Green is Professor of Economics. After graduating in Physics at Oxford, he began his studies of economics with his MSc at the London School of Economics, before writing his PhD thesis on the theory of saving at Birkbeck College. He began his teaching career at the age of 22 in 1972 at Kingston Polytechnic, where he worked for 15 years, including a year as a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts. After spells at the University of Leicester and the University of Leeds, he moved to the University of Kent in September 1998, as one of four Professors of Economics.

Francis's main interests over the years have been in political economy and in labour economics. Through a reading of the great political economists of the past -- from Adam Smith, through Karl Marx to John Maynard Keynes -- comes confirmation that economic systems cannot be properly comprehended through unduly formal mathematical models. He maintains an interdisciplinary approach to doing and teaching Economics, one which draws on the insights of other social sciences. Moreover, understanding the workplace and how it is changing seems to be crucial for understanding what makes us better -- or worse -- off. Most of his research in labour economics has addressed three overlapping areas: skill formation, the role of unions, and the analysis of work effort.

His book "Demanding Work. The Paradox of Job Quality in the Affluent Economy" , was published in January 2006 by Princeton University Press. For several years he has served on skills research advisory committees for UK Government Schools. He is currently a member of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills Academic Experts Panel and a consultant on skills issues for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He is an Associate Member of two ESRC research centres: the Centre for Economic Performance , at the London School of Economics, and the Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Economic Performance (SKOPE) [11] at the Universities of Oxford and Cardiff; and a member of the Advisory Board the LLAKES Centre at the Institute of Education. From 2001 to 2006 he served on the Editorial Board of the British Journal of Industrial Relations.

Research

Research interests

Francis Green’s research focuses on labour economics and on political economy, with special interests in job quality and industrial relations issues, including skills, training, work organisation and working conditions. He has extensive experience in research management, and in survey design work relevant to labour market issues, including both employer and employee surveys.

Several of his current projects are centred around the 2006 Skills Survey, which is a survey of the skills being used by a representative sample of employed people in Britain. A guide to the 2006 Skills Survey is given here, and a list of publications that make use of all the Skills Surveys is given here. The objective of the research is to provide empirical evidence about skill and related aspects of job quality, addressing economic and social theories about work in general, and recent trends in Britain.

 Francis's RePEc page is http://econpapers.repec.org/RAS/pgr109.htm

Current work

Recent and ongoing research (2005 onwards)

Computers and Pay

Green, F., D. Gallie, A. Felstead and Y. Zhou (2007). "Computers and Pay." National Institute Economic Review July, 63-75. Abstract (pdf [18]) & paper (pdf [19]).

Effort and worker well-being

Green, F. (2008). Work Effort and Worker Well-Being in the Age of Affluence. In C. Cooper & R. Burke (Eds.), The Long Work Hours Culture. Causes, Consequences And Choices: Emerald Group Publications (2008).
Abstract (pdf [20]), executive summary (pdf [21]) & paper (pdf [22]).

Returns to Higher Education

Green, F and Zu, Y (2008)  Overqualification, job dissatisfaction and increasing dispersion in the returns to graduate education.  School of Economics Discussion Paper 08/03 (pdf [25])

Teamworking

Gallie, D, Felstead, A, Green, F and Zhou, Y. ‘Teamwork, Productive Potential and Employee Welfare’. Forthcoming SKOPE Research Paper.

Training Quality

Felstead, A, Gallie, D, Green, F and Zhou, Y (2008) ‘Employee involvement, the quality of training and the learning environment: an individual-level analysis’, SKOPE Research Paper No 80, June, Oxford: ESRC Centre for Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance.

Attitudes towards skill acquisition

Gallie, D, Felstead, A, Green, F and Zhou, M  ‘Employment Commitment and Job Preferences: The Changing Attitudes to Work of British Employees 1992-2006’. In preparation.

Generic skills

Green, F. (2009). Employee Involvement, Technology and Job Tasks, University of Kent, School of Economics, Discussion Papers in Economics, forthcoming.

Agency working

C. Forde, Slater, G. and Green, F. (2008) Agency working in the UK: what do we know?. Leeds University, Centre for Employment Relations Innovation and Change, Policy Report No. 2.

Regional Research based on the Skills Survey

  • Scotland

    • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in Scotland, 1997 to 2006, Glasgow: Report for Scottish Enterprise (further details [23]).

  • Highland and Islands

    • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in the Highlands and Islands, 2006, Report for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (further details [24]).

  • Northern Ireland

    • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in Northern Ireland, 2006, Belfast: School for Employment and Learning Northern Ireland, pp.96.   http://www.delni.gov.uk/workskillsni2006

  • East Midlands

    • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in the East Midlands, 1997 to 2006, Report for East Midlands Development Agency, forthcoming.

Training and establishment survival

We examine the impact of training and the stock of an establishment's educational human capital on its commercial survival probability. The research project "Training and Establishment Survival" was funded by the Sector Skills Development Agency (SSDA). An executive summary (pdf) of the research and the final report (pdf) are available for download.

The Economic Role of Independent Schools in Britain

The role of independent schools has major implications both for public policy and for understanding of social and economic mobility. We investigate this role both within the education sector and in the wider economy. The project has been funded by the Nuffield Foundation. A first discussion paper examines the interplay in the labour market for teachers in the state and private sectors: "Competition for Private and State School Teachers" (pdf). A forthcoming paper is examining the subsequent labour market advantages attached to private school attendance, and their link with academic success. An early version of this paper (pdf), debated at the Nuffield Foundation on 11/1/08, and an abstract (pdf)are currently available.

Job Requirements Approach Pilot International Study

In this project for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, I have developed a new approach for measuring skills used at work in a harmonised international survey, as part of preparations for the OECD’s Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competences (PIAAC). A questionnaire has been piloted in Australia, France, Greece, South Korea. The findings were presented at a seminar in Thessaloniki organised by CEDEFOP, 12-13 February 2009.
See:  http://www.cedefop.europa.eu/etv/News/default.asp?idnews=4088

Measuring the Dynamics of Organisations and Work (MEADOW)

This project is developing guidelines for collecting and interpreting harmonised European data on organisational change and its economic and social impacts. The University of Kent, which is one of several institutions combining to produce these guidelines, leads the development of individual-level measures of changing work organisation and employee outcomes. Details can be found at: http://www.meadow-project.eu. The final report is due in March 2010. The guidelines are intended to support future plans for survey data collection.

BJIR Minimum Wages

In December 2007, the British Journal of Industrial Relations (BJIR) hosted a conference (pdf) stimulated by the centenary of the introduction of the first minimum wage regulation in Britain. A special edition of the journal will appear in 2009, the centenary year, edited by myself and Simon Deakin.

Job Insecurity

Part funded by the Leverhulme Trust, a series of my papers in the past decade has examined trends in job security. In recent work with colleagues we estimated the extent to which perceived job insecurity is a restraining influence on the growth of wages: "Job Insecurity and Wages" (with David Campbell, Alan Carruth and Andy Dickerson), Economic Journal, 117, March 2007, 544-566.
In ongoing work Andy Dickerson and I are examining the relationship between perceptions of job insecurity and job loss outcomes. “How should we measure the fear of job loss?”. See our paper presented to the Fifth IZA/SOLE Transatlantic Meeting of Labour Economists, 18-21 May 2006; Buch-Ammersee, Germany: (pdf).

Employees Experience of Change

This paper (joint with K. Whitfield) is one part of a wider study entitled “A Quarter Century of Change”, funded by the ESRC, using the WIRS/WERS series to write a collective multi-author account of changing employment relations in Britain since 1980.

Other Research in the Past Decade

"The Intensification of Work Effort"
In a series of projects, funded in part by the Leverhulme Trust, I have examined evidence about, explanations for, and implications of the intensification of work in Britain and elsewhere in Europe. The explanations have focussed on the role of technological change and of changes in the balance of power in the labour market. The implications have primarily concerned reported levels of subjective well-being, using a range of measures.

"Trade Liberalisation and Wages"
In a project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, three papers examine the impact on the labour market of the bout of trade liberalisation that took place in Brazil at the beginning of the 1990s. The main focus is on the change in wages experienced by groups in different sectors and at different educational levels.

"Education, Training And Growth In Pacific Asia: A New Model Of Skill Formation"
This project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, was a study of the education and training policies that enabled Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan to maintain persistently high growth rates while largely avoiding skill shortages for several decades. Out of this research has evolved a new analysis of the potential role of the state in skill formation, and of how education and training can be linked with economic growth.

"Employee Involvement and Commitment"
Another series of papers has examined the trends, antecedents and effects of employee discretion and organisational commitment. One concern has been the implications for employee well-being of declining levels of personal discretion at work.

"Job Insecurity and Wages"
Also part funded by the Leverhulme Trust, this series of papers has examined trends in job security in Britain, the United States and elsewhere, and estimated the extent to which perceived job insecurity is a restraining influence on the growth of wages.

"Training and Work-Based Learning"
In a series of studies, part funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and some by government ministries, I have analysed the role of workplace training in the economy. These studies included methodological investigations into conceptual and measurement problems with studying training, investigating the impact of trades unions on access to training, and estimating the impact of training on employee mobility, on wages, on the development of employees' skills, and on company performance.

"Trends in Job Satisfaction"
This study, funded by the ESRC, looked at trends over recent decades in overall job satisfaction in a number of industrialised countries, and analysed explanations of change in job satisfaction in Britain and Germany.

Publications

Articles
  • Green, F., Machin, S., Murphy, R., & Zhu, Y. “Competition for Private and State School Teachers”, Journal of Education and Work, 21 (5), 383-404, 2008.
  • Leeway for the loyal: a model of employee discretion”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 46 (1), 1-32, 2008.
  • A Quarter Century of Workplace Employment Relations Surveys” (with A. Bryson and K. Whitfield) [non-refereed introduction to symposium], British Journal of Industrial Relations,  46 (4), 2008.
  • Temporary Work and Insecurity in Britain: A Problem Solved?”, Social Indicators Research, 88 (1), 147-160, 2008.
  • “Computers and Pay” (with A.Felstead, D.Gallie and Y.Zhou), National Institute Economic Review, July 2007, 63-75. Also published as SKOPE Research Paper No. 74.
  • "Job Insecurity and Wages" (with David Campbell, Alan Carruth and Andrew Dickerson), Economic Journal, 117, March 2007, 544-566.
  • “Is there a Genuine Underutilisation of Skills Amongst the Over-qualified?” (with S.McIntosh), Applied Economics, 39 (4), 427-439, 2007.
  • “Training and Establishment Survival” (with W. Collier and J. Peirson), Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 52 (5), 710-735, 2005.
  • “An Investigation of National Trends in Job Satisfaction in Britain and Germany” (with N.Tsitsianis), British Journal of Industrial Relations, 43 (3), 401-429, 2005.
  • “Changing patterns of task discretion in Britain” (with D. Gallie and A. Felstead). Work, Employment and Society, 18 (2), 243-266, 2004.
  • “Assessing The Stability Of The Inter-Industry Wage Structure In The Face Of Radical Economic Reforms” (with J. Arbache and A. Dickerson). Economics Letters, 83 (2) 149-155, 2004.
  • “The growth and valuation of computing and other generic skills” (with A. Dickerson). Oxford Economic Papers, 56 (3), 371-406, 2004.
  • “Trade liberalisation and wages in developing countries” (with J.Arbache and A.Dickerson). Economic Journal, 114, No. 493, February, F73-F96. 2004.
  • “Why has work effort become more intense?”. Industrial Relations, 43, 709-741, 2004.
  • “Work intensification, discretion and the decline in well-being at work”. Eastern Economic Journal, 30(4) Fall 2004.
  • “Skill, Task Discretion and New Technology. Trends in Britain 1986-2001” (with D. Gallie and A. Felstead). L’Année Sociologique, 53 (2), 401-430, 2003.
  • "Assessing skills and autonomy: the job holder versus the line manager" (with D. James). Human Resource Management Journal, (2003), 13 (1), 63-77.
  • "The utilization of education and skills. Evidence from Britain" (with S. McIntosh and A. Vignoles (2002). The Manchester School 70 (6), December, 792-811.
  • “Computers and the changing skill-intensity of jobs” (with A. Felstead and D. Gallie), Applied Economics, 35 (14), 1561-1576.
  • “The Evolution of Education and Training Strategies in Singapore, Taiwan and S. Korea: A Developmental Model of Skill Formation” (with D. Ashton, D. James and J. Sung), Journal of Education and Work, 2002, 15 (1), 5-30.
  • "A Picture of Wage Inequality and The Allocation of Labor Through a Period of Trade Liberalization: The Case of Brazil." (with J. Arbache and A. Dickerson), World Development, 2001, 29 (11), November, 1923-1940.
  • “Employer Policies and Organisational Commitment in Britain 1992-7” (with D. Gallie and A. Felstead), Journal of Management Studies, December 2001, 38 (8), 1081-1102.
  • “The intensification of work in Europe” (with S. McIntosh), Labour Economics, 2001, 8 (2), 291-308.
  • “Estimating the determinants of supply of computing, problem-solving, communication, social and teamworking skills” (with D. Ashton and A. Felstead), Oxford Economic Papers, 2001, 53 (3), 406-433.
  • “Skills Measurement and Economic Analysis” (with L. Borghans and K. Mayhew). Introduction to Special Issue of Oxford Economic Papers, 2001, 53 (3), 375-384.
  • “Its Been a Hard Day’s Night: The Concentration and Intensification of Work in Late Twentieth-Century Britain”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, 39 (1), March 2001, 53-80.
  • “Paying the price for flexibility? Training, skills and non-standard jobs in Britain” (with A. Felstead, and D. Ashton) International Journal of Employment Studies, 9 (6), April 2001, 25-60.
Books
  • Skills At Work, 1986 to 2006 (with A. Felstead, D. Gallie and Y. Zhou), SKOPE, Oxford University.
  • Demanding Work. The Paradox of Job Quality in the Affluent Economy, Princeton University Press, 2006. Paperback Edition, 2007.
  • Employer Perspectives Survey (with Ken Mayhew and Eamonn Molloy), Nottingham, DfES Publications, 2003.
Contributions to books
  • Burke (Eds.), Effects of working hours and work addiction: Strategies for dealing with them: Elsevier.
  • “Skills and Job Quality” in Making Skills Pay: The Contribution of Skills to Business Success, edited by Michael Campbell and Sam Porter, Skills for Business (2006).
  • “Should the government worry about overeducation?” in Great Expectations, edited by Ken Mayhew, Ewart Keep, Cathy Stasz and Jonathan Payne, Edward Elgar, (forthcoming 2008).
  • “Intensification du Travail, Degré d’autonomie et Déclin du bien-être au travail” in Askenazy Philippe, Cartron Damien, de Coninck Frédéric, Gollac Michel (2006) (eds), Organisation et intensité du travail, Octares (Entreprise, travail, emploi).
  • “The Demands of Work” in R. Dickens, P. Gregg and J. Wadsworth (2003) (eds) The Labour Market Under New Labour, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Pages 137-149. ISBN 1-4039-1630-6.
  • “The Problem of British Education Policy as Economic Policy” in D. Coffey and C. Thornley (2003) (eds) Industrial and Labour Market Policy and Performance, London: Routledge. Pages 138-144. ISBN 0-415-26786-2.
  • “Job Complexity and Task Discretion: Tracking the Direction of Skills at Work in Britain” (with Alan Felstead and Duncan Gallie) in Keep, E. Warhurst, C. and Grugulis, I. (2004) (eds) The Skills that Matter, London: Palgrave.
  • “Post-School Education and Training Policy in Developmental States: The Cases of Taiwan and South Korea” (with D.James, D.Ashton and J.Sung) in Edwards, R., Miller, N., Small, N. and Tait, A. (eds) Supporting Lifelong Learning, Volume 3; London and New York: Routledge, 2002. Reprinted from Journal of Education Policy, 1999.
  • “New Technology and Demanding Jobs” in A Life’s Work: Achieving full and fulfilling employment, edited by N. Burke, Institute for Public Policy Research, June 2001. Pages 58-73. ISBN 1 86030 163 0.
  • “Training in work – the evidence” in A Life’s Work: Achieving full and fulfilling employment, edited by N. Burke, Institute for Public Policy Research, June 2001. Pages 138-144. ISBN 1 86030 163 0.
  • “Employment, Wages and Unemployment” in The UK Economy: A Manual of Applied Economics, 15th edition, edited by M. Sawyer, 2001.
Government reports and commissions
  • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in the Highlands and Islands, 2006, Inverness: Highlands and Islands Enterprise, forthcoming.
  • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in Northern Ireland, 2006, Belfast: School for Employment and Learning, forthcoming.
  • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in the East Midlands, 1997 to 2006, Nottingham: East Midlands Development Agency, forthcoming.
  • Felstead, A and Green, F (2008) Skills at Work in Scotland, 1997 to 2006, Glasgow: Scottish Enterprise, forthcoming.
  • Training and Establishment Survival. Report to Skills for Business, Sector Skills Development Agency. (2007). (With W.J.Collier and Y-B. Kim).
  • The Demand for and Use of Skills in the Modern Economy. Futureskills Scotland, 2005.
  • Defining a Strategy for the Direct Assessment of Skills. (with others). Report to the European Commission Leonardo Da Vince Programme, 2005.
  • Scoping Study on International Comparisons of Non-Certified Learning. (With Steven McIntosh and Anna Vignoles). DTI, December 2004.
  • Work Skills in Britain 1986-2001 (with A. Felstead and D. Gallie), Nottingham, DfES Publications, 2002.

Teaching

Throughout my teaching career I have taught a wide range of courses at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. I have in particular always taken a special interest in the teaching of economics to first-year undergraduate students.

PhD supervision

Past students
  • Dr Stephen Allan: "The labour supply and retirement of older workers; an empirical analysis" completed 2008.
  • Dr Fanwell Kenala Bokosi: “Impact of trade liberalisation on poverty in Malawi” completed 2007.
  • Dr Tsung Ping Chung:"The role of education and training in the development of the Malaysian economy." Completed 2002.