Professor Robert Elliott

Professor Robert Elliott

The Department of Economics
Professor of Economics

Contact details

Telephone
+44 (0) 121 414 7700
Fax
+44 (0) 121 414 7377
Email
r.j.elliott@bham.ac.uk
View my research portal
Address
The Department of Economics
JG Smith Building
University of Birmingham
B15 2TT

Professor Robert Elliott is an applied economist who works at the intersection of international economics, development economics, environmental and energy economics and international business. He has a particular interest in the Chinese economy, firm behaviour, natural disasters and the impact of globalisation on the environment.

He is an editor for the Sustainable Future Policy Lab, a Director of the Trade, Environment, Development and Energy (TEDE) research group, a Co-I on ReLIB as part of the Faraday Institute, a member of Water Challenges in a Changing World IGI and an Affiliate of the Lloyds Bank Centre for Responsible Business.

Professor Robert Elliott is also a part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics.  This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, engineers, philosophers, linguists, economists, artists, writers, lawyers, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Qualifications

Professor Robert Elliott joined the Department in September 2003. He obtained a BA (Economics) and MA (Economics) at the Universities of Leicester and Essex and studied for his PhD with Professor David Greenaway, Dr Peter Wright and Robert Hine at the University of Nottingham.

Teaching

  • The Global Economy - Year 1
  • China and the World Economy - Year 2

Postgraduate supervision

Professor Elliott is available to supervise PhD students across a broad range of topics including international and development economics and environmental and energy economics. Interdisciplinary topics are encouraged and students will need to be familar with the manipulation of large data sets and econometric techniques and methods.

Research

Robert is part of the Birmingham Plastics Network, an interdisciplinary team of more than 40 academics working together to shape the fate and sustainable future of plastics. This unique team brings together chemists, environmental scientists, philosophers, linguists, economists, and experts in many other fields, to holistically address the global plastics problem.

Trade, environment, development and energy (TEDE) group

Robert Elliott's main research covers empirical environmental, international trade, development, energy and labour economics. Specific topics include: Specific topics include:

  • Economics of China and East Asia
  • Empirical environmental economics
  • Empirical international economics
  • Empirical development economics
  • Environmental economic history
  • Globalisation and the environment
  • Economics of natural disasters (floods, typhoons, earthquakes)
  • Biodiversity and deforestation
  • Trade, the environment, FDI and industrial restructuring
  • Economic geography (spatial econometrics)
  • Geographical specialisation and clustering
  • International business and the study of multinationals
  • Global value chains
  • Energy economics

He is currently involved in a related, Leverhulme Trustresearch projects in the general area of "Globalisation and the Environment" with Matthew Cole at the University of Birmingham. 

Read more about “Globalisation and the Environment”.

Find out more about our new MSc in Environmental and Resource Economics.

Grants

ERSC “China – UK energy issues”. Approximately £1 million. Joint with TEDE group members.

Other activities

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Lander, L, Cleaver, T, Rajaeifar, MA, Nguyen-Tien, V, Elliott, RJR, Heidrich, O, Kendrick, E, Edge, JS & Offer, G 2021, 'Financial viability of electric vehicle lithium-ion battery recycling', iScience, vol. 24, no. 7, 102787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102787

Elliott, R, Jabbour, L & Vanino, E 2020, 'Innovation and the creative destruction of trade: a study of the intensive and extensive margins of trade for French firms', Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 180-208. https://doi.org/10.1111/obes.12324

Elliott, R, Sun, P & Zhu, T 2020, 'Shell shocked: the impact of foreign entry on the gasoline retail market in China', Energy Economics, vol. 86, 104690, pp. 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104690

Elliott, RJR, Schumacher, I & Withagen, C 2020, 'Suggestions for a Covid-19 Post-Pandemic Research Agenda in Environmental Economics', Environmental and Resource Economics, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 1187-1213. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00478-1

Jones, B, Elliott, RJR & Nguyen-Tien, V 2020, 'The EV revolution: The road ahead for critical raw materials demand', Applied Energy, vol. 280, 115072. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115072

Cole, MA, Elliott, RJR & Liu, B 2020, 'The Impact of the Wuhan Covid-19 lockdown on air pollution and health: a machine learning and augmented synthetic control approach', Environmental and Resource Economics, vol. 76, no. 4, pp. 553-580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-020-00483-4

Sun, P, Zhu, T & Elliott, R 2019, 'Electricity prices and industry switching: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing firms', Energy Economics, vol. 78, pp. 567-588. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2018.11.029

Elliott, R, Liu, Y, Strobl, E & Tong, M 2019, 'Estimating the direct and indirect impact of typhoons on plant performance: Evidence from Chinese manufacturers', Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2019.102252

Cole, M, Elliott, R, Okubo, T & Strobl, E 2019, 'Natural disasters and spatial heterogeneity in damages: the birth, life and death of manufacturing plants', Journal of Economic Geography, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 373–408. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbx037

Beltran Hernandez, A, Maddison, D & Elliott, R 2019, 'The impact of flooding on property prices: a repeat-sales approach', Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 95, pp. 62-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2019.02.006

Beltran Hernandez, A, Maddison, D & Elliott, R 2018, 'Assessing the economic benefits of flood defenses: a repeat-sales approach', Risk Analysis, vol. 38, no. 11, pp. 2340-2367. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13136

Nguyen-Tien, V, Elliott, RJR & Strobl, EA 2018, 'Hydropower generation, flood control and dam cascades: A national assessment for Vietnam', Journal of Hydrology, vol. 560, pp. 109-126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2018.02.063

Elliott, RJR, Horsewood, NJ & Zhang, L 2018, 'Importing exporters and exporting importers: A study of the decision of Chinese firms to engage in international trade', Review of International Economics. https://doi.org/10.1111/roie.12374

Beltran Hernandez, A, Maddison, D & Elliott, R 2018, 'Is flood risk capitalised into property values?', Ecological Economics, vol. 146, pp. 668-685. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.12.015

Cole, M, Elliott, R, Occhiali, G & Strobl, E 2018, 'Power outages and firm performance in Sub-Saharan Africa', Journal of Development Economics, vol. 134, pp. 150-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2018.05.003

View all publications in research portal

Expertise

Economic and trade policy

Professor Robert Elliott is an applied economist who works at the intersection of international economics, development economics, environmental and energy economics and international business. He has a particular interest in the Chinese economy, firm behaviour, natural disasters and the impact of globalisation on the environment.