Professor Michela Vecchi

Faculty of Business and Social Sciences
Department of Economics
School of Law, Social and Behavioural Sciences
Penrhyn Road

Professor of Economics

[email protected]

ORCID

About

My role at Kingston University is to develop a collaborative research environment, next to contributing to the high quality teaching the University is famous for. I have over 20 years of experience in academia. Before joining Kingston, I worked at Middlesex University as a module leader for Econometrics, running undergraduate and postgraduate modules. I have also worked at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR), Stirling University, and Glasgow University. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts (RSA), a Fellow of the Royal Economic Society and a Visiting Fellow at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). I have acted as the Programme Chair for the Royal Economic Society 2024 & 2025 Conference. In summer 2025 I was selected as the new Conference Secretary.

I am passionate about research, and I believe it must be at the core of university education. Research naturally feeds into teaching, and being an active researcher has allowed me to develop modules that are engaging, relevant, and expose students to how economics works in the real world.

Qualifications

PGcertHE, Middlesex University
PhD in Economics, University of Ancona, Italy
MSc in Economics, University of Glasgow
Laurea Cum Laude in Political Science, University of Macerata (Italy)

Domains

My research focuses on policy-oriented topics, and revolves around the following areas:

Understanding Green Skills provision and stimulating the growth of Green Jobs. This project is funded by Hounslow Council and is part of Hounslow's Green Economy Programme.
Skill mismatch in the UK and its impact on wages, focusing on graduates. A large amount of resources is devoted to education and investigating the returns to these investments is important for both policy and individuals' choices. Results show that 30% of graduates in the UK are employed in non-graduate jobs and earn less compared to those who find a job that matches their degree level and degree subject. However, approximately half of this proportion is due to graduates who studied abroad. The overall proportion has declined since 2018, a trend that continued during the Covid-19 pandemic. (Funded by the ONS and the ESRC).
Dance, well-being and productivity. This new research area links the economic literature on productivity with the psychology and neuroscience literature on dance and cognitive functions. My first work, in cooperation with a team from Middlesex University, shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between dance and productivity, which operates both indirectly, via the effect of dance on well-being, and directly. We believe the direct effect is due to the positive relationship between dance and cognition. (Funded by Middlesex University)
Productivity, skills and technical change: I have worked on the interaction between skills and innovation (skill biased technical change) and the relationship between innovation and productivity, focusing on the role of R&D and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Throughout the years, this work has expanded into two additional lines of research: the role of technology as a potential driver of the decline in the labour share of national income and how new intangible assets affect the demand for different types of skills. (Funded by the EU and the ESRC).

Specialisms

Skill mismatch/overeducation
Skill biased technical change
Productivity
Dance and Well-Being
Cognitive and non-cognitive skills
Impact of technology on employment

Scholarly affiliations

Visiting fellow, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)
Consultant, Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Fellow, Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)
Member of the Royal Economic Society
Royal Economic Society Conference Secretary

Publications

Going online: forecasting the impact of websites on productivity and market structure

Vecchi, Michela, Domenech, Josep and Rizov, Marian, 2022, Technological Forecasting and Social Change (184), Published

Professor Michela Vecchi

About

Qualifications

Domains

Teaching and learning

Research

Business, knowledge transfer and international

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

Leadership and management

Publications

Articles

Books

Book Sections/Chapters

Conference Items

Working Papers

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