WELCOME TO JOHN FENDER'S WEB PAGE!
I am currently Professor of Macroeconomics in the Department of Economics of the University of Birmingham. I have been here since 1992. From 1985 - 1992 I was an Associate Professor in the Economics Department of the Pennsylvania State University in the USA and from 1976 - 1985 I was a Lecturer in the Economics Department of Lancaster University. I have MA, MPhil and DPhil degrees from Oxford University.
Teaching
I lecture on the following courses:
Macroeconomics (Econ G25T). This is a core graduate macro course. I teach the open economy macroeconomics component in the autumn term. Material relating to the lectures is available on WebCT.
Open Economy Macroeconomics (Econ 318). This is a third-year undergraduate optional course, taught in the spring term. See WebCT for some relevant material
I supervise extended essays on the Stock Market and on the Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy.
Administrative Duties
I am leader of the Macroeconomics Research Group and member of the Research Committee.
External Positions
I am external examiner for macroeconomics (both undergraduate and postgraduate) at the University of Southampton
Research Interests
My main research interests are in theoretical macroeconomics. I am currently working on building open macroeconomic models with staggered wage setting and intertemporal optimisation, and also incorporating public-sector capital into a model of franchise extension. I am also interested in local government finance, the stock market, and some aspects of philosophy and their relationship to economics. See my Curriculum Vitae for further information about my current and past research activities. A number of unpublished papers and related material can be viewed by clicking on the links below.
PhD Supervision
I welcome enquiries from potential PhD students who wish to work on topics related to my research interests.
Media
I am happy to consider talking to the media on anything within my range of expertise. Topics which I would be particularly happy to discuss include immigration, taxation, monetary policy and local government finance. I am also willing to discuss ethical and philosophical issues, particularly in relationship with economics.
Recent Unpublished Papers
The following papers are available:
'The Reform of Local Taxation in the Light of the Balance of Funding Review Report'
'Public Sector Capital and the Transition from Dictatorship to Democracy' (with Christopher J Ellis)
Related Material
'Why Disinflation through Currency Pegging may Cause a Boom: the Role of Forward-Looking Wage Setting' by John Fender and Neil Rankin: Technical Appendix to October 2008 version (not for publication).
Some Recent Publications
(with Ping Wang), 'Educational policy in a credit constrained economy with skill heterogeneity.' International Economic Review, 44(3), August 2003, pp. 939 - 64.
(with Neil Rankin), 'A small open economy with staggered wage setting and intertemporal optimisation: the basic analytics.' Manchester School, 71(4), 2003, pp. 396 - 416.
'Self employment, education and credit constraints: a model of interdependent credit rationing decision.' Journal of Macroeconomics, 27, 2005, pp. 31 - 51.
(with Christopher Ellis), 'Corruption and transparency in a growth model.' International Tax and Public Finance, 13 (2- 3), May 2006, pp. 115 - 49.
(with Peter Sinclair), 'On risk aversion and investment - a theoretical approach.' Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 162 (4), December 2006, pp. 601 - 26.
Contact Details:
Professor John Fender
Department of Economics
University of Birmingham
Birmingham B15 2TT
United Kingdom.
Phone: 0121 414 6644
Fax: 0121 414 7377
email: J.Fender@bham.ac.uk