Robert Witt

More Information

• Recent publications
• Current working papers
• Current teaching

Robert Witt is currently a Reader in Economics and Head of the Department of Economics at the University of Surrey, where he has taught since 1992. He was educated at Kingston Polytechnic (1971-1974), the University of Wales (Bangor) (1974-1975) and the University of Essex (1978-1980) and (1986-1991 part-time). He completed his Ph.D. in Economics at Essex in 1991. Prior to joining Surrey, he worked as an economic analyst in the City (1975-1978), as a lecturer at the Polytechnic of North London (1980-1981), as a lecturer at Portsmouth Polytechnic (1981-1982), as a lecturer/senior lecturer at the City of London Polytechnic (1982-1989) and as a lecturer at the University of St. Andrews (1989-1992). He has held a visiting appointment at Florida International University Miami (1997). His research interests include, labour economics, political economy, economics of sport, and law and economics. He has served as a consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Home Office and the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills.

Recent publications

• “Domestic burglaries and the real price of audio-visual goods: some time series evidence for Britain”, Economics Letters, Vol. 100, Issue 1, pp.96-100 (with B. Reilly) July 2008.
• "The hazard of being an English football league manager: empirical estimates for three recent league seasons", Journal of the Operational Research Society, Vol. 59, Issue 7, pp.884-891 (with R. Bachan and B. Reilly) July 2008.
• “Favouritism and financial incentives: a natural experiment”, Economica, Vol. 75, Issue 298, pp.296-309 (with N. Rickman) May 2008.
• “The transition from welfare to work”, Eastern Economic Journal, Vol. 33, Issue 3, pp.359-373 (with R.J. Lemke and A.D. Witte) Summer 2007.
• “The determinants of employee crime in the UK”, Economica, Vol. 74, Issue 293, pp.161-175 (with N. Rickman) February 2007.
• “Forecasting quarterly aggregate crime series”, The Manchester School, Vol. 73, Issue 6, pp.709-727 (with M.P. Clements) December 2005.
• “Do players react to sanction changes? Evidence from the English Premier League” Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 52, Issue 4, pp.623-640 September 2005.
• “What we spend and what we get: Public and private provision of crime prevention and criminal justice”, Fiscal Studies, Vol. 22, Issue 1, pp.1-40 (with A.D. Witte) March 2001. Reprinted in D. Miles, G. Myles and I. Preston (eds) The Economics of Public Spending, OUP 2003.

Current working papers

• “Panic on the streets of London: police, crime and the July 2005 terror attacks”, (with M. Draca and S. Machin), Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper 852, February 2008.
• "Determining constituency marginality in the UK using the expense claims of MPs", (with T. Bale and B. Reilly) Surrey Discussion Paper DP 01/08, January 2008.
• "The determinants of base pay and the role of race in Major League Soccer: evidence from the 2007 league season", (with B. Reilly) Surrey Discussion Paper DP 19/07, December 2007.

Current teaching

• ECO3010 Topics in Applied Econometrics, Spring Semester 2009