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Dr Richard Itaman

Dr Richard Itaman

  • Position: Lecturer in Sustainability, Economics and Policy
  • Areas of expertise: Sustainable finance; financial development; industrial policy and structural transformation; macroeconomics and the political economy of development.
  • Email: R.Itaman@leeds.ac.uk
  • Location: 7.113 SEE Building

Profile

I am a Lecturer in Sustainability, Economics and Policy at the Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) in the School of Earth and Environment (SEE). I am also a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in Industrial Policy and Structural Transformation in Africa at the South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg and  International Advisory Board Member of Revaluing Care in the Global Economy.

My research on sustainable finance focuses on forms of finance, financial flows and policies and their implications for sustainability. My contribution to the finance-growth nexus literature revisits the empirical methods of the threshold analysis and derives a link between the political economy debate on the productiveness of finance or lack thereof, and the nexus. I re-estimated the relationship between finance and growth, upon separating financial services value-added from GDP to account for potential non-productiveness of finance given contestations in the Systems of National Accounts (SNA). My work on structural transformation investigates the importance of finance for structural transformation and the potential of rent-seeking activities in specific contexts to distort the flow of finance to productive sectors. I futher explore how industrial policy success is hinged on demand-led structural change, pointing out the importance of domestic market formation..

Before joining the University of Leeds, I led the research on the feasibility of creating a fossil-free bond index at Jesus College, University of Cambridge. I was also Lecturer in Comparative Political Economy and Development, at King’s College London; Lecturer in Development Economics at the University of Bath; and taught at the University College London (UCL), School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), UK. 

Research interests

 Sustainable finance; financial development; industrial policy and structural transformation; macroeconomics; and the political economy of development.

<h4>Research projects</h4> <p>Any research projects I'm currently working on will be listed below. Our list of all <a href="https://environment.leeds.ac.uk/dir/research-projects">research projects</a> allows you to view and search the full list of projects in the faculty.</p>

Qualifications

  • PhD Economics, SOAS University of London
  • MSc. Economics and Finance for Development
  • BSc. (Hons) Economics

Student education

I lead the Business Analytics module and co-teach Contemporary Economics in the MSc Sustainability Business and Leadership programme. I also co-teach Introduction to Ecological Economics.in the MSc Ecological Economics programme.

Research groups and institutes

  • Economics and Policy for Sustainability
  • Business Organisations for Sustainable Societies