Christopher Payne

DPhil in Continuing Education

Thesis

Is economic growth good for everyone? Testing the ability of socio-economic measures of performance to capture household well-being

Research abstract

My research considers activities of daily living and how they are reflected in measures of socio-economic performance such as the System of National Accounts or wider measures which might incorporate unpaid household production. The primary aim of the research is to identify how the structure of socio-ecomonic performance accounting systems may be linked to the household well-being of different socio-economic groups within the UK. The research will primarily utilise time use data to gain the level of detail needed for such an exploratory analysis of daily life. Other data sources will be used to enhance the analsysis further and as the research develops the approach should remain flexible enough to adopt new insights into life and well-being within the United Kingdom.

Supervisor(s)

Professor Jonathan Gershuny CBE FBA Profile, 

Professor Jonathan Michie Profile

Biography

I started my DPhil in Oct 2017 while also working as a Senior Research Officer at the Office for National Statistics where I began work in July 2012. My research has centred around aspects of economic well-being in the UK, in particular, the division of unpaid labour within households and accounting methods aimed at moving beyond GDP as the primary measure of a countries socio-economic performance.  Prior to working in socio-economic research, I gained a First Class honours, BSc Psychology at the University of the West of England, Bristol in 2012. Between Oct 15 and Oct 16, I also previously worked as a visiting researcher at the Centre for Time Use Research (CTUR), University of Oxford.

Research interests

The division and value of unpaid work carried out within households.

The hedonic adjustment of non-market output.

Changes in Ecomomic Well-being over past 100 years within the UK.

The System of National Accounts and the general production boundary.

The measurement of the volume and value of digital market and non-market goods and services.