James is Professor of Economics at the University of Manchester, Senior Research Fellow at IFS where he is Co-Director of the Centre for the Microeconomic Analysis of Public Policy (CPP), and a founding Co-Principal Investigator of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. His research focuses on empirical modelling of individual economic behaviour over the life-cycle. His early work focused on consumption and spending patterns, asset accumulation and pension choices. Subsequently he has worked on broader issues in the economics of ageing, such as health, physical and cognitive functioning and their association with labour market and broader socioeconomic status, and the dynamics of work disability.
Education
PhD Economics, University College London, 1998
MSc Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science, 1990
BSc (First Class Honours) Economics, University of Bristol, 1988
This paper provides an overview of the growing literature that uses microlevel data from multiple countries to investigate health outcomes, and their link to socioeconomic factors, at older ages.
We use these data and earlier ELSA waves first to document the effect of the crisis on the finances of those aged 50 and over in England, and second, to estimate the effect of wealth shocks on household consumption and individual expectations of the future.
In this paper we present results of an investigation into observable characteristics associated with attrition in ELSA and the HRS, with a particular focus on whether attrition is systematically related to health outcomes and socioeconomic status.
This paper examines changes in health and disability related transfers in the UK over the last thirty years, and describes how they are related to changes in labour force participation.
This article examines the extent to which cognitive abilities relate to differences in trajectories for key economic outcomes as individuals move towards and through their retirement.
This article examines the extent to which cognitive abilities relate to differences in trajectories for key economic outcomes as individuals move towards and through their retirement.