Department of Economics, University of Oxford


The Department of Economics is an academic department of the University of Oxford within the Social Sciences Division. Relatively recently founded in 1999, the department is located in the Norman Foster-designed Manor Road Building.

History of Economics in Oxford

Despite the department’s relatively recent establishment, Oxford has a long history within Economics.
The 19th century saw an expansion of economics within Oxford, with political economy being offered as an option to Greats students, and the Drummond Chair in Political Economy being established in 1825 at All Souls College, first being held by Nassau William Senior. Other notable 19th century Oxford economists include Arnold Toynbee, Francis Ysidro Edgeworth.
The 20th century saw the first economics programme, a postgraduate Diploma in Economics, in 1904. Economics was later introduced as part of a degree programme as part of the “modern greats” course in 1920, later Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Economist L.L. Price argued that this emphasised Oxford’s stance of treating economics “pretty.. but unimportant”. 20th century Oxford economists include Sir Roy Harrod, Jacob Marschak, Nicholas Stern, Sir David Hendry, Stephen Nickell, David Soskice, Tim Harford, and Mark Carney.

Nobel Prizes

Nine academics affiliated with Oxford have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences:
The department offers three undergraduate courses in economics, but notably no straight economics option:
At graduate level, the department offers six courses:
In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the Department received an overall grade-point average of 3.44 - the third highest of any department in Economics and Econometrics in the UK, behind UCL and the London School of Economics.

Research groups and centres

The department currently houses nine research groups, and is involved with five different research centres:
Research groups:
Research centres:
In the 2021 Complete University Guide, the programme is ranked second nationally, behind the University of Cambridge.
The Tilburg University Economics Ranking is a worldwide ranking of Economics schools based on research contribution placing Oxford second in Europe, and 11th globally.
Similarly, the Academic Ranking of World Universities sees Oxford place third in Europe, and 15th globally.
The 2020 Times Higher Education World University Rankings places Oxford first in the UK, and third globally.
In the 2020 QS World University Rankings by subject, Oxford is ranked second in Europe, and ninth globally for Economics & Econometrics.

Notable current faculty

Current faculty includes the Director of Policy Research at the World Bank, Chief Economists at the Department for International Development, and Members of the Monetary Policy Committee, among many other prominent roles.

Notable former faculty