Projects per year
Personal profile
Particulars
Appointments:
Reader in Economic History, Department of Economics
Research Associate, Centre for Economic History (QUCEH)
Associate Fellow, Institute of Irish Studies
Leadership roles:
Co-Director, Centre for Economic History (QUCEH)
Associate Director, Centre for Economics, Policy and History (CEPH)
Professional service:
Associate, The Economics Network
Associate Editor, Business History
Editor, QUCEH Working Paper Series
External links:
Full academic CV
Personal website
QUB Find an Expert profile
QUB Find a PhD Supervisor profile
Research Focus
Chris Colvin's research spans the field of economic history, including topics in business history, financial history and demographic history.
His recent publications are about monetary policymaking during the Great Depression, the origins of cooperative banks, and population dynamics following the Great Irish Famine and the Spanish flu pandemic.
He is currently working on explaining the decline in use of the Irish language in the nineteenth century, the financing of innovative firms in Britain in the early twentieth century, and business termination decisions in the Netherlands across the twentieth century.
Besides his disciplinary research, Chris is also interested in pedagogical scholarship. He explores ways of integrating historical perspectives into economics teaching and continual professional development courses.
Research Interests
- Economics: banking and financial institutions; cooperative enterprises; business failure; patent system design; government policymaking processes; economics of religion; demographic change; anthropometrics
- History: economic history; business history; financial history; demographic history; famines; pandemics; measurement
- Geographic expertise: the Netherlands in the interwar period; post-Famine Ireland
- Pedagogical expertise: curriculum and syllabus design; research-led teaching practices
Achievements
Chris holds a BSc in Economics from the University of Bristol, and an MSc and PhD in Economic History from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education Teaching at Queen's University Belfast. He is an Associate of the Economics Network, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Before joining Queen's in 2012, Chris was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute, Florence. He has spent time as a visiting fellow at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the University of California at Davis, and Utrecht University. In 2019 he was a Fellow of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Amsterdam.
Teaching
Current teaching duties:
- ECO3020 Economic History (level-3 undergraduate economics module)
Current PhD students:
- Paudie McKee, as assistant supervisor (supporting Daniel Borbely and David Jordan)
- Malte Hinrichs, as co-supervisor (with Alan Fernihough)
- Yibin Liu, as co-supervisor (with John Turner)
- Kyle Richmond, as primary supervisor (second supervisors: Stephen Billington and Graham Brownlow)
- Pallavi Singh, as second supervisor (primary supervisor: Michael Aldous)
Other
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An Economist's Guide to Economic History Without economic history, economics runs the risk of being too abstract or parochial, of failing to notice precedents, trends and cycles, of overlooking the long-run and thus misunderstanding ‘how we got here’. This edited volume demonstrates the power of historical thinking in economic research with a collection of 50 short chapters that guide economics lecturers and their students through the field of economic history. |
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Keywords
- HC Economic History and Conditions
- HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
- HG Finance
- DH Netherlands (The Low Countries)
- LB2361 Curriculum
Fingerprint
- 1 Similar Profiles
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R6773QMS: Centre for Economics, Policy and History (CEPH)
Turner, J. (PI) & Colvin, C. (CoI)
08/09/2022 → …
Project: Research
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R7873MAE: Research Fellowship at Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS-KNAW)
Colvin, C. (PI)
23/01/2019 → 30/06/2019
Project: Research
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R8302MAE: What Can Prison Inmates Tell Us About Ireland in the Nineteenth Century?
Colvin, C. (PI)
01/08/2012 → 31/01/2023
Project: Research
Research output
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Patently peculiar: patents and innovation in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
Wagenaar, H. & Colvin, C. L., 14 Apr 2025, Queen's University Belfast, 60 p. (QUCEH Working Paper Series; no. 25-04).Research output: Working paper
File6 Downloads (Pure) -
Financing innovation: the role of patent examination
Billington, S. D., Colvin, C. L. & Coyle, C., 28 Jan 2025, Queen's University Belfast, 50 p. (QUCEH Working Paper Series; no. 25-01).Research output: Working paper
File31 Downloads (Pure) -
Scarring and selection in the Great Irish Famine
Blum, M., Colvin, C. L. & McLaughlin, E., 25 Mar 2025, (Early online date) In: Economic History Review.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile17 Downloads (Pure) -
Age structure and age heaping: solving Ireland’s post-Famine digit preference puzzle
Colvin, C. L., Henderson, S. & McLaughlin, E., 07 Feb 2025, In: European Review of Economic History. 29, 1, p. 28-48 21 p., heae012.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile14 Downloads (Pure) -
Mind your language: explaining the retreat of the Irish language frontier
Fernihough, A., Colvin, C. L. & McLaughlin, E., 31 Jul 2024, Queen's University Belfast, 47 p. (QUCEH Working Paper Series; no. 24-07).Research output: Working paper
File98 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Cohort component population estimates for Ireland, 1911-1920
Colvin, C. (Creator), McLaughlin, E. (Creator) & Richmond, K. (Creator), UK Data Service, 22 Jun 2021
DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-854673, https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/854673/
Dataset
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Replication package for: Why are corporations terminated? A century of evidence from the Netherlands
Colvin, C. (Creator), de Jong, A. (Creator), Fliers, P. (Creator) & Madertoner, F. (Creator), OPENICPSR, 12 May 2025
DOI: 10.3886/E229281, https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/project/229281/version/V2/view
Dataset
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General Prison Registers for Two Irish Prisons, 1840-1910
Blum, M. (Creator), Colvin, C. (Creator) & McLaughlin, E. (Creator), UK Data Service, 03 Mar 2025
DOI: 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857702, https://reshare.ukdataservice.ac.uk/857702/
Dataset
Prizes
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Associate of the Economics Network
Colvin, C. (Recipient), Sept 2019
Prize: Election to learned society
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Fellow of the Royal Historical Society
Colvin, C. (Recipient), Dec 2019
Prize: Election to learned society
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NIAS-KNAW Individual Fellowship
Colvin, C. (Recipient), 15 Mar 2018
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
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The Economics Network Best New Lecturer Award
Colvin, C. (Recipient), 05 Sept 2013
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
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Arthur H. Cole Grant-in-Aid of Research
Colvin, C. (Recipient), 2012
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
Activities
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Economic and Social History Seminar, Utrecht University
Colvin, C. (Invited speaker), Billington, S. (Advisor) & Coyle, C. (Advisor)
06 Mar 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Finance Seminar, Heriot-Watt University
Colvin, C. (Invited speaker), Billington, S. (Advisor) & Coyle, C. (Advisor)
24 Jan 2025Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
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Ireland: A New Economic History - 30 Years On
Fernihough, A. (Invited speaker) & Colvin, C. (Invited speaker)
16 Jan 2025Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course
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CPD Workshop for Northern Ireland Civil Service Economist Profession
Colvin, C. (Contributor), Jordan, D. (Contributor), Dorman, A. (Contributor) & Brownlow, G. (Advisor)
19 Nov 2024Activity: Consultancy types › CPD delivery/organisation of courses for externals (in kind)
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Your vote matters? Elections in the past, present and future
Dorman, A. (Host), Fernihough, A. (Speaker), Colvin, C. (Speaker) & Yaremko, V. (Speaker)
07 Nov 2024Activity: Talk or presentation types › Public lecture/debate/seminar
Press/Media
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Op-ed about long-term health impacts of the Great Irish Famine
Colvin, C. & McLaughlin, E.
16/05/2025
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Television interview about food sustainability
18/11/2024
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Op-ed about age heaping in historical censuses
McLaughlin, E., Colvin, C. & Henderson, S.
18/10/2024
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Op-ed about war, famine and Ukraine
McLaughlin, E., Colvin, C. & Blum, M.
31/03/2022 → 08/06/2022
2 Media contributions
Press/Media: Expert Comment
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Podcast interview about economic history
15/12/2020
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities