Dr Tanya Wilson is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, where her research applies microeconometric methods to understand labour market conditions, education, and social policy shape individual and household outcomes. Her work has examined topics including domestic abuse, education, low pay, ageing, entrepreneurship and the economics of crime, often using large-scale administrative and survey data to evaluate the effects of policy interventions.

Tanya serves as President of the Scottish Economic Society, is an IZA Research Fellow, an Affiliated Researcher at the University of Glasgow's Centre for Public Policy, a Research Affiliate at the School of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow and a member of the Royal Economic Society's Trusted, Accessible and Connected Data for Economics (TRACE) working group, which is examining the future of the UK's economic data infrastructure. She previously chaired the Adam Smith Business School's Athena Swan Self-Assessment Team, leading the School's successful Silver Award application.

From January 2027, Tanya will hold a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship to investigate whether minimum unit pricing policies in Scotland and Wales have reduced intimate partner violence. The project will provide the first evidence on whether alcohol pricing policies can contribute to preventing domestic abuse, with implications for future public health and alcohol policy across the UK.

Her research has been published in leading journals including the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, The Economic Journal, and the European Economic Review. Her work has received several awards, including the Royal Economic Society Prize and the Sir Alec Cairncross Prize, and has informed policy discussions within the Scottish Parliament, the Scottish Government and other public bodies. She regularly contributes to public debate through media appearances and policy engagement.

Personal website: Tanya Wilson

CV: Tanya Wilson

Tanya is a member of the School's Applied Economics research cluster.

Areas of expertise:

• Family economics
• Labour economics
• Applied economics
• Economics of crime
• Economics of education
• Economics of gender
• Policy evaluation

List by: Type | Date

• 2027: Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship - £57,699
• 2025: Scottish Economic Society - £2,000
• 2020: Nuffield Foundation - £391,986
• 2017: British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant - £10,000
• 2016: Stirling Crucible grant - £2,000
• 2016: University of Stirling SEED Funding - £1,500
• 2015: Scottish Institute of Research in Economics (SIRE) Activities Grant - £5,000
• 2012: Helen Robinson Award
• 2011: Nuffield Foundation - £2,000 

Available for supervision on topics within Applied Economics, such as:

• Policy Evaluation
• Economics of Education
• Economics of the Family
• Economics of Gender
• Economics of Ageing
• Economics of Crime

Current supervision

• Agarkov, Trofim
  Essays in Economics

• ECON 5094: Topics in Applied Microeconomics
• ECON 4020: Microeconomic Analysis

Prizes, awards & distinctions

• 2017: Sir Alec Cairncross Prize (Scottish Economic Society)
• 2016: Royal Economic Society Prize (Royal Economic Society)
• 2012: Helen Robinson Prize (Work and Pensions Economic Group (WPEG))

Research fellowships

• 2027: Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship

Grant committees & research advisory boards

• 2026: Dekaban-Liddle Fellowship Committee, Dekaban-Liddle Fellowship Committee
• 2025 - 2026: Nuffield Foundation, How can low earners afford a commensurate retirement income?
• 2022 - 2024: Dekaban-Liddle Fellowship, Dekaban-Liddle Fellowship Committee
• 2021: UKRI, Future Leaders Fellow Peer Review College
• 2019 - 2021: Nuffield Foundation, Class Size and Human Capital Accumulation Advisory Board
• 2020 - 2020: Royal Society of Edinburgh and Scottish Government, Roundtable on Structural Funds
• 2018 - 2019: Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Retention and Promotion of Women in STEM Occupations Working Group
• 2017 - 2018: Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Gender Pay Gap in Scotland working group

Editorial boards

• 2022 - 2026: Scottish Journal of Political Economy

Professional & learned societies

• 2026: President, Scottish Economic Society
• 2023 - 2026: President-Elect, Scottish Economic Society
• 2020 - 2023: Honorary Treasurer, Scottish Economic Society
• 2016 - 2020: Council Member, Scottish Economic Society

Selected international presentations

• 2026: Royal Economic Society Annual Conference (Newcastle, UK)
• 2026: European Society of Population Economics Annual Conference (Helsinki, Finland)
• 2026: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Glasgow, UK)
• 2025: Econometric Society Winter Meeting (Nicosia, Cyprus)
• 2022: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Glasgow, UK)
• 2021: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Online, UK)
• 2019: Royal Society of Edinburgh-Flemish Academy Symposium: Women in STEM (Edinburgh, UK)
• 2019: American Economic Association Annual Meeting (Atlanta, USA)
• 2019: Asian and Australasian Society of Labour Economics Annual Conference (Singapore)
• 2019: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Perth, UK)
• 2019: Society of Labor Economists (Arlington, USA)
• 2018: Institute of Labor Economics World Labor Conference (Berlin, Germany)
• 2018: European Economic Association Annual Congress (Cologne, Germany)
• 2018: European Society of Population Economics Annual Conference (Antwerp, Belgium)
• 2018: Administrative Data Research Network International Conference (Belfast, UK)
• 2018: National Bureau of Economic Research Summer Institute (Boston, USA)
• 2018: Essen Health Conference (Essen, Germany)
• 2018: Science and the Parliament (Edinburgh, UK)
• 2017: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Perth, UK)
• 2017: Society for Longitudinal and Lifecourse Studies Annual Annual Conference (Stirling, UK)
• 2016: Royal Economic Society Annual Conference (Sussex, UK)
• 2016: Society of Labor Economists (Seattle, USA)
• 2016: European Society of Population Economics Annual Conference (Berlin, Germany)
• 2016: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Perth, UK)
• 2015: European Economic Association Annual Congress (Mannheim, Germany)
• 2015: National Academy of Sciences - Economics of Entrepreneurship (Washington DC, USA)
• 2015: European Society of Population Economics Annual Conference (Izmir, Turkey)
• 2015: World Meeting of Society of Labor Economists & European Association of Labour Economists (Montreal, Canada)
• 2014: Scottish Economic Society Annual Conference (Perth, UK)
• 2014: Royal Economic Society Annual Conference (Manchester, UK)
• 2014: European Society of Population Economics Annual Conference (Braga, Portugal)
• 2014: International Workshop on Applied Economics of Education (Catanzaro, Italy)
• 2014: European Association of Labour Economists Annual Conference (Ljubjana, Slovenia)
• 2013: Royal Economic Society Annual Conference (London, UK)
• 2013: European Society of Population Economics Annual Conference (Aarhus, Denmark)
• 2013: European Economic Association Annual Congress (Gothenberg, Sweden)

Supplementary

• Royal Economic Society - Diversity in Undergraduate Economics - working group member 2019-2020; Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Germany) 2023- ; Research Associate at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA, Germany) 2017-2023; Member - Women in Enterprise Cross Party Group - Scottish Parliament 2024 -; Royal Economic Society - Trusted, Accessible and Connected Data for Economics (TRACE) - working group member 2026 - ; Administrative Data Research (ADR UK) - Ambassador 2026 - ;

Awards

• Royal Economic Society prize (2016)
• Sir Alec Cairncross Prize (2017)
• Helen Robinson Prize (2012)

Impact and knowledge exchange

• Scottish Parliament – Member of Women in Enterprise Cross Party Group (2024 - )
• Royal Economic Society Annual Public Lecture schools programme (2022, 2023, 2024)
• British Heart Foundation: International Women’s Day webinar - Mind the Gap (2022)
• Scottish Government Consultation: Developing an ethnicity pay gap strategy (2021)
• Scottish Economics Teachers CPD Conference (2021, 2022)
• Scottish Parliament Inquiries
  • Disabled Employment Gap Inquiry (2023)
  • Gender Pay Gap in Scotland (2017)
  • Scotland’s Economic Performance (2017)
• Royal Society of Edinburgh working groups
  • The Gender Pay Gap in Scotland (2017)
  • The Retention and Promotion of Women in STEM Occupations (2018)
• Healthy Ageing in Scotland (HAGIS) Pilot Launch (2017) - Co-organiser and Editor
• Scottish Institute for Research Exchange (SIRE) workshop “Using Administrative Data for Economic Research” – Organiser

Work in progress

• Long-run Health and Mortality Effects of Exposure to Universal Health Care at Birth (with M. Luhrmann)
• The Equilibrium Marriage Market Effect of a Major Educational Reform: The Role of Unobserved Ability (with D. Anderberg, J. Bagger and V. Bhaskar)
• Compulsory Schooling and Teenage Motherhood 
• Marital Age Gaps and Educational Homogamy - Evidence from a Compulsory Schooling Reform in the UK (with T. Hener)
• Financial Literacy and Financial Inclusion Amongst Older Adults: A Cross-Country Comparison (with D. Bell, E. Douglas and M. Moro)
• The Impact of the Education Maintenance Allowance on Teenage Fertility Rates
• Do Prison Industries Steal Private Sector Jobs (with I. Trapeznikova)
• Mortality and Life-cycle Health Impacts of Early Life Nutritional Environments (with M. Luhrmann)
• Daily Nutrition, Muscle Mass and Mobility in an Ageing Population (with R. Crockett, E. Douglas and L. Hamilton)

Media coverage

• 2026: The Herald Breakfast Budget (03/02/26), BBC Scotland News at 7 (23/04/26)
• 2025: STV Evening News (16/07/25)
• 2024: Daily Express (22/02/24), BBC Radio Scotland (29/05/24); BBC (The Nine - 29/05/24); University of Glasgow Spotlight podcast
• 2023: BBC (The Nine - 21/09/23); ITV(Representing Border - 22/11/23); University of Glasgow Spotlight podcast
• 2022: STV Evening News (04/08/22); BBC Radio Scotland (12/08/22); The Conversation (02/11/22); propertychronicle.com (08/11/22); TV7 Kazakhstan (25/11/22)
• 2021: Discover Economics podcast
• 2020: The Fraser of Allander Institute Podcast (29/05/20); BBC Radio Scotland (10/09/20; 17/12/20)
• 2019: BBC Radio Scotland (20/02/19; 17/09/19; 29/10/19); Mail on Sunday (10/11/19)
• 2018: BBC (Timeline - 08/03/18)
• 2017: BBC Radio Scotland (06/10/17 and 10/11/17)
• 2016: Mail Online (30/08/16); sciencenewsline.com (30/08/16); thisismoney.co.uk (30/08/16); Health Medicine Network (30/08/16); EurekAlert (30/08/16); Newswise (31/08/16); Noodls (31/08/16);
  The Metro (01/09/16); The Conversation (22/09/16); biznews.com (23/09/16); myinforms.com (23/09/16); startupsmart.com (24/09/16); Yahoo Finance (26/09/16); World Economic Forum (28/09/16)
• 2014: CentrePiece, Vol. 18 Issue 3; sciencedaily.com (25/02/14)
• 2013: The Observer (07/04/13); BBC Radio Berkshire (24/04/13); theatlantic.com (06/08/13)