Skip to main content

Laura Marsiliani

Department of Economics
Durham University Business School
Mill Hill Lane
Durham DH1 3LB, UK

Tel +44-(0)191-334 6363

E-mail [email protected]

@LMarsiliani

Laura is an economist active in the fields of public, environmental, natural resource and energy economics. She is currently a Professor of Economics, Faculty EDI Lead for Race and Ethnicity, Fellow of the Durham Energy Institute and Centre for Sustainable Development, Law and Policy and Co-Director of the Centre for Environmental and Energy Economics at Durham University. She has held academic and visiting positions at the Universities of Rochester and University of California Santa Barbara, USA, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands and Sichuan University, China. Laura holds a PhD in Economics from London Business School and an MSc in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from University College London. She has widely published in peer-reviewed international journals. She has participated in research projects funded by the UKRI, ESRC, BEIS and the EU, and more recently in major interdisciplinary projects on renewables such as the HEIF/Research England ‘Growing Teesside’s Hydrogen Economy and Catalysing a Just Transition to Net Zero’ and the EPSRC/NERC ‘Geothermal Energy from Mines and Solar Geothermal Heat’. Her research has informed the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) on electricity pricing and capacity policies, especially in connection to captive and quick-rental power plants. She has chaired two EURESCO conferences on the International Dimension of Environmental Policy and edited two books on the same topic with Springer/Kluwer. She was a key-note speaker at the BERC-NSU-BDAEE Energy Summit 2019 held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Laura is actively engaged with the dialogue on climate change, renewable energy and net zero and is a member of the Durham University observer delegation at the UN COP conferences.

Current positions
Professor of Economics

Faculty EDI Co-Lead (Race and Ethnicity) Durham University Business School

Fellow, Durham Energy Institute (DEI) https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/durham-energy-institute/

Fellow and Faculty Lead, Durham University Centre for Sustainable Development Law and Policy (CSDLP) https://www.durham.ac.uk/research/institutes-and-centres/csdlp/

Co-Director Center for Environmental and Energy Economics (CE3) at Durham University Business School

Fellow Higher Education Academy (Advance HE)

Member of the Durham University observer delegation at UN COP

PhD Economics
London Business School, 2000, “Environmental taxation and revenue recycling”

Major fields
environmental economics, energy economics, public economics, political economy

Publications

  • (2024) “Optimal Sovereign Debt Relief and Exclusion with Unobservable Physical Capital,” with Renström, T and Yasawang, N. Theoretical Economics Letters, 14, 321-349.
  • (2023) Hydrogen supply chain and refuelling network design: assessment of alternative scenarios for the long-haul road freight in the UK (with Ramin Raeesi, Kent; Christa Searle, Heriot-Watt; Nazmiye Ozkan, Cranfield; Philip Greening, Heriot-Watt) International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, article link:
    https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0360-3199(23)01807-4
  • (2023) Theory of socially responsible investment: A review (with Lucy Naga, Thomas Renström and Luca Spataro) in L. Spataro, M. C. Quirici,  G. Iermano (eds.):  Assessing the EU Strategy on Green Finance and ESG Factors. Palgrave MAcMillan (Springer); 
  • (2022) Decarbonisation policies and energy price reforms in Bangladesh (with Sakib Amin, North-South University Bangladesh, Tooraj Jamasb, Copenhagen Business School, Manuel Llorca, Copenhagen Business School and Thomas Renström, Durham University Business School, Energy Policy, Volume 170, November 2022; article link: https://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0301-4215(22)00443-8
  • (2022) The vulnerability of the Bangladesh economy to oil price shocks (with Sakib Amin, North-South University Bangladesh, Thomas Renström, Durham University Business School, Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary) in The Handbook of Energy Policy, Springer: https://link.springer.com/referencework/10.1007/978-981-19-6778-8?sap-outbound-id=0DCCE224D37C114106A97AB5B466E75349F9CE3A
  • (2022) The case of Waste to Energy in Bangladesh (with Sakib Amin, North-South University Bangladesh, Tooraj Jamasb, Copenhagen Business School, Manuel Llorca, Copenhagen Business School, Thomas Renström, Durham University Business School) in Linda Arthur, Maria Hughes, and Derek Hondo, eds. 2022, Prospects for Transitioning from a Linear to Circular Economy in Developing Asia. Tokyo: Asian Development Bank Institute, February 2022;  
  • (2021) Captive power, market access and macroeconomic performance: Reforming the Bangladesh electricity sector (with Sakib Amin, North-South University Bangladesh, Tooraj Jamasb, Copenhagen Business School, Manuel Llorca, Copenhagen Business School, Thomas Renström, Durham University Business School and Agnirup Sarkar, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati), Energy Economics, Volume 102, October 2021, 105468;
  • (2021) On the role of captive power plants in the Bangladesh electricity sector (with Sakib Amin, North-South University Bangladesh, Tooraj Jamasb, Copenhagen Business School, Manuel Llorca, Copenhagen Business School and Thomas Renström Durham University Business School), ADBI Working Papers, Asian Development Bank Institute;
  • (2021) Can subsidies rather than pollution taxes break the trade-off between economic output and environmental protection? (with Thomas Renström Durham University Business School and Luca Spataro University of Pisa); Energy Economics, Volume 95, March 2021;
  • (2020) Combining private and public resources: Captive Power Plants and electricity sector development in Bangladesh (with Sakib Amin, Tooraj Jamasb, Manuel Llorca, and Thomas Renström), Emerging Markets Finance and Trade;
  • (2019) Optimal sin taxes in the presence of income taxes and health care (with Thomas Renström and Jiunn Wang), Economics Letters;
  • (2019) Optimal taxation, environment quality, socially responsible firms and investors (with Thomas Renström and Luca Spataro), International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics;
  • (2018) The relationship between growth and the environment in Beijing, using PM2.5 concentrations (with Jingyuan Di and Chong Li), Review of Business and Economics Studies;
  • (2018) The impact of fossil fuel subsidy removal on Bangladesh economy (with Sakib Amin and Thomas Renström), The Bangladesh Development Studies;
  • (2017) Share-ownership distribution and extraction rate of petroleum in oil fields (with Xiaoyan Liu), Review of Business and Economics Studies;
  • (2015) Energy price shocks in Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium: The case of Bangladesh (with Sakib Amin), Review of Business and Economics Studies;
  • (2007) Political institutions and economic growth (with Thomas Renström), Economics of Governance;
  • (2006) The role of government commitment for environmental policy and capital movements (with Thomas Renström), BE Journal of Macroeconomics;
  • (2006) Inequality, environmental protection and growth: A political economy approach (with Thomas Renström). In L.E. Finley (Ed.) Perspectives on Economic Growth Nova Science Publishers;
  • (2004) Optimal dynamic taxation with indivisible labour (with Parantap Basu and Thomas Renström) Manchester School;
  • (2003) Marsiliani, L., Rauscher, M., and Withagen, C. (Eds.) Environmental Economics in an International Perspective, Springer/Kluwer;
  • (2002) Marsiliani, L., Rauscher, M., and Withagen, C. (Eds.) Environmental Economics and the International Economy, Springer/Kluwer;
  • (2000) Time inconsistency in environmental policy (with Thomas Renström), Economic Journal.

In the media:

Marsiliani, L. (2022) “An Economist’s Post COP26 Thoughts” IMPACT, Issue 11: World Economy and Society, DUBS, July 2022

Amin, S. Marsiliani, L. and T. Renstrom (2019) “Quick Rental Power Plant-Extend or Escape? Policy Insights, 21 November 2019

https://policyinsightsonline.com/2019/11/

https://policyinsightsonline.com/2019/11/quick-rental-power-plant-extend-or-escape/

YOU TUBE VIDEO: In Conversation with Prof Alejandro Caparros on the IPCC AR6 report on Mitigation of Climate Change, April 2022.

On the occasion of the launch of the IPCC AR6 latest report on Mitigation of Climate Change in April 2022, Professor Alejandro Caparros (DUBS and DEI) is in conversation with Dr Laura Marsiliani (DUBS and DEI) on his experience as lead author of the chapter on International Cooperation. He also shares his insights on the work of the IPCC, the key messages of the report and the way forward to mitigate climate change.

RESEARCH

PhD STUDENTS (PAST AND PRESENT) Prospective PhD applicants may contact me directly

TEACHING

EQUALITY DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION SEMINAR SERIES

ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITIES

On World Environment Day, 5 June 2023, NITI Aayog, Government of India, released the report Thinking For Our Planet 75 Ideas to Promote Life part of the LiFE Global Call for Ideas https://www.niti.gov.in/life; Laura Marsiliani and Lucy Naga (CE3) alongside Uwe Schlink (Leipzig), were included in the compendium with the project: ‘Personalised Sensor Feedback on Air Pollution Exposure: Nudging Behaviour Towards Adoption of Bike-Share Schemes in Chennai‘. The compendium collects innovative ideas at the intersection of behavioural and environmental sciences, including behavioural and environmental economics.

CE3 International Workshop on ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OPTIONS, 19-20 July 2023; register at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/environmental-policy-options-workshop-tickets-600115109447

https://www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/events/fixing-our-climate-the-bangladesh-perspective/

FIRST CE3 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON “Climate policy after COP 26 and IPCC AR6: the role of international cooperation,” Durham University, 6 June 2022

DURHAM UNIVERSITY COP26 SEMINAR SERIES 2021

BERC-NSU-BDAEE ENERGY SUMMIT October 2019

COMMONWEALTH SCHOLARSHIP COMMISSION 60th ANNIVERSARY AT DURHAM Dec. 2019

EURESCO CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
in co-operation with European Science Foundation.

Delighted to have been a contributor to ECO2 COP Schools Climate project in partnership with OASESDurham County Council and Durham Energy Institute.

COP27 Sharm el Sheik 2022 https://cop27.eg/#/ Member of Durham University Observer Delegation

blog: https://www.durham.ac.uk/business/news-and-events/news/2022/11/cop27-and-the-impasse-of-climate-responsibility/

COP26 GLASGOW 2021 https://ukcop26.org/ Member of Durham University Observer Delegation

LAUNCH OF THE DURHAM UNIVERSITY SUSTAINABLE FINANCE SOCIETY MARCH 2020

On 4th March 2020 the Durham University student ‘Sustainable Finance Society’ held their inaugural event. Dr Laura Marsiliani and Dr Thomas Renstrom delivered a lecture on ‘Sustainable Finance: Opportunities and Challenges’. They addressed the role of green investors, consumers and firms and the environmental and societal impact of sustainable finance. Professor Alan Huston, Durham University Vice-Provost-Education, stated: “I am delighted to learn of this new student group.  The topic will only grow in importance in coming years; good to see students actively involved.” For more information: http://www.facebook.com/dusfs and [email protected].  


Back to the Department’s Home Page.