David Jordan

Applied Economic History as Practical Historicism: Encouraging Policymakers to Reason with the Past

01/01/2026

Abstract: This paper examines how applied history can contribute to policymaking when understood as a way of structuring judgement under uncertainty rather than as a source of policy lessons or predictions. It argues that economic history is particularly well suited to facilitating this role because it combines institutional analysis with disciplined comparison of plausible alternatives […]

Do managers matter? Management practices in post-COVID Northern Ireland

01/12/2023

Abstract: Northern Ireland has a persistent productivity gap to the rest of the UK. Northern Ireland, as with the rest of the UK and Europe, also has a long tail of low productivity SMEs and micro businesses. An important contributor to a firm’s productivity is its management. Managers make decisions regarding the allocation of labour […]

Managed decline? Muddling through with the Sterling (dis)agreements, 1968-74

01/09/2023

Abstract: How do policy makers manage the decline of an international currency? This paper examines British policy towards the pound sterling’s international role in the years 1968-74. Using previously uncited government archival sources, we revisit the view that the ‘sterling agreements’ of 1968-74, bilateral contracts made between the UK and governments holding sterling, formed a […]

Failing to level up? Industrial policy and productivity in interwar Northern Ireland

01/01/2023

Abstract: Northern Ireland’s productivity performance has persistently been the worst of any UK region. This is despite having the apparent benefit of subnational industrial policy since the 1920s. Can institutions – through the interaction between business and local policymakers – explain this longstanding productivity gap? Existing literature focuses on post-war policy in Northern Ireland, but […]

The Northern Ireland Productivity Dashboard

04/11/2022

Abstract: Northern Ireland has the worst productivity performance of any region in the UK. The most recent data shows productivity in Northern Ireland is 17% below the UK average. It also lags behind the Republic of Ireland, where productivity is around 29% higher than the UK average. This dashboard, produced for the Northern Ireland Productivity […]

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Queen’s University Belfast

Research Associate

Read Full Bio: http://pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/david-jordan-2

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