UCD School of Economics

Scoil na hEacnamaíochta UCD

Dr Kevin J M Denny BA, MA, MPhil, DPhil,

Contact Details

Title	Visiting Economics Department, University of Kentucky
Address	School of Economics

Title	Senior Lecturer
Address	School of Economics Newman Building Belfield Dublin 4
Telephone:	Ext. 8399
Email:	ei.dcu@ynned.nivek

Address	Geary Institute B012 Ucd Belfield, Dublin 4 Ireland
Telephone:	01 716 4632
Fax:	01 716 1108
Email:	ei.dcu@ynned.nivek

Biography:

Born in Dublin in 1962, I studied Economics at University College Dublin, graduating with a BA and MA in 1983 and 1984. Moving to Oxford, I did an MPhil in Economics at Nuffield College Oxford (1984-1986). I worked as a Research Officer there from 1986 to 1987.Returning to study then I finished my DPhil in 1991 (The Economics of Trade Unions: an empirical and theoretical analysis, supervisor Steve Nickell) having worked in the Institute for Economics & Statistics from 1988-89. I was a Senior Research Officer at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, London 1989-92.I took up a lectureship in UCD in 1992 and was promoted Senior Lecturer in 2002.

For calendar year 2010 I am on sabbatical at the Economics Department, University of Kentucky

Research Interests

My current interests are various but broadly speaking are empirical and microeconomic with an interest in behavioural and life sciences.They include:

Human Capital, returns to cognitive and non-cognitive skills, determinants of educational attainment
Educational disadvantage
Modeling Voting behaviour
Handedness (economic & cognitive aspects)
Breastfeeding: effects on cognition
Neuroeconomics (EEG/ERP analysis of inter-temporal choice)

Book Chapters

A Chevalier, K Denny & D McMahon; (2009) 'Intergenerational Mobility and Education Equality P. Dolton, R. Asplund and E. Barth (Eds), ' In: Education and Inequality across Europe. London: Edward Elgar.

[Details]

K. Denny, C. Harmon; (2001) 'Ireland' In: (editors C.Harmon, N.Westergaard-Nielsen, I.Walker) Edward Elgar, London, 2001 (eds). Education and Earnings in Europe. London: Edward Elgar. [Details]

K. Denny, C. Harmon, S. Redmond; (1999) 'Wages and human capital: evidence from the Irish data' In: (editors Rita Asplund, Pedro Telhardo Pereira) (eds). Returns to Human Capital in Europe. Helsinki: ETLA. [Details]

K. Denny, S. Bond and M.Devereux; (1992) 'Investment and the role of tax incentives' In: (A.Britton ed.), March 1992 (eds). Private Investment as a policy objective. London: National Institute for Economic and Social Research, London. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

Denny K, Doyle O; (2010) 'Returns to Basic Skills in Central and Eastern Europe: A Semi-Parametric Approach'. Economics of Transition, 18 (1):183-208. [Details]

Kevin Denny; (2010) 'Handedness and drinking behaviour'. British Journal of Health Psychology, . [DOI] [Details]

Denny, K; (2009) 'Handedness and depression: Evidence from a large population survey'. Laterality, 14 :246-255. [DOI] [Details]

Denny, K; (2008) 'Cognitive ability and continuous measures of relative hand skill: A note'. Psychologia, 46 :2091-2094. [DOI] [Details]

Denny, K,Doyle, O; (2008) 'Political interest, cognitive ability and personality: Determinants of voter turnout in Britain'. British Journal of Political Science, 38 :291-310. [DOI] [Details]

Denny, K; (2008) 'Beauty and intelligence may - or may not - be related'. Intelligence, 36 :616-618. [DOI] [Details]
Denny, K,O'Sullivan, V; (2007) 'Can education compensate for low ability? Evidence from British data'. ECON LETT, 14 :657-660. [DOI] [Details]
Denny, K,O' Sullivan, V; (2007) 'The economic consequences of being left-handed - Some sinister results'. J Hum Resour, 42 :353-374. [Details]
K.Denny; (2009) 'On a dubious theory of cross-country differences in intelligence'. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 7 (4):341-346. [Details]
K. Denny, O. Doyle; (2009) 'Does Voting History Matter? Analysing Persistence in Turnout American Journal of Political Science'. American Journal of Political Science, 53 (1):17-35. [Details]
Kevin Denny; (2008) '"Letter concerning Sonnenberg (2007) "Why is academic medicine run by former C-students?"'. Medical Hypotheses, . [DOI] [Details]
Kevin Denny; (2008) 'Handedness and depression: evidence from a large population survey'. Laterality, . [Details]
Kevin Denny; (2008) 'Cognitive ability and continuous measures of relative hand-skill'. Neuropsychologia, 46 (7):2091-2094. [DOI] [Details]
Kevin Denny; (2008) 'Big and tall parents do not have more sons'. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 250 (4):752-753. [Details]
Kevin Denny, Vincent O'Sullivan; (2007) 'The Economic Consequences of being Left-Handed: some sinister results'. Journal of Human Resources, XLII (2):353-374. [Details]
K. Denny, Orla Doyle; (2008) 'Political interest, cognitive ability and personality:determinants of voter turnout'. British Journal of Political Science, . [Details]
K. Denny, O.Doyle; (2007) 'Measuring the relationship between voter turnout and health in Ireland'. Irish Medical Journal, 100 (7):55-56. [Details]
K. Denny, Orla Doyle; (2007) 'Take up thy bed and vote: measuring the relationship between voting behaviour and health'. European Journal of Public Health, 17 :400-401. [Details]
K. Denny, V'OSullivan; (2007) 'Can education compensate for low ability?'. Applied Economic Letters, 14 :657-660. [Details]
K. Denny; (2002) 'New methods for comparing literacy across populations: insights from the measurement of poverty'. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, B, 165 (3):481-493. [Details]
K. Denny, C. Harmon; (2001) 'Testing for sheepskin effects in earnings equations: evidence for five countries'. Applied Economic Letters, 8 (9):635-637. [Details]
K. Denny; (2001) 'Asymmetric Central Bank Response Functions: an application of smooth transition regression'. International Economic Journal, 15 (4):23-32. [Details]
K. Denny, C.Harmon, D.McMahon, S.Redmond; (1999) 'Literacy and education in Ireland'. Economic and Social Review, 30 (3):215-224. [Details]
K. Denny; (1997) 'Productivity and trade unions in British Manufacturing Industry 1973-1985'. Applied Economics, 29 . [Details]
K. Denny, S Bond, J Hall, W McCluskey; (1996) 'Who pays business rates?'. Fiscal Studies, 17 . [Details]
K. Denny, S Bond, J Hall, W McCluskey; (1996) 'Effect of non-domestic rates on commercial property rents: an empirical study'. Journal of Property Value and Investment, 14 . [Details]
K. Denny, S. Bond and M. Devereux; (1993) 'Capital allowances and the impact of Corporation tax on Investment in the UK'. Fiscal Studies, 14 (2):1-14. [Details]
K. Denny, S.J Nickell; (1992) 'Unions and investment in British Industry'. Economic Journal, 102 (413):874-887. [Details]
K. Denny, M. Ridge; (1992) 'The implications of a switch to locally varying business rates'. Fiscal Studies, 13 . [Details]
K. Denny, S. Machin; (1991) 'The role of profitability and industrial wages in firm-level wage determination'. Fiscal Studies, 12 . [Details]
K. Denny, S.J. Nickell; (1991) 'Unions and investment in British Manufacturing Industry'. British Journal of Industrial Relations, . [Details]
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Published Reports

Denny K, Doyle O, O¿Reilly P, O¿Sullivan V; (2009) A Profile of HEAR Schools 2008. UCD, Dublin. [Details]

Doyle O, Denny K, Hyland M, O'Reilly P, O'Sullivan V. ; (2009) Evaluating the Impact of the UCD New ERA Widening Participation Initiative. Dublin. [Details]

K. Denny O.Doyle V.'O Sullivan P.O'Reilly; (2009) A profile of Higher Education Access Route Schools. UCD Geary Institute, Dublin. [Details]

Reports

K. Denny, C. Harmon, D. Hannan and & P. Archer; (2000) Features of the Irish educational system. Reports [Details]

(with C.Harmon, D. McMahon and S.Redmond); (1999) Analysis of the International Adult Literacy Survey for Ireland. Reports [Details]

*; (1999) Local Government Finance in Ireland. Reports [Details]

*; (1998) Replication of Estimates Of Area Cost Premia:. Reports [Details]

(with I. Preston); (1998) Report of Advisory Panel on the use of Fixed Effects Methods in Area Cost Adjustment. Reports [Details]

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Monographs:- Non Peer Reviewed

(with J.Hall, S.Smith); (1995) Options for Business Rate Reform. Monographs:- Non Peer Reviewed [Details]

Associations

Association: University of Paris II (Panthéon Assas), Function/Role: European Community professor

Association: International Association for Research in Economic Psychology, Function/Role: Member

Association: Institute for Fiscal Studies, Function/Role: Research Fellow

Association: ERMES, Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris 2) February-March 2002, Function/Role: Visiting Fellow

Association: Economics Department, Princeton University, June 1999., Function/Role: Visiting Fellow

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Conference Contributions

Denny, K. & Zhang, W.; (2008) A continum of handedness predicts socio-economic success. [Oral Presentation], International Association for Research in Economic Psychology, Rome , 03-SEP-08 - 06-SEP-08.

Denny , K , Delaney, L., Rawdon, C., Roche, R., Zhang, W.; (2008) Event-related Potentials Reveal Differential Brain Regions Implicated In Discounting In Two Tasks. [Published Abstract], International Association for Research in Economics Psychology, Rome , 03-SEP-08 - 06-SEP-08.

Kevin Denny, Orla Doyle; (2006) A network in which Geary Institute is a member. [Invited Oral Presentation], Global Network on Inequality, Princeton , 06-APR-06 - 06-APR-06.

with O.Doyle; (2006) Measuring the relationship between health indicators and voting behaviour. [Invited Lecture], Health Research Board conference, Geary Institute, UCD , 10-JUL-06.

with O.Doyle; (2006) Does Voting History Matter? Analysing persistence in turnout. [International Refereed Conference], Global Network on Inequality, Princeton University , 08-APR-06.

; (2003) The effects of human capital on social capital. [International Refereed Conference], COST Network on Microeconometrics*, CEMFI, Madrid , 20-NOV-03.
with A.Chevalier, D.McMahon; (2004) A multi-country study of inter-generational mobility and its determinants. [Non Refereed Paper/Abstract Presented at Conference], Harvard Network on Inequality, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University , 18-JUN-04.
with A.Chevalier, D.McMahon; (2003) A multi-country study of inter-generational mobility and its determinants. [International Refereed Conference], Social Stratification and Mobility, RC28, University of Tokyo , 03-MAR-03.
with C.Harmon; (2000) Family Background and educational reform in Instrumental variable estimate of education returns. [International Refereed Conference], World Economic Congress, Seattle , 11-AUG-00.
.; (1997) The Economic Theory of Trade Union Membership: Open Shops & Private Goods. [International Refereed Conference], European Association of Labour Economists, Aarhus , 26-SEP-97.
with S.Bond, M.Devereux; (1995) The relationship between Rents and Business Rates. [Invited Lecture], 3rd International Conference Copenhagen, Copenhagen , 23-MAY-95.
with S.Smith & J.Hall; (1995) Local business taxes: the prospects for reform Institute of Revenues. [Invited Lecture], Rating and Valuation Association Annual Conference, Brighton , 11-OCT-95.
with C.Harmon; (2000) Family Background and educational reform in Instrumental variable estimate of education returns. [International Refereed Conference], European Society of Population Economics Congress, Bonn , 17-JUN-00.
with C.Harmon, R.Lydon; (2000) Cross country estimates of returns to education: patterns and explanations:. [Unrefereed Article], Public Economics Study Group, Institute for Fiscal Studies, London , 01-DEC-00.
C.Harmon, M.Roche; (1998) The Distribution of Discrimination in Migrant Earnings, evidence from Britain 1974-93. [International Refereed Conference], ESF conference on Migration and Development, Espinho, Portugal , 22-APR-98.
; (1997) The Economic Theory of Trade Union Membership: Open Shops & Private Goods. [National Refereed Conference Paper], Irish Economic Association Conference*, Athlone , 05-APR-97.
with K'O Rourke, A.Hannan; (1995) Harmonizing Irish Tax Rates: a computable general equilibrium approach. [N/A], International Institute for Public Finance Congress, Lisbon 2. European Economic Association Congress, Prague September 2nd 19953. World Computable General Equilibrium Congress, Waterloo, Ontario November 15th 1995 4. Irish Economics Association Conference, Carrickmacross, April 15th 1995, Lisbon , 24-AUG-95.
with S.Bond, M.Devereux; (1995) Evidence on the effective incidence of local business taxes in Britain. [International Refereed Conference], International Institute for Public Finance Congress, Lisbon, Lisbon , 21-AUG-95.
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Committees

Committee : UCD Research Ethics Committee (Human Research)

Committee : NEREUS Scientific Advisory Board

Committee : NEW ERA

Committee : President's Research Awards

Committee : Social Science Research Council (Ireland)

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Employment

Employer: Nuffield College
Position: Research Officer

Employer: Institute of Economics & Statistics, Oxford
Position: Research Officer

Employer: Institute for Fiscal Studies
Position: Senior Research Officer

Employer: Department of Economics
Position: Lecturer

Employer: UCD
Position: Senior Lecturer

Education

Year 1983 Institution: University College Dublin
Qualification: BA Subject:

Year 1984 Institution: University College Dublin
Qualification: MA Subject:

Year 1986 Institution: Oxford University, UK
Qualification: MPhil Subject:

Year 1991 Institution: Oxford University, UK
Qualification: DPhil Subject:

Outreach Activities

I have given numerous interviews on radio and television as well as having my research discussed in the print media In Ireland and abroad.

Internal Collaborators

My current collaborators in UCD are my colleagues in Geary :

Orla Doyle : voting, returns to cognitive and non-cognitive skills, educational disadvantage

Liam Delaney: neuroeconomics

Patricia O Reilly: educational disadvantage

Veruska Oppedisano: educational production

External Collaborators

Richard Roche & Caroline Rawdon (NUI Maynooth) : neuroeconomics

Jim Heckman (Chicago), Sergio Urzua (Northwestern): returns to cognitive and non-cognitive skills

Vincent O'Sullivan (Warwick): educational disadvantage

Wen Zhang :earnings & stature, handedness, neuroeconomics

Teaching Interests

This year I will be teaching Principles of Microeconomics, Intermediate Quantitative Methods and Masters level Microeconometrics. In the past I have taught at undergraduate level: Introductory Statistics for Economists, final year Econometrics, Public & Labour Economics and at post-graduate level : Microeconomics, Public Economics, Labour Economics, Microeconometrics.

I spent September in Tanzania teaching PhD students on the African Economic Research Consortium's PhD program.

Recent Postgraduates

I have supervised numerous students dissertations on our MA (by exam & thesis).

Modules Taught

200800 ECON20030 Economics: Intermediate Quantitative Economics

200800 ECON10010 Economics: Principles of Microeconomics

(With C. Harmon & B.M. Walsh),; (1997) The Evidence and Arguments for a National Minimum Wage. Reports [Details]
(With S.Smith, M.Ridge),; (1993) Local Taxation. Reports [Details]
Kevin Denny & others; (1992) Tax Options for 1992: the Green Budget. London: Reports [Details]
(with S.Smith),; (1991) Methods for Quantitative Assessment of the Distributional Effects of Environmental Taxes. Reports [Details]
K. Denny, C.Harmon, R.Lydon, I. Walker; (2002) An Econometric model of Burglary in Ireland. Reports [Details]
K. Denny, C.Harmon, P.O'Connell; (2001) Investing in People: the labour market impact of human resource interventions. Dublin: Reports [Details]
(with S.Bond, J.Hall, W.McCluskey),; (1995) Measuring the burden of non-domestic rates on business: the impact of rates on rent. London: Reports [Details]
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