National Institute of Economic and Social Research
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research is Britain’s longest established independent economic research institute with over 70 years experience of applying academic excellence to the needs of business and policy makers. In 2011 NIESR was awarded the “Think Tank of the Year” jointly sponsored by the policy magazine Prospect and the petroleum company Shell.
NIESR regularly contributes to public policy evaluations, and general social and economic policy research. It also is a world-leader in macroeconomics and forecasting, operating an econometric model of the global economy (NIGEM) that is also used by the OECD and the World Bank as well as many private businesses. The Centre has a track record in advanced and high-standard social, economic and econometric research into all aspects of labour market policy, including retirement transitions and pension planning. Moreover, NIESR has been conducting research into workplace conditions in the UK and beyond, and continues to lead in the implementation and analysis of the UK Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS).
NIESR has about 30 full-time and part-time research staff who are highly qualified quantitative and qualitative researchers, specialising in areas, such as labour markets, training and skill development, education, ageing, health, as well as global forecasting. NIESR is a register charitable organisation.
Key personnel involved in the project
Andreas Cebulla, Visiting Research Fellow at NIESR since May 2011. His role in MOPACT will be research contributor on Extending Working Lives, NIESR-project lead as partner on Enhancing active citizenship.
David Wilkinson, Senior Research Fellow at NIESR. David will be the NIESR-lead as partner on Extending working lives.
Ana Rincon-Aznar, Senior Research Officer at NIESR. Ana will contribute to Extending working lives.
Anitha George, Research Officer at NIESR. Anitha will contribute to Extending working lives and Enhancing active citizenship.
Main tasks attributed to them in the project
As partners to Extending working lives, NIESR will contribute to
Task 1: Building a conceptual framework
Task 2: Mapping the current ‘state of the art’
Task 3: Identifying and assessing motivations for and attitudes towards extended working lives
Task 4: Identifying and assessing structural drivers of and barriers to innovation
Task 5: Building innovative scenarios NIESR will lead research and case studies in the UK and Spain.
As partners to Extending working lives, NIESR will contribute to Task 2 Receptivity to policy innovation, Task 4 Overcoming negative stereotypes, promoting participation, Task 5 Enhancing the civic and political participation of senior citizens.
Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience
Andreas Cebulla is a Visiting Research Fellow at NIESR and simultaneous holds the positions of Research Theme Director at the Centre for Understanding Behaviour Change at the University of Bristol, England, and of Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. He has over 20 years’ experience in social and economic research, including public policy evaluation, and offers mixed methods skills, combining expertise in quantitative and in qualitative research.
Andreas Cebulla has conducted evaluations and ex-post and ex-ante policy impact assessment in the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. His experience includes business management and business innovation, workplace training, and career and retirement decision-making under conditions of uncertainty. In 2005, he led an innovative comparative study of the working and living conditions of older workers, specifically of those working beyond the state pension age in the UK1. The study was updated in 2011.
David Wilkinson is Director of Education and Welfare Policy Research at NIESR. He is a quantitative researcher with more than 20 years experience covering a range of topics in applied labour economics and education. His recent research has covered evaluation methodology with applications to welfare policies and programmes; developments in policies to increase participation in part-time higher education and life-long learning, in particular looking at the relationship between work and study for older workers; the impact of the receipt of disability benefits on social inclusion/exclusion, employment, and the standard of living of recipients.
Ana Rincon-Aznar is a Senior Research Officer at NIESR. She studied Economics in the University of Valencia in Spain, where she achieved “Premio Extraordinario de Carrera” and subsequently obtained a MSc from University College London. She has specialised in sectoral studies from a cross-country perspective and also has experience of firm-level analysis, covering both UK and Spanish firms. She is a Spanish and Catalan native and is fluent in English.
Anitha George is a Research Officer at NIESR. She has an MSc in Social Research Methods and extensive experience in qualitative and quantitative research, gained and developed both in research and in business environments. She has experience in qualitative research with individuals and organisations. Past employment includes research posts at Lifelong Learning UK and the Sector Skills Council for the lifelong learning workforce and she has recently worked on secondment at The Population Council in Mexico. She is an advanced Spanish speaker.
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1 Cebulla, A. S. Butt and N. Lyon (2007) Working beyond the state pension age in the United Kingdom: the role of working time flexibility and the effects on the home, Ageing and Society, Vol. 27, 6, 849-867.
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