Staff Directory - Gillian Curran.

My Research

I completed my PhD  with University College Cork in 2014. My research title was ‘Alcohol, Income and Health: a complicated but desirable mix ‘. This research was supervised by Dr. Rosemary Murphy, UCC, and was externally examined by Professor John Forbes, University of Edinburgh.

This research has predominantly been in the areas of health economics, microeconomics and econometric techniques.  It examines if differences exist in income for different categories of drinkers in Ireland using the 2007 Slán dataset and if similar differences exist in health status and health care utilisation. The relationship between alcohol consumption as a variable with income and separately with health is investigated in terms of whether endogenous relationships exist and how such difficulties might be overcome. Econometric techniques to account for the issues of endogeneity and selection bias are assessed and comparisons made between Limited Information Methods and Full Information Methods of estimation. Both methods are used in the estimation of the effect of alcohol consumption on income. In the analysis of the effect of alcohol on income, on health status and on health care utilisation, the relationship between these four variables with a host of other personal and socio-economic variables is also identified. The findings has many implications in terms of policy issues in particular around target versus population based approaches to policy.

PUBLICATIONS

• Ormond, G. and Murphy, R. (2015). An analysis of the effect of alcohol consumption on household income in Ireland comparing Limited and Full Information Methods of Estimation. Journal of Economics and Banking, [S.l.], n. 2, June 2015. ISSN 2376-2160.

• Ormond, G. and Murphy, R. (2016). The effect of alcohol consumption on household income in Ireland. Alcohol 56(2016) 39-49.

• Ormond, G. and Murphy, R.(2017). An investigation into the effect of alcohol consumption on health status and health care utilization in Ireland. Alcohol 59 (2017) 53-67

CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

• Economy and Society Summer School, May 2016: Alcohol and Sociability as Economic and Moral Foundations

• Irish Economic Association Annual Conference, Dublin May 2015: ‘The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Household Income in Ireland’.

• Irish Society of New Economists in Ireland Conference held in NUI Galway September 2014: ‘The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Household Income in Ireland’.

• Health Economics Study Group (HESG) Conference held in University College Cork 2010:  ‘The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Household Income in Ireland’.

Teaching Experience

I have taught a variety of modules both with UCC and WIT. These include Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, Quantitative Techniques, Statistics, Econometrics, Business Mathematics, Research Methods including SPSS and STATA, Health Economics, Critical Thinking in Economics, Reflection and Persuasion in Economics. I have taught both at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.

My Professional Experience

In the academic field I lectured at University College Cork for a number of years and I also lectured with the Institute of Technology Carlow.

I worked with Ryanair as a Yield Analyst and I also worked with the Health Service Executive.