Professor Alastair Bailey

Professor Alastair Bailey gained his first degree in Agriculture from UCNW Bangor after which he moved to the University of Reading to undertake a PhD in the School of Agricultural Economics. He subsequently worked as a Research Fellow at Wye College, University of London and went on to become Lecturer in Agricultural Economics at both Wye and Imperial Colleges where he was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2004. 

Alastair moved to the University of Kent in 2008 where he gained the title Reader in Agricultural Economics. He was Head of School from 2014-2020 and was promoted to the rank of professor in 2019.

Alastair’s research interests lie principally in the area of microeconomics and production theory as it relates to agriculture and agriculture's impact on the environment. The questions addressed by Alastair’s work include: 

• the study of small farmer market engagement in both Eastern Europe and in Africa
• rural to urban migration and questions of occupation and residential choice
• the valuation of consumer concerns for pesticide use in food production systems
• the measurement of sector level TFP and individual level technology adoption
• the effect of transfer and transactions costs on the trade in agricultural commodities.

Alastair’s research has received funding from bodies including Defra, the European Commission, the European Parliament and the cross Research Council RELU programme.

• EC541 Economics Dissertation
• EC565 Extended Economics Essay

Current research themes within which Alastair can consider supervising PhD students include:

• small farm market engagement
• the microeconomics of rural development
• the adoption of novel technologies among atomised industries, particularly agriculture. 

Preferred projects would include a significant empirical content.