Dr David Comerford
Chancellor'S Fellow - Senior Lecturer
Economics
Personal statement
I am a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Strathclyde. I have a broad spectrum of interests across applied economics, but especially in climate change economics, and in international economics. I am particularly interested in where these two areas may intersect: namely in the potential for climate change to damage global economic integration.
The goal of my work is to study long term policy issues and to provide relevant and impactful research. My experience to date has included engaging with policy makers and writing in the press, both about general economic issues and about my specific research.
Currently I teach undergraduate Macroeconomics, and masters level International Macroeconomics, and Climate Change economics and policy.
My Ph.D. in economics was awarded in July 2013 by the University of Edinburgh. Before returning to university to study economics, I was a qualified life insurance actuary. My previous degrees were in Mathematics and Physics.
Publications
- Apportioning UK public debt after Scottish independence
- Comerford David
- Scottish Affairs (2026)
- Meritocracy and inherited advantage in the United States
- Comerford David, Rodríguez Mora José V, Watts Michael J
- Regional Studies Vol 60 (2026)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2026.2634153
- Climate Policy with Gains from Scale : Is China the Optimal Policymaker?
- Comerford David, Dzido Slawomir
- (2026)
- Energy Shocks and the Climate Transition
- Comerford David, Spiganti Alessandro
- (2025)
- An Independent Scotland's Share of UK Public Debt : Accounting for the Legacy of Quantitative Easing
- Comerford David
- (2025)
- Can autocracies save climate?
- Comerford David, Dzido Slawomir
- (2025)
Professional Activities
- How feasible is the climate transition?
- Speaker
- 1/7/2026
- Scottish Affairs (Journal)
- Peer reviewer
- 7/2026
- Journal of Environmental Economics and Management (Journal)
- Peer reviewer
- 1/4/2026
- Keynote address: 'How Feasible is The Climate Transition?'
- Speaker
- 26/6/2025
- How feasible is the Climate Transition?
- Speaker
- 20/2/2025
- Scottish Journal of Political Economy (Journal)
- Peer reviewer
- 8/2024
Projects
- The Sustainable Development Goals and Trade: identifying “polarising” vs “equalising” trade relationships and the policies associated with them
- Comerford, David (Principal Investigator) Black, Iain (Co-investigator)
- Economic Futures Work Placement 2026 to fund a summer student for 6 weeks
- 21-Jan-2026 - 28-Jan-2026
- Accounting for (the loss of) Globalisation in the Economics of Climate Change
- Comerford, David (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2025 - 22-Jan-2026
- Carbon leakage and trade policy
- Figus, Gioele (Principal Investigator) Comerford, David (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2027
- Investigating the potential for an offshore wind supply chain in Northern Ireland
- Connolly, Kevin (Principal Investigator) Comerford, David (Co-investigator) Crummey, Ciara (Researcher)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2023
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Sustainable Practices of Research in Energy (C-INSPRE)
- Ivaturi, Aruna (Principal Investigator) Robertson, Stuart (Principal Investigator) Comerford, David (Principal Investigator) Eisler, Matthew (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019
- NERC One OceanHub
- McGrane, Scott (Co-investigator) Comerford, David (Co-investigator)
- The multidisciplianry One OceanHub project will be a NERC funded programme over 5 years addressing the sustainability of our engagement with the oceans from a range of disciplinary perspectives. Our role is to assess the role of the ocean in national economies, and assess ways that future environmental change my impact economic activities and trade in developing nations.
- 07-Jan-2019 - 31-Jan-2024
Contact
Dr
David
Comerford
Chancellor'S Fellow - Senior Lecturer
Economics
Email: david.comerford@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3861