Research Experience

  • Economist with over 10 years of professional experience at the intersection of research and policy; primarily focused on macroeconomics, development economics, and energy economics.

  • Highly proficient in quantitative empirical methods, including time-series econometrics, causal inference, and machine learning, and a working knowledge of structural general equilibrium modelling.

  • Research experience includes novel data collection techniques, including through NLP,, surveys, webscraping, and GIS; has worked with microdata, including firm-level, product-level, and asset-level data.

  • In addition to research work, also has substantial leadership and management experience, having successfully led several international, policy-oriented programmes in collaboration with stakeholders across government, business, and international organisations.

Research Interests

  • Macro / Public Finance (fiscal policy, debt sustainability, sovereign wealth management)

  • Development / Growth (industrial policy, diversification, supply chains; innovation)

  • Energy / Sustainability (energy markets, renewable technologies, critical minerals)

Whilst Sam has a broad set of research interests, his current work is mainly focused on applied policy questions relevant to emerging market economies, particularly those with large resource sectors. More specifically, He is interested in:

  • (a) understanding how these countries can more effectively navigate major structural shifts in the global economy (e.g. energy transition) in the presence of significant political economy distortions / imbalances. This includes better estimation of distributional effects, and identification of key transmission channels, with a particular emphasis on the role of public finance.

  • (b) examining the effectiveness of various industrial policies, investment strategies, and novel financing mechanisms employed by these economies, with a focus on the specific design features, sequencing, and enabling conditions under which these tools can be effectively deployed to support diversification, technological upgrading, and sustained economic development.

  • Beyond this, he is also interested in macroeconomic modelling, with a particular focus on how these tools are designed and deployed by ministries of finance globally to inform policy decisions related to the energy transition, including decarbonisation, diversification, and green growth.

Publications:

  • Co-authored with Cameron Hepburn, Matthew Ives, Penny Mealy, Nicholas Stern, and Joseph Stiglitz (2025). “Economic frameworks and models to guide policy for the structural transformation to net-zero”. Oxford Review of Economic Policy (Forthcoming).

  • Co-authored with Vivien Foster et al. (2024). “Development transitions for fossil fuel-producing low-and lower–middle income countries in a carbon-constrained world”. Nature Energy.

  • Co-authored with Moritz Baer et al. (2025). “A global survey of finance ministries”. The Coalition of Finance Ministers for Climate Action.

  • Co-authored with Samuel Fankhauser et al. (2023). “Mobilising finance for sustainability and resilience in developing economies”. Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford.

  • Co-authored with Felisa Tibbitts et al. (2023). “From commitment to action: Integrating sustainable development into national education priorities”. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

  • Co-authored with Samira Barzin. (2022). “New approaches to economic modelling and data collection in low-income settings”. Institute for New Economic Thinking, University of Oxford.

  • Co-authored with Michael Sheldrick et al. (2020). “A recovery plan for the world: A campaign to End COVID-19 for all and kickstart a global recovery in 2021 ”. Global Citizen.

  • Co-authored with Dario Piselli et al. (2019). “Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through sustainable food systems”. Springer Life Sciences.

  • Co-authored with Jeffrey Sachs et al. (2019). “SDG costing and financing for Low-Income-Developing-Countries”. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

  • Co-authored with Jeffrey Sachs et al. (2018). “Closing the SDG budget gap”. UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Work-in-Progress:

  • Structural trade shocks and socio-economic development (case-study)

  • Commodity prices, fiscal policy, and geographic inequality (case-study)

  • Public investments and export diversification (cross-country)

  • Public finance and the energy transition (cross-country)