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Professor Colm Harmon

BA (Hons) UCD, MA UCD, PhD Keele
Head of School, Economics

H04 - Merewether Building
The University of Sydney

Telephone +61 2 9351 5625
Fax +61 2 9351 4341

Website Working Papers
Personal website
Contact Details
Curriculum vitae Curriculum vitae

Biographical details

Colm Harmon received his BA and MA in Economics from University College Dublin, and his PhD from the University of Keele. His main research interests are in the economics of education, labour economics and applied economics policy and he has, together with colleagues, published papers in journals such as the American Economic Review, Economic Journal, Economica, Economics of Education Review, Economics Inquiry, European Economic Review, Fiscal Studies, Health Economics, Journal of the European Economic Association, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, and Labour Economics.


He has held visiting appointments at Princeton University, University of Chicago, University College London and the University of Warwick. He is currently an Associate Editor of Economics of Education Review and a member of the Editorial Board of Effective Education. Colm was named a research fellow at IZA (Bonn) in November 2000.

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Research interests

  • Applied Economics
  • Economics Of Education
  • Labour Economics
  • Econometric And Statistical Methods

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Associations

Colm Harmon was named a research fellow at IZA (Bonn) in November 2000.

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Selected grants

2011

  • SHARE-M4; Harmon C; EU Framework Programme Seven/Research Support.

2009

  • Recovery Conference; Harmon C; University College Dublin (Ireland)/Shared Research Support.
  • IRCHSS Visiting Fellowship; Harmon C; IRCHSS/Research Support.

2008

  • Private and Social Returns to Education; Bingley P, Walker I, Harmon C; Danish Research Council/Research Support.
  • SHARE-LEAP; Harmon C, Delaney L; EU Framework Programme Seven/Research Support.
  • SHARE-PREP; Delaney L, Harmon C; EU Framework Programme Seven/Research Support.

2007

  • Evaluation of the Preparing for Life Randomised Experiment; Harmon C, Doyle O, Tremblay R; The Atlantic Philanthropies/Research Support.

2006

  • Irish University Study Panel; Harmon C, Delaney L; Higher Education Authority (Ireland)/Strategic Innovation Fund.
  • Eurostudent Ireland; Delaney L, Harmon C, Wall P; Higher Education Authority (Ireland)/Research Support.
  • Evaluation of Early Childhood Intervention Programme; Heckman J, Harmon C; The Atlantic Philanthropies/Research Support.

2005

  • SHARE (Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe) - Ireland; Harmon C; IRCHSS/Research Support.
  • Dynamics of Drinking Behaviour in Ireland; Wall P, Delaney L, Harmon C; Diageo Ireland/Research Support.

2002

  • Health Economics and Health Gain; Harmon C; Health Research Board/Research Grant.
  • University Education - Social Scientific Evaluations of the Effects on Society; Harmon C, Denny K; The Atlantic Philanthropies/Research Support.

2000

  • An Econometric Model of Burglary in Ireland; Harmon C, Lydon R, Walker I; Department of Justice, Equality and law Reform/Research Support.
  • President's Research Fellowship; Harmon C; University College Dublin (Ireland)/President's Research Fellowship.

1999

  • Cognitive Skills and the Labour Market; Harmon C, Denny K; Department of Education, Republic of Ireland/Research Support.

1998

  • Public Funding and Returns to Education; Denny K, Harmon C; EU Commission Targeted Socio-Economic Research Programme/Research Support.
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Selected publications

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Books

  • Denny, K., Harmon, C., O'Connell, P. (2000). Investing in People: The Labour Market Impact of Human Resource Interventions Funded under the 1994-1999 Community Support Framework in Ireland. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute.

Book Chapters

  • Harmon, C. (2010). The Economics of Higher Education – Beyond a Zero-Sum Game. In Ronaldo Munck and Kathryn Mohrman (Eds.), Reinventing the University, (pp. 57-61). Dublin, Ireland: Glasnevin Publishing.
  • Harmon, C., Newman, C. (2008). Education. In Newman, C and J O'Hagen (Eds.), The Economy of Ireland (10th Edition). Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Ltd.
  • Denny, K., Harmon, C. (2001). Ireland. In Colm Harmon, Ian Walker, Niels Westergaard-Nielsen (Eds.), Education and Earnings in Europe : A cross country analysis of the returns to education. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Harmon, C., Hogan, V. (2000). Econometric Analysis of the Housing Market. The Housing Market in Ireland: An Economic Evaluation of Trends & Prospects ; Report Submitted to the Department of the Environment & Local Government. Dublin: Stationery Office Dublin.

Journals

  • Harmon, C., Delaney, L., Ryan, M. (2013). The role of noncognitive traits in undergraduate study behaviours. Economics of Education Review, 32(1), 181-195.
  • Dickson, M., Harmon, C. (2011). Economic Returns to Education: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and Where We Are Going - Some Brief Pointers. Economics of Education Review, 30(6), 1118-1122.
  • Harmon, C., Redmond, C., Delaney, L. (2011). Parental education, grade attainment and earnings expectations among university students. Economics of Education Review, 30(6), 1136-1152.
  • van Soest, A., Delaney, L., Harmon, C., Kapteyn, A., Smith, J. (2011). Validating the use of anchoring vignettes for the correction of response scale differences in subjective questions. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A-Statistics in Society, 174(3), 575-595.
  • Daly, M., Delaney, L., Doran, P., Harmon, C., MacLachlan, M. (2010). Naturalistic monitoring of the affect-heart rate relationship: A day reconstruction study. Health Psychology, 29(2), 186-195.
  • Harmon, C., Delaney, L., Comerford, D. (2009). Experimental Tests of Survey Responses to Expenditure Questions. Fiscal Studies, 30(3/4), 419-433.
  • Doyle, O., Harmon, C., Heckman, J., Tremblay, R. (2009). Investing in early human development: Timing and economic efficiency. Economics and Human Biology, 7(1), 1-6.
  • Daly, M., Harmon, C., Delaney, L. (2009). Psychological and Biological Foundations of Time Preference. European Economic Association. Journal, 7(2-3), 235-669.
  • Delaney, L., Harmon, C., Wall, P. (2008). Behavioral Economics And Drinking Behavior: Preliminary Results From An Irish College Study. Economic Inquiry, 46(1), 29-36.
  • Chevalier, A., Finn, C., Harmon, C., Heckman, J. (2006). The microeconomics of early child investment. Journal of Children's Services, 1(2), 18-30.
  • Chevalier, A., Harmon, C., Walker, I., Zhu, Y. (2004). Does Education Raise Productivity, or Just Reflect it? Economic Journal, 114(499), F499-F517.
  • Harmon, C., Hogan, V., Walker, I. (2003). Dispersion in the economic return to schooling. Labour Economics, 10(2), 205-214.
  • Harmon, C., Oosterbeek, H., Walker, I. (2003). The Returns to Education: Microeconomics. Journal of Economic Surveys, 17(2), 115-155.
  • Harmon, C., Nolan, B. (2001). Health insurance and health services utilization in Ireland. Health Economics, 10(2), 135-145.
  • Denny, K., Harmon, C. (2001). Testing for sheepskin effects in earnings equations: evidence for five countries. Applied Economics Letters, 8(9), 635-637.
  • Harmon, C., Walker, I. (2000). The Returns to the Quantity and Quality of Education: Evidence for Men in England and Wales. Economica, 67(265), 19-35.

2013

  • Harmon, C., Delaney, L., Ryan, M. (2013). The role of noncognitive traits in undergraduate study behaviours. Economics of Education Review, 32(1), 181-195.

2011

  • Dickson, M., Harmon, C. (2011). Economic Returns to Education: What We Know, What We Don’t Know, and Where We Are Going - Some Brief Pointers. Economics of Education Review, 30(6), 1118-1122.
  • Harmon, C., Redmond, C., Delaney, L. (2011). Parental education, grade attainment and earnings expectations among university students. Economics of Education Review, 30(6), 1136-1152.
  • van Soest, A., Delaney, L., Harmon, C., Kapteyn, A., Smith, J. (2011). Validating the use of anchoring vignettes for the correction of response scale differences in subjective questions. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A-Statistics in Society, 174(3), 575-595.

2010

  • Daly, M., Delaney, L., Doran, P., Harmon, C., MacLachlan, M. (2010). Naturalistic monitoring of the affect-heart rate relationship: A day reconstruction study. Health Psychology, 29(2), 186-195.
  • Harmon, C. (2010). The Economics of Higher Education – Beyond a Zero-Sum Game. In Ronaldo Munck and Kathryn Mohrman (Eds.), Reinventing the University, (pp. 57-61). Dublin, Ireland: Glasnevin Publishing.

2009

  • Harmon, C., Delaney, L., Comerford, D. (2009). Experimental Tests of Survey Responses to Expenditure Questions. Fiscal Studies, 30(3/4), 419-433.
  • Doyle, O., Harmon, C., Heckman, J., Tremblay, R. (2009). Investing in early human development: Timing and economic efficiency. Economics and Human Biology, 7(1), 1-6.
  • Daly, M., Harmon, C., Delaney, L. (2009). Psychological and Biological Foundations of Time Preference. European Economic Association. Journal, 7(2-3), 235-669.

2008

  • Delaney, L., Harmon, C., Wall, P. (2008). Behavioral Economics And Drinking Behavior: Preliminary Results From An Irish College Study. Economic Inquiry, 46(1), 29-36.
  • Harmon, C., Newman, C. (2008). Education. In Newman, C and J O'Hagen (Eds.), The Economy of Ireland (10th Edition). Dublin: Gill & Macmillan Ltd.

2006

  • Chevalier, A., Finn, C., Harmon, C., Heckman, J. (2006). The microeconomics of early child investment. Journal of Children's Services, 1(2), 18-30.

2004

  • Chevalier, A., Harmon, C., Walker, I., Zhu, Y. (2004). Does Education Raise Productivity, or Just Reflect it? Economic Journal, 114(499), F499-F517.

2003

  • Harmon, C., Hogan, V., Walker, I. (2003). Dispersion in the economic return to schooling. Labour Economics, 10(2), 205-214.
  • Harmon, C., Oosterbeek, H., Walker, I. (2003). The Returns to Education: Microeconomics. Journal of Economic Surveys, 17(2), 115-155.

2001

  • Harmon, C., Nolan, B. (2001). Health insurance and health services utilization in Ireland. Health Economics, 10(2), 135-145.
  • Denny, K., Harmon, C. (2001). Ireland. In Colm Harmon, Ian Walker, Niels Westergaard-Nielsen (Eds.), Education and Earnings in Europe : A cross country analysis of the returns to education. Cheltenham, United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.
  • Denny, K., Harmon, C. (2001). Testing for sheepskin effects in earnings equations: evidence for five countries. Applied Economics Letters, 8(9), 635-637.

2000

  • Harmon, C., Hogan, V. (2000). Econometric Analysis of the Housing Market. The Housing Market in Ireland: An Economic Evaluation of Trends & Prospects ; Report Submitted to the Department of the Environment & Local Government. Dublin: Stationery Office Dublin.
  • Denny, K., Harmon, C., O'Connell, P. (2000). Investing in People: The Labour Market Impact of Human Resource Interventions Funded under the 1994-1999 Community Support Framework in Ireland. Dublin: Economic and Social Research Institute.
  • Harmon, C., Walker, I. (2000). The Returns to the Quantity and Quality of Education: Evidence for Men in England and Wales. Economica, 67(265), 19-35.
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