Professor Seda Erdem

Professor

Economics University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA

Professor Seda Erdem

Contact details

About me

I am a professor of applied economics and the Head of the Economics Division at Stirling Management School. Additionally, I am an active member of the Stirling Behavioural Science Centre. My primary research interests lie in understanding consumer choice behaviour, decision-making processes, and eliciting preferences and perceptions.

My academic journey started with a MSc study in Resource Economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. My studies encompassed subjects such as industrial organisation, food safety economics, and decision-making models. Subsequently, I obtained a PhD in Economics from the University of Manchester, UK. My doctoral research focused on employing stated preference techniques to investigate consumer preferences in the context of food safety.

After completing my doctoral studies, I relocated to the University of York and became a part of a multidisciplinary research team that focused on investigating the public's preferences for innovations in healthcare services. Upon obtaining a faculty position at Stirling, my relentless dedication to research has been directed towards exploring individual preferences, decision-making processes, and perceptions across a broad spectrum of contexts, including food, health, and marketing. In my research, I integrate principles from both economics and behavioural science and employ methodologies from both disciplines. Furthermore, my research interests extend to improving survey designs and refining survey methodologies.

Beyond academia, I contribute my expertise as a member of the Social Science Research Committee for the UK's Food Standards Agency. This non-ministerial government department plays a crucial role in shaping public health policies related to food.

My research interests broadly include applied microeconomics, public health economics, behavioural economics and food and resource economics. More specifically, I delve into the intricacies of consumer choice behavior, decision-making processes, and the elicitation of preferences in domains like health, food, and marketing. I also examine aspects related to consumers' perception of risks, their trust in institutions, the concept of responsibility concerning food safety, and the crafting of effective risk communication strategies.

I have a particular interest in exploring methodological and econometric aspects associated with discrete choice and best-worst scaling methods. My work has focused on issues in these methods, such as preference heterogeneity and decision heuristics (e.g., attribute non-attendance, elimination and selection by aspect behaviours). Alongside this, I am deeply intrigued by the realm of survey design and methodologies, which serves as an additional avenue of my research interests.

See www.sedaerdem.com for more details including publications and presentations.

Follow @erdem_econ

Award

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) CLAHRC Research Dissemination Fund, UK .

National Institute for Health Research CLAHRC Research Capability Fund

Investigates the role of innovative preference elicitation in the arena of primary care and clinical commissioning.

Best PechaKucha Presentation

RATE Nomination

SIRE Activity Grant
Scottish Institute for Research in Economics

SIRE Early Career Engagement Grant
Scottish Institute for Research in Economics

Stirling Management School's Seed Fund

Divisional / Faculty Contribution

Divisional Research Coordinator

Postgraduate Research Director

Head of Division

Examining

External Examiner for PhD Theses

Professional Career

Expert Member of the Social Science Advisory Committee of the UK’s Food Standards Agency

Supervision of Research Assistants

Supervisor for research assistants

University Contribution

Member of General University Ethics Panel

Research programmes

Research centres/groups

Research themes