Suzanna Nesom
Research Associate

Profile

Biography

Suzanna is a labour economist with a particular interest in the use of evidence to inform policy-making, particularly through the application of quasi-experimental methods.

Suzanna is currently a Research Associate on the Family Finances project, a comparative evaluation of the Scottish Child Payment, assessing its impact on child poverty and parental outcomes.

Career

BSc Geography with Economics (London School of Economics)

MA Contemporary European Studies (University of Bath)

MSc Economics (Cardiff University)

PhD Economics (Cardiff University)

Research

Overview

Suzanna's research focuses on labour economics, applied micro-econometrics, and policy evaluation. She is particularly interested in the application of quasi-experimental methods to produce policy-relevant evidence on gender inequality, poverty, and welfare  policies.

Suzanna's PhD research explored gender inequality across  UK labour markets, applying advanced econometric techniques to evaluate childcare policies and labour market outcomes.

Before her PhD, she worked at the Wales Centre for Public Policy, where she contributed across a range of workstreams to provide independent evidence and advice to support Welsh Ministers and public services in improving policy decisions and implementation outcomes. Her work included contributions to the Welsh Government’s Gender Equality Review and projects related to widening participation in tertiary education, loneliness, trade unions, and other broader public policy themes.

Suzanna also completed a Blue Book Traineeship at the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels, working in the External Relations Section. There, she contributed to work on EU Trade Agreements and the accession process for the Western Balkans.

Publications

Selected publications

• Nesom, S. (2024). Widening Participation in Tertiary Education: Evidence review and reflections for Wales. Wales Centre for Public Policy.
• Nesom, S. (2021). ‘Well-being and the impacts of Covid-19 and Brexit’. Evidence briefing paper. Wales Centre for Public Policy.
• Webb, J., Nesom S., Johnson C. and H. Tilley. (2019). ‘The Value of Trade Unions in Wales’. Wales Centre for Public Policy. Commissioned by the Wales TUC.
• O’Hagan, A., Christensen, E.L., Tilley, H. and S. Nesom. (2019). ‘Tackling Inequality through Gender Budgeting’. Wales Centre for Public Policy.

Full publications list

• Nesom, S. (2024). Widening Participation in Tertiary Education: Evidence review and reflections for Wales. Wales Centre for Public Policy.
• Nesom, S. (2021). ‘Well-being and the impacts of Covid-19 and Brexit’. Evidence briefing paper. Wales Centre for Public Policy.
• Webb, J., Nesom S., Johnson C. and H. Tilley. (2019). ‘The Value of Trade Unions in Wales’. Wales Centre for Public Policy. Commissioned by the Wales TUC.
• O’Hagan, A., Christensen, E.L., Tilley, H. and S. Nesom. (2019). ‘Tackling Inequality through Gender Budgeting’. Wales Centre for Public Policy.
• Nesom, S. and MacKillop, E. 2021. What matters in the implementation of sustainable development policies? Findings from the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, 2015. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning, 23(4): 432-445.
• O’Hagan, A. and Nesom, S. 2023. Watching the neighbours: gender budgeting in Scotland and Wales. Public Money and Management, 43(6): 567-575.

Working papers can be found at my academic website: www.snesom.phd