PhD Candidate in Economics · Iscte Lisbon
Joshua
Beynon.
I'm an applied economist studying why some regions fall behind, and what that does to trust in democratic institutions, using regional panel data across the Eurozone. Before my PhD, I spent nearly a decade in elected office in Wales, including as Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiencies, and as Mayor of Pembroke Dock.
The research
When places fall behind, does trust in institutions fall with them?
My PhD follows a causal chain. It starts with structural shocks from trade, energy and housing, and traces them through regional decline and economic insecurity to institutional instability. It also asks whether policy buffers can break the chain.
Before the PhD
From the council chamber to the data
I was elected in 2017 at 19, the youngest county councillor in the UK at the time. Since then I've helped set budgets, closed funding gaps, written a council's first Net Zero plan, served as Mayor and worked for an MP in the House of Commons. That work taught me how much economic change shapes how people feel about the institutions that govern them. It's the question I now study.
- Mayor · Pembroke Dock
- Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiencies · Pembrokeshire
- Senior Communications Advisor · House of Commons
- One Young World · representing Wales
- UN Environment Programme · speaker
- Future Generations Leadership Academy
Away from work
From Pembrokeshire to Portugal
I grew up in Pembroke Dock, on the Pembrokeshire coast of west Wales. It's where I was first elected and where I later served as Mayor. Today I live in Montijo. I moved to Portugal to be with my boyfriend, who is Portuguese, and I'm working towards fluency in the language.
I'm a keen traveller and have visited more than 50 countries, which is probably where my fascination with why places develop so differently began. Music is my other love: I've passed Grade 1 piano and I'm still learning, one scale at a time.
I'm also a trustee of The VC Gallery, a charity supporting veterans and vulnerable people through art and mental health services. I like all things outdoors, especially running, swimming and cycling, and I once completed an ultramarathon.
50+
countries visited
🎹
Grade 1 piano, and still learning
B2
Portuguese
🏃
Ultramarathon finisher
Get in touch
Let's talk economics, research or policy.
I'm always happy to hear from economists, researchers, policymakers and journalists working on applied macroeconomics, regional inequality, political economy or public finance.