Dr Christian Krekel is Associate Professor of Behavioural Science in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science at the London School of Economics (LSE). He is Co-Director of the Wellbeing Programme at LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP), one of Europe’s leading economic research centres, as well as Research Affiliate at LSE’s Behavioural Research Lab and LSE’s Data Science Institute. He is also Research Associate at the Wellbeing Research Centre, University of Oxford.

Christian is an applied economist: his fields are behavioural economics, health, and wellbeing; behavioural welfare economics; policy appraisal and evaluation; and applied microeconomics. He obtained his PhD in Economics from the Paris School of Economics.

In his work, Christian looks at policies and interventions to improve people’s lives – specifically their behaviour, health, and (ultimately) their wellbeing. Recent examples include the evaluation of a nationwide mental health service in England (NHS Talking Therapies); estimating the causal effects of volunteering in the NHS (and Care) Volunteer Responders programmes on happiness, mental health, trust, and pro-sociality; nature exposure (including urban green spaces) and its impacts on wellbeing, mental health, and pro-environmental behaviour; or estimating the social value generated by the 2012 London Olympics or the London Marathon. His work aims at informing evidenced-based policy on how to improve these outcomes in a cost-effective way.

Christian has published in top-tier economics journals, such as The Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, or Journal of Health Economics, as well as in leading interdisciplinary outlets, such as Social Science & Medicine or The BMJ. His work has featured extensively in the media, including The Financial Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, or Forbes, as well as on broadcast, including BBC News and BBC Radio 3.

Christian is a frequent advisor to international organisations such as The World Bank or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). He also advises national governments such as the UK or New Zealand on how to use wellbeing data for policy appraisal and evaluation, as well as businesses and NGOs on how to demonstrate the social impact and value of their operations, on workplace quality, productivity, AI, and how to cultivate wellbeing at work, or on behavioural science more generally.

For his work, Christian has been awarded the Young Economist Award (FEEM Award) by the European Economic Association.