Causal Inference in Panel Data Models with Cross-Sectional Dependence and Heterogeneous Effects

This PhD project focuses on advancing methods for causal inference in panel data settings where standard assumptions - such as independence across units or homogeneous treatment effects - often don’t hold.

In many economic applications, units such as countries, firms or regions are connected in ways that create spillovers, network effects and common shocks, all of which make identification more complex.

The research could involve:

  • Extending difference‑in‑differences (DiD) and related frameworks to allow for interactive fixed effects and latent common factors
  • Developing estimators that account for cross‑sectional dependence and spillover effects in treatment evaluation
  • Studying identification of heterogeneous treatment effects in panels with nonstationarity or structural breaks
  • Designing robust inference procedures when treatment timing is staggered and units are interdependent

Potential empirical applications include policy evaluation in macroeconomics (for example, fiscal or monetary interventions across countries), regional policy spillovers or firm‑level responses to regulation.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for the above PhD topic please follow the steps below:

  1. Contact the supervisor by email or phone to discuss your interest and find out if you would be suitable. Supervisor details can be found on this topic page. The supervisor will guide you in developing the topic-specific research proposal, which will form part of your application.
  2. Click on the 'Apply here' button on this page and you will be taken to the relevant PhD course page, where you can apply using an online application.
  3. Complete the online application indicating your selected supervisor and include the research proposal for the topic you have selected.

Good luck!

This is a self-funded topic

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Yiannis Karavias - I joined the Department of Economics and Finance in September 2023 as Professor of  Finance. Prior to this I was an Associate Professor of Financial Economics at the University of Birmingham, in the Department of Economics. There, I also served as the Director of the Group for Research in Econometrics and Data Science.  My research interests lie in the evaluation of economic policies and interventions and in developing the appropriate statistical tools that will make these evaluations possible. Methodological interests include the analysis of panel data and of randomized control trials. I am currently ranking in the top 5% of all economists in terms of publications in the last 10 years, according to IDEAS. My research has been published in highly ranked academic journals i.e. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Applied Econometrics, Journal of Empirical Finance, Journal of Time Series Analysis, Journal of Financial Stability, Econometric Reviews, Computational Statistics and Data Analysis, Scandinavian Journal of Statistics etc. I am a Co-Editor at Nature's Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. In 2025, two of my scholarly articles were recognized in The Stata Journal as the most cited papers over the preceding three-year period, securing the first and third positions in the journal's citation rankings. My PhD students have successfully secured positions at prestigious institutions internationally, spanning both private and public sectors. Notable placements include: Tsinghua University, University of Essex, Bank Indonesia, Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (Chalco) and Kaplan Inc.  I have secured more than 5 million of external research funding for work on the evaluation of interventions targeted at reducing youth violence and domestic violence. These include a Home Office three-year research grant award of £1,078,377 on “What works Fund, Preventing Violence Against Women and Girls and Supporting Children”, and the "REMEDI - Restorative Services" grant award of 1,580,080 funded by the Youth Endowment Fund. My policy work is being regularly cited by major media outlets such as The Guardian and by policy makers and general and local government officials, and also in government strategy.