Steve Bradley is a Professor of Economics. He was educated at Leeds Metropolitan University and Lancaster University from which he holds masters and doctorate degrees. Prior to his entry to academia, Steve spent ten years working in Local Government as a member of the Education Department of Lancashire County Council.His research interests fall into two areas – Education Economics and Labour Economics. He has published widely on issues related to the operation and impact of introducing a quasi-market in the secondary education sector, and the econometric analysis of educational policy. Published work in the field of Labour Economics includes the employer selection and recruitment, tests of theories of labour market matching, the effect of employment protection on worker effort. Recently, he has, in conjunction with colleagues in the Department, completed a Nuffield Foundation-funded project evaluating the impact of the specialist schools policy on educational and labour market outcomes. Professor Bradley's current research interests focus on the determinants of youth unemployment and economic inactivity for Britain, Italy and Spain, the effect of teaching quality on the educational attainment of secondary school pupils and the analysis of transition behaviour in the adult labour market.