Dr Maria Koumenta

Senior Lecturer in Work and Labour Market Analysis
Email: m.koumenta@qmul.ac.ukTelephone: +44 (0)20 7882 6925Room Number: Room 4.25c, Francis Bancroft Building, Mile End CampusOffice Hours: Tuesday 1.00pm - 3.00pm
Profile
Roles:
- Senior Lecturer in Work and Labour Market Analysis
- Member of the Department of People and Organisations
Teaching
Postgraduate:
- BUSM049: International Reward Management
- BUSM110: Human Resource Management
Research
Research Interests:
Dr. Koumenta is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Work and Labour Market Analysis. Her research activities are in the fields of labour economics and labour market policy. Dr. Koumenta works on labour market issues relating to pay, pay inequality, gender and ethic pay gaps and non-standard forms of employment in the labour market. She is one of the leading world experts on occupational regulation and has various articles and research reports in leading journals on this topic. Her work explores the characteristics and prevalence of occupational regulation and analyses its impact on labour market outcomes such as earnings, skills, employment and migration.
She has led various projects funded by the UK government and the European Commission and has provided testimony and policy advice to UK government departments (HM Treasury, BEIS, Department of Health), parliamentary committees, and officials at the European Commission.
Dr. Koumenta is on the Editorial Board of Work, Employment & Society and the Industrial Relations Journal. She is also a regular reviewer for the British Journal of Industrial Relations. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Knee Centre for the Analysis of Occupational Regulation, St. Francis University, USA.
Maria was awarded her PhD from the LSE where she also worked as a researcher at the Centre for Economic Performance.
Centre and Group Membership:
- Member of the Centre for Globalisation Research (CGR)
- Member of the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED)
Publications
Journal articles
- Greene, A. M., Kirton, G., Koumenta, M., & Humphris, A. (2021). The gender representation gap: implications for workplace union effectiveness. Industrial Relations Journal, 52(1), 40-63.
- Horton, J., Kiosse, P.V, Koumenta, M, and Mitrou, E. (2020) The Role of CEOs in the Sustainability of Defined Benefit Pension Plans, Human Resource Management Journal, Early View: https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12329
- Williams, M., & Koumenta, M. (2020). Occupational closure and job quality: The case of occupational licensing in Britain. Human Relations, 73(5), 711-736.)
- Koumenta, M., & Pagliero, M. (2019). Occupational regulation in the European Union: coverage and wage effects. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 57(4), 818-849.
- Koumenta, M., & Williams, M. (2019). An anatomy of zero‐hour contracts in the UK. Industrial Relations Journal, 50(1), 20-40.
Reports & book chapters
- Koumenta, M., Pagliero, M. (2016). ”Measuring prevalence and labour market impacts of occupational regulation in the EU.” Research Report to the European Commission, Available here: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/measuring-prevalence-and-labour-market-impacts-occupational-regulation-eu-0_en
- Koumenta, M., Humphris, A., Kleiner, M. and Pagliero, M. (2014) Occupational Regulation in the UK and EU: Prevalence and Labour Market Impact, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, London, Available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/343554/bis-14-999-occupational-regulation-in-the-EU-and-UK.pdf
- Koumenta, M. and Sevilla, A. (2014) The High Cost of High Pay: An Analysis of Within Establishment Pay Inequality in the UK, London: The High Pay Centre
- Bryson, A., Forth, J., Humphris, A., Kleiner, M. and Koumenta, M. (2011) A Review of Occupational Regulation and its Impact, UK Commission for Employment and Skills, London
- Humphris, A., Kleiner, M. and Koumenta, M, (2011) Occupational Regulation in the UK and the US: Issues and Policy Implications, in Marden, D. (ed.) Employment in the Lean Years: Policy and prospects for the next decade, Oxford University Press
Supervision
Areas of Supervision Expertise:
Dr Koumenta is interested in supervising PhD students in the areas of empirical labour economics, work and labour market analysis. You are welcome to contact Dr Koumenta (m.koumenta@qmul.ac.uk) to discuss your proposal and ideas.
Current Doctoral Students:
1st Supervisor
- Subin Hachhethu, ‘Human resource analytics and human resource legitimacy’
2nd Supervisor
- Ying Cui, ‘Social Returns to Education – Evidence from China’
- Rebecca Florisson, 'Career mobility over the life course.'
PhD Supervision Completions:
- Esther Arenas-Arroyo, 'Labour Market Outcomes of Undocumented Migrants.' Awarded 2015.