Staff profile

I am an economist with a research focus on innovation. Before joining Durham University Business School, I worked as a Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) in London and as Lecturer in Economics and in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. I hold a PhD in Economics from Birkbeck College at the University of London, an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics, and a Dipl.-Volksw. from the University of Bonn, one year of which I studied at Fitzwilliam College at the University of Cambridge.

My main research interests include innovation and R&D, in particular innovation policy, environmental innovation, open innovation, innovation diffusion, and sustainability.

Output of my work on innovation policy has been cited in several publications by policy-making and policy-advising institutions, such as the Social Market Foundation in the UK, The Hamilton Project in the United States, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, the World Bank, the OECD and the European Commission. I have acted as an academic advisor to the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation of the Flemish Government in Brussels, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and The Behavioural Insights Team. 

My research has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Anglo-German Foundation, the German Research Foundation (DFG), the German Ministry of Finance, and the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), amongst others. I have myself peer-reviewed grant applications for the ESRC and the DFG.

My work has been published in international academic journals including Research Policy, Regional Studies, Small Business Economics, Journal of International Business Policy, and International Journal of Finance and Economics. Find more details about my publications on my Google Scholar profile.

I teach modules in Innovation Management and in Innovation and Technology Management on the BA Business and Management and the MSc Management programmes, respectively.

In my free time, I enjoy hiking, playing music, and voluntary charity work.

Mini-Biography

I am an economist with a research focus on innovation. My main research interests include innovation and R&D, in particular innovation policy, environmental innovation, open innovation, innovation diffusion, and sustainability. Before joining Durham University Business School, I worked as a Senior Researcher at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in London.

• innovation policy
• environmental innovation
• open innovation
• innovation diffusion
• sustainability

Chapter in book

• Becker, B. The Effect of Innovation Policy on Firm Innovation and Firm Eco-Innovation: A Review of Recent Research. In Palgrave Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship. Palgrave Macmillan

Journal Article

• Becker, B., & Pain, N. (online). What determines industrial R&D expenditure in the UK?. Manchester School,
• Becker, B., Roper, S., & Vanino, E. (2023). Assessing innovation spillovers from publicly funded R&D and innovation support: Evidence from the UK. Technovation, 128, Article 102860. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2023.102860
• Becker, B. (2023). Green innovation strategies, innovation success and firm performance – Evidence from a panel of Spanish firms. Sustainability, 15(2), Article 1656. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021656
• Roper, S., Becker, B., Love, J. H., & Bonner, K. (2022). Firms’ innovation objectives and knowledge acquisition strategies. International Journal of Innovation Management, 26(4), Article 2250025. https://doi.org/10.1142/s1363919622500256
• Becker, B., Driffield, N., Lancheros, S., & Love, J. (2020). FDI in hot labour markets: the implications of the war for talent. Journal of International Business Policy, 3, 107-133. https://doi.org/10.1057/s42214-020-00052-y
• Vanino, E., Roper, S., & Becker, B. (2019). Knowledge to money: Assessing the business performance effects of publicly-funded R&D grants. Research Policy, 48(7), 1714-1737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2019.04.001
• Becker, B. (2015). Public R&D policies and private R&D investment: A survey of the empirical evidence. Journal of Economic Surveys, 29(5), 917-942. https://doi.org/10.1111/joes.12074
• Cravo, T., Becker, B., & Gourlay, A. (2015). Regional growth and SMEs in Brazil: A spatial panel approach. Regional Studies, 49(12),
• Becker, B., & Hall, S. (2013). Do R&D strategies in high-tech sectors differ from those in low-tech sectors? – An alternative approach to testing the pooling assumption. Economic Change and Restructuring, 46, 183-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10644-012-9122-7
• Cravo, T., Gourlay, A., & Becker, B. (2012). Small and medium-size enterprises and regional economic growth in Brazil. Small Business Economics, 38(2), 217-230
• Becker, B., & Uebelmesser, S. (2010). Health insurance competition in Germany – The role of advertising. https://doi.org/10.3790/schm.130.2.169
• Becker, B., & Hall, S. (2009). How far from the Euro Area? Measuring convergence of inflation rates in Eastern Europe. Ecological Modelling, 26(4), 788-798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2009.01.016
• Becker, B., & Hall, S. (2009). Foreign direct investment in R&D and exchange rate uncertainty. Open Economies Review, 20, 207-223. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11079-007-9075-z
• Becker, B., & Hall, S. (2009). A new look at economic convergence in Europe: A common factor approach. International Journal of Finance and Economics, 14(1), 85-97. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.364
• Barrell, R., Becker, B., Byrne, J., Gottschalk, S., Hurst, I., & van Welsum, D. (2004). Macroeconomic policy in Europe: Experiments with monetary responses and fiscal impulses. Ecological Modelling, 21(5), 877-931. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2003.10.005

Working Paper

• Becker, B., & Theuringer, M. Macroeconomic determinants of contingent protection: The case of the European Union
• Becker, B., & Hall, S. Measuring convergence of the new member countries’ exchange rates to the Euro