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Research

I am an environmental and energy economist. I mainly work on how public policy can deliver a transition to net zero that is both efficient and equitable. My work combines economic theory with applied and quantitative methods: dynamic general equilibrium (DSGE and CGE) models, spatial econometrics, choice experiments and techno-economic modelling. It is shaped by long-running collaborations across disciplines and countries. I co-lead the Centre for Environmental and Energy Economics (CE3) at Durham University Business School, and I am a Fellow of the Durham Energy Institute and the Faculty of Business Lead in the Centre for Sustainable Development, Law and Policy

 

Research themes

Environmental taxation and policy design

I study how governments should design pollution taxes, subsidies and fiscal rules. Questions include when governments can credibly commit to environmental policy, and whether subsidies can do better than taxes at reconciling output and environmental quality. With Lucy Naga and Thomas Renström, I am also looking at how moral preferences and “warm glow” should shape the optimal taxation of green consumerism and corporate social responsibility.

Sustainable finance and responsible investment

Assets in funds that apply Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria have grown more than 400% since the mid-1990s in many countries. With colleagues at the Universities of Durham and Pisa, I model how responsible investors influence firms’ decisions on pollution abatement and decarbonisation through capital markets. I also ask whether, and how, governments should intervene (governments vs markets).

Energy transitions in emerging economies

In a long-standing international collaboration focused on Bangladesh, I use purpose-built DSGE models to analyse carbon taxes, fossil fuel subsidy removal, energy price reform, oil price shocks, captive power and private access to the grid, renewables, and how reforms affect income groups and urban and rural households differently. Results from this work underpinned the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission’s 2017 decision on electricity prices.

SEE HERE FOR RESEARCH ON ENERGY MARKETS IN BANGLADESH

Decarbonising heat, transport and industry in the UK

Much of my recent work is about design and analyse solutions to net zero, especially in the North East of England:

  • Geothermal energy from disused coal mines: As part of the EPSRC-funded GEMS project, I lead research on how households and communities value mine-water heat. We use choice experiments and behavioural economics to understand what drives clean heat adoption in former coalfield communities.
  • Hydrogen: I contribute to a techno-economic model of hydrogen-fuelled freight transport and refuelling networks for the UK, and I lead a strand of work on growing Teesside’s hydrogen economy and just transition.
  • Clean transport: I am developing dynamic models of optimal fuel and vehicle taxes and energy-efficiency subsidies with heterogeneous households, to assess effects on pollution, congestion, emissions and economic welfare.
  • Carbon capture and storage: Within a project commissioned by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, I study the decarbonisation potential, environmental and ecological impacts, and public preferences and willingness to pay for the Humber Carbon Capture Pipeline and the Northern Endurance Partnership.

Pollution and health

Using spatial econometrics and data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, I collaborate on projects to estimate the health effects of ambient and indoor air pollution in China, controlling for income and other socio-economic and geographical factors.

Just transitions to a net zero world

I am Principal Investigator of JusTN0W: Just Transitions to a Net Zero World, a £3.3 million Durham University Strategic Research Fund initiative. It brings together economists, lawyers, social and natural scientists to study how the move away from fossil fuels can be just, orderly and equitable. Since 2021 I have been part of the Durham University observer delegation to the UN Climate Change Conferences (COP26 to COP31).

Public economics more broadly

I also work on wider questions in public economics within collaborative projects:

  • optimal “sin taxes” on alcohol, tobacco, sugar and fat when health care and health investment are taken into account
  • the design of student loans and graduate taxes for “second chance” students
  • sovereign default and debt relief when lenders cannot observe a country’s physical capital, with an application to Argentina

 

Selected publications

  • Marsiliani, L., Renström, T. and Yasawang, N. (2025) “Sovereign Default with Unobservable Physical Capital,” Theoretical Economics Letters, 15(5).
  • Raeesi, R., Searle, C., Balta-Ozkan, N., Marsiliani, L., Tian, M. and Greening, P. (2024) “Hydrogen Supply Chain and Refuelling Network Design: Assessment of Alternative Scenarios for the Long-Haul Road Freight in the UK,” International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 52.
  • Marsiliani, L., Naga, L., Renström, T. and Spataro, L. (2023) “Theory of Socially Responsible Investment: A Review,” in Assessing the EU Strategy on Green Finance and ESG Factors, Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Amin, S., Jamasb, T., Llorca, M., Marsiliani, L. and Renström, T. (2022) “Decarbonisation Policies and Energy Price Reforms in Bangladesh,” Energy Policy, 170.
  • Amin, S., Jamasb, T., Llorca, M., Marsiliani, L., Renström, T. and Sarkar, A. (2021) “Captive Power, Market Access and Macroeconomic Performance: Reforming the Bangladesh Electricity Sector,” Energy Economics, 102.
  • Renström, T., Spataro, L. and Marsiliani, L. (2021) “Can Subsidies rather than Pollution Taxes Break the Trade-off between Economic Output and Environmental Protection?” Energy Economics, 95.
  • Wang, J., Marsiliani, L. and Renström, T. (2019) “Optimal Sin Taxes in the Presence of Income Taxes and Health Care,” Economics Letters, 186.
  • Marsiliani, L. and Renström, T. (2000) “Time Inconsistency in Environmental Policy: Tax Earmarking as a Commitment Solution,” Economic Journal, 110(462).

 

Selected working papers

 

Funding and collaborators

My research has been funded by UKRI/EPSRC, ESRC/NERC, Research England (HEIF), the Commonwealth–Rutherford Fund (BEIS), the European Commission (Marie Curie and EURESCO), the Northern Powerhouse Partnership and Durham University. My co-authors are based at the following institutions:

  • Durham, Leeds, Exeter, Kent, Cranfield and Heriot-Watt
  • Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), North South University (Bangladesh), Bangkok University (Thailand), Tokai University (Japan), Pontificia Universidad Católica (Chile), Lasbela University (Pakistan), University of Pisa (Italy), Tilburg University (the Netherlands), University of Rostock (Germany), Leipzig University (Germany).
  • the British Geological Survey, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research
  • Korean Central Bank

 

Get in touch

I would be delighted to hear from colleagues, prospective PhD students and partners in policy and industry who are interested in these or related topics. I have supervised several PhDs to completion and welcome enquiries in environmental, energy and public economics.

 

 

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