David Bell was educated at Dornoch Academy, the University of Aberdeen and the London School of Economics. He was awarded a PhD at the University of Strathclyde in 1984 and has worked at the Universities of St Andrews, Strathclyde, Warwick and Glasgow. He has been Professor of Economics at the University of Stirling since 1990 specialising in labour economics and fiscal federalism. He was adviser to the Finance Committee of the Scottish Parliament from 2007 to 2013 and has provided advice to the ILO, OECD, the Scottish, Westminster and Irish Governments. In 2015, he was specialist adviser to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee for its investigation into the Financing of Devolution. He has appeared numerous times in the Scottish Parliament as a witness to the Economy Committee, the Health and Sport Committee, the Welfare Committee, the Devolution Committee, and the Finance Committee. He has also appeared several times as a witness at the House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the IZA, Bonn and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. He is a member of the Centre on Constitutional Change and the Centre for Population Change and a special adviser to the David Hume Institute. He is also Principal Investigator of the Healthy AGeing In Scotland (HAGIS) survey, a longitudinal survey of older people in Scotland, which is funded by the US National Institute of Aging and the Nuffield Foundation. He has extensive media experience in Scotland and the UK as a whole.

Media I am regularly consulted by the media for expert views in relation to: youth unemployment, constitutional change, education policy and long-term care. Broadcast media appearances include BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Scotland News, BBC Scotland Newsnight, STV News and Channel 4. I am also a regular contributor to The Scotsman newspaper and have appeared in a number of other print publications. Other Positions and Honours 1998-2000 Member of the Care Development Group, Scottish Government 2003-2004 Member of the Range and Capacity Review Group 2003-2007 Member of the ESRC Training and Development Board 2004-2006 Member of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Advisory Group on the Funding of Long-Term Care 2002- Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2007-2008 Member of Lord Sutherland's Independent Review into free personal & nursing care in Scotland 2007 - Budget Adviser, Finance Committee, Scottish Parliament 2007- Fellow of the World Demographic Association 2008- Research Associate, IZA, Bonn 2008-2010 Member of Commission on Scottish Devolution Expert Group 2003-2007 Member of ESRC Training and Development Board 2011- Member of Scottish Doctoral Training Centre Board 2011- Director of Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE) Work and Well- being Programme 2011- Member of CemMap Advisory Committee (Centre for Micro-econometric Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies) 2012 ESRC Research Fellow on Constitutional Change Awards RATE (Recognising Achievement in Teaching Excellence) awards 2012, ‘For Excellence in Postgraduate Education’ and ‘Excellence in Teaching’, in the Stirling Management School.