Dr Vincent Rich

Dr Vincent Rich


Vincent Rich is an Emeritus Professor in International Development and Economics. He was Head of the School of Organisations, Economy and Society from 2018-2021 and prior to that was Head of Economics and Quantitative Methods Department at Westminster Business School for over twenty years. Vincent is an Economic Assessor for the Fast Stream Assessment Centre of the Government Economic Service (GES).

Vincent was an undergraduate at the University of East Anglia, undertook postgraduate study at the University of Reading and holds a PhD from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.  He has been a Course Leader and for four years held the post of Director of Undergraduate Studies in Westminster Business School, with responsibility for the oversight of some 3,000 students.

Vincent joined the University of Westminster in 1988 after working for a number of years as a Senior Consultant with CRU International, a leading independent economic consultancy focused on the metals and minerals industry. There, he acted as an adviser on projects for governments and for major international mining companies. He subsequently acted as a freelance consultant for the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and published widely on non-ferrous metals and on the scrap and recycling industry. He has lived and worked in Zimbabwe and Australia, and has undertaken field research in Mozambique and Tanzania.

Education

  • PhD Development Studies, SOAS, University of London
  • MSc Agricultural Economics, University of Reading
  • BA Development Studies (Economics), University of East Anglia

Professional memberships

  • Fellow, Higher Education Academy
  • Member, Royal Economics Society
  • Member, Society of Professional Economists
  • Member, Royal African Society
  • Member, Development Studies Association


Current Research Degree Supervision (with Professor Linda Clarke as DoS):

Ahmed, Reasat, ‘The distinctiveness of climate change migration: its drivers and implications in the context of employment in the RMG sector of Bangladesh’ (enrolment September 2020; expected completion 2024)

 Research interests:

My early published work was focused on natural resource economics/commodity markets, but in recent years my research interests have encompassed development economics, social enterprise and sustainability, and economics education (see publications).

I am a member of the following University of Westminster research groups: Westminster Development Policy Network (co-organised first Annual Symposium in 2017); Labour Migration Research Group;  Climate Change, Energy Policy and Sustainability Research Group


  • Westminster Development Policy Network
  • Climate Change, Energy Policy and Sustainability
  • Labour Migration Research Group

Sustainable Development Goals
In brief

Research areas

Sustainable Livelihoods; Natural Resources; Social Enterprise