Dr.David Law

It is with sadness that we share news of the death of Dr David Law, a former lecturer and researcher in economics at Bangor Business School, who passed away peacefully at Aberystwyth on 25th March 2022.

David taught at Belfast University until 1964. He then joined Aberystwyth, swiftly progressing from lecturer to Senior lecturer. On semi-retirement, David continued to teach and conduct research at Aberystwyth, Bangor, Glamorgan and Swansea universities. He taught at Bangor from 2002 to 2012 and was an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow since 2003. 

His research career was motivated by intellectual interest and problem solving. He made important contributions to Regional Economics and Industrial Change, Development Economics and latterly Forecasting and Finance.  
In the area of Regional Economics, he was interested in the economic impact of industrial change and policy on Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In particular he was drawn to their effects on the population dynamics of rural areas. He wrote widely on this topic and contributed substantially to understanding the economic problems in marginal areas such as Mid Wales and Slovenia.

In the area of Development Economics, he worked closely with the late P.N. Mathur at Aberystwyth, a leading scholar in the area of Input-Output Economics. David was interested in using the technique to trace through the impacts of policy on aggregate incomes, output and employment. Several joint publications appeared in both national and international journals.

Later and after his retirement from Aberystwyth when most people would be thinking of a more leisurely life, David became his most productive. Working closely with former Aberystwyth colleagues he developed a strong interest in Financial Markets and a wide range of papers followed covering Forecasting, Market Efficiency, Insider Trading and the Economics of Gambling. 

David’s teaching, like his research, covered a wide area. He taught Industrial Economics, Economic Policy and Development Economics to undergraduates and Managerial economics to MBA students. His lectures were informative, stimulating and highly entertaining. One of David’s great skills was that he could explain complex matters in a straightforward and clear manner - students really benefited and appreciated his excellent teaching. David urged students to question what they were learning and why and never to accept the standard interpretations. He was a very conscientious PhD supervisor and a significant contributor to developing the post graduate School at Aberystwyth based around Prof Mathur. Many of his PhD students became lifelong friends.

As a colleague David was a generous individual who gave freely of his time. A former colleague has commented “You learned a lot working with David. He forced you to write clearly spell out your assumptions and check your data carefully. Whenever you gave him a draft paper to comment on he read it carefully and his suggestions made it altogether better and often different, more interesting and relevant”.

Former colleagues and students will miss his humour, his company and the undeniable force of positivity he brought to their lives.