I have published widely on institutions in economic history. In my doctoral thesis 'The Merchant, the Town, and the Crown' I applied new institutional economic theory into the study of a medieval merchant community. I have also examined the information flows and the related institutional mechanisms in creating and maintaining networks in overseas trade. More recently I have challenged previous attempts to explain the pre-modern expansion of trade by institutions that governed intra-group relations.

I have held several reasercher and teaching posts at the university since 1990s.