1. Alans Research Legacy – a Personal View Christine Whitehead LSE 7 th December 2015

2. People Alans early academic career made him particularly sympathetic to young researchers; Alan was happy to share his encyclopaedic knowledge of data and history of policy as well as his practical understanding with me as a raw PhD student trying to develop an econometric model of the UK housing market – even though he didn’t really believe in the approach; Throughout his career he supported academic researchers and young colleagues - always being positive about what they were doing and finding practical ways forward – and accepting when they did not do what he had hoped.

3. Statistics Alan was an economic statistician to the core; But he did not just use them, he was often involved in developing the survey questions and ensuring consistency and protecting the capacity to compare; And also in trying to keep them available to researchers; The last few years have been hard for him as surveys have disappeared or changed – but he would always look for a positive way round when some statistic was not available in the form he wanted.

4. Evidence- based Research While he had a civil servant’s patience with politicians and policy people he always looked to ground initiatives in the available empirical research and to add to that body of knowledge; And indeed where possible to try to modify initiatives when he felt that they went against the analysis; His reference works on housing statistics and policy were careful and detailed in the extreme – but he accepted, apparently without complaint, when others took easier ways.

5. Depth and Width of Knowledge Not just the UK – long and continuing interest in other countries experience and data – notably the USA, Canada, Australia but also France, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries; Not just housing but regional and indeed macro- economic policy; The fundamental was accuracy but also interpretation – he could say the statistics say this but the actuality would be different, because his knowledge went far wider than just numbers; But the other fundamental was generosity to others and interest in their work.