My research is currently focussed on the distinctive contribution of the third sector to society and economy in contemporary Britain. It includes projects on:

• the development of large-scale databases on voluntary organisations, including registered charities, social enterprises, cooperatives and mutuals;
• the geographical and sectoral distribution of these organisations including UK-wide comparisons and small-area analyses;
• long-run trends in the formation and survival of organisations;
• the pattern of funding of voluntary organisations, including the balance between public service provision and voluntary finance;
• patterns of voluntary action and the relationship between voluntary action and social capital.

Recent and ongoing research projects include:

EU FP7 project on the Impact of the Third Sector in Europe (2014-16) in collaboration with the Institute for Social Research, Oslo, and several other  universities: http://www.socialresearch.no/News/View-older-news/Institute-for-social-research-is-to-lead-a-new-EU-project-on-the-Third-Sector

ESRC Secondary Data Analysis project on continuity and change in volunteering in the UK, 1981 – 2013 (2013-14) (see http://longitudinalvolunteering.wordpress.com/)

Third Sector Research Centre (www.tsrc.ac.uk) (2008-2014)

Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy (www.cgap.org.uk) – projects on Charity and Social Redistribution (2009-2012)