Donovan has co-authored two books on
environmental economics with UBS colleague and fellow St Anne's College
alumna Julie Hudson. The book "From Red to Green" examined the concept of the environmental credit crunch, arguing that use of environmental resources could be considered to be an inter-temporal transfer of living standards in a similar manner to
financial credit, and that the consequences of a credit crunch could usefully be applied to environmental issues. The subsequent book "Food policy and the environmental credit crunch" looked at the way in which
food supply and consumption was dependent on
non-renewable resources, and how this may be rectified so as to provide
sustainable food supply in the future. A central argument was the need to control waste with holistic policies, not looking at specific parts of the food distribution process in isolation. In 2015 Donovan published "The Truth About Inflation" arguing that
inflation was a poorly understood concept in financial markets. In particular he focused on the issue of inflation inequality - the idea that aggregate inflation indices do not accurately portray the cost of living for certain groups in society. In particular, as
income inequality increases, Donovan contends that a plutocratic statistic like
consumer price inflation will increasingly misrepresent the cost of living for lower income groups in society. Donovan has criticised the idea of
helicopter money arguing that it reduces policy flexibility, has dire consequences if not controlled, and that raising price inflation expectations may not be desirable if wage inflation expectations remain weak. Donovan was one of the collaborators on the Guy Fox Project's book "How the world really works, the economy", a guide to economics aimed at children of around 10 years of age. An animated cartoon covering the topics of the book was produced in 2021. Donovan is a self-described
political economist, and has been critical of the veneration of mathematical modelling in economics. He supports the idea of the relationship between policy and the economy as being in flux (the
Lucas critique). Donovan has written several pieces of research on the economic damage that arises from
prejudice in a society, focusing on the impact on
productivity and labour markets. Donovan has argued that prejudice irrationally discards skilled workers, undermines existing workers' skills, and reduces flexibility in the workplace. Donovan has specifically addressed the economic consequences of prejudice around
same sex marriage, arguing that the act of denying groups in society access to an institution that grants social status should be considered to be prejudice, and that this undermines economic efficiency. In 2020 Donovan's book “Profit and Prejudice - the Luddites of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” was published, expanding his earlier work on prejudice. The book argues that the structural changes of the fourth industrial revolution are likely to increase prejudice, and that technology will both help and hinder the spread of prejudice. He argues that prejudice will be especially damaging to economies and companies during this period of structural change, as it is not technology but how technology is used that will determine economic success. This means employing the right person, in the right job, at the right time - and prejudice prevents that. In 2006 Donovan authored a detailed analysis of the
London 2012 Olympic games, in his role as economic adviser to the
East London Business Alliance (ELBA). In this research, Donovan argued that the macro economic benefits of the games could amount to between £5.9bn and £7.8bn of long term gains for the London Boroughs of
Hackney,
Newham and
Tower Hamlets. While engaged in a discussion in June 2019 concerning Chinese consumer prices, Donovan commented that the
swine influenza — which was causing the cost of pork to rise – mattered to "Chinese pigs and those who ate them". Patrick Winters and Benjamin Robertson of
Bloomberg reported that "local rivals of UBS, which have been trying to take bigger piece of a business dominated by the established Western wealth managers, were quick to condemn Donovan's comments." ==Other interests==