In the late 1960s and 70s Derek Robinson, who has died aged 82, established a reputation as one of the most influential labour market economists of his generation. A senior research officer at the Oxford Institute of Economics and Statistics from 1961, Robinson became a senior economic adviser to the National Board for Prices and Incomes, and then to Barbara Castle, the employment secretary, during the tumultuous period around the introduction of the 1969 white paper In Place of Strife.

The disruptive nature of industrial relations and pay bargaining in that era engaged all governments in confrontations with trade union leaders. In 1973 the miners began an overtime ban in support of a significant increase in pay; oil ran short following a production cut by Arab state producers; and Edward Heath's government introduced severe restrictions on energy use and a three-day maximum on the working week. In the midst of this chaotic process, the government established a pay board and invited Robinson to be its deputy chairman. The appointment had the prime minister's strong approval – as one Guardian headline about "Mr Heath's Robinson" indicated.

The board was given the responsibility of ascertaining the pay anomalies arising from the government's counter-inflation policy. They had to take into account whether particular cases could be identified for special treatment and suggest clear principles on which these anomalies might be rectified. That clearly meant that particular groups would be allowed to increase their pay and others be restricted. Robinson authored the board's anomalies report, which at first was seen to point to a possible resolution of the miners' dispute, and a second report, on relativities, that stands, even today, as a classic analysis of the drivers in pay dissatisfaction.

On the publication of the report, Robinson did a heavy round of interviews on television and radio to urge the TUC, the Confederation of British Industry and the government to set up the proposed machinery and use it to reach a settlement of the miners' pay dispute. But the Heath government decided not to take the opportunity and also rejected an offer by the TUC that it would not use settlement of the miners' pay as a benchmark for any other union negotiations. Instead, on 8 February 1974, they put the issue of the miners' pay to the pay board for it to analyse and reach conclusions on the merits of the case. The following day, the miners voted to strike, and shortly after that Heath called a general election, on the theme of Who Governs Britain?

The pay board chairman, Sir Frank Figgures, determined that Robinson should be the interrogator for the inquiry into the miners' pay. This entailed two weeks of formal hearings, in which Coal Board officials, trade union officials, economists and a range of others were interviewed. The miners warmed to Robinson, he said, when he arrived at the inquiry in a Mini, at the same time that the miners' leaders arrived in two Daimlers.

The pay board inquiry had a strong press focus. Its findings were seen as crucial not just to the credibility of the government's case in the dispute, but to its survival during the election. Robinson made clear that his inquiry searched for truth and not partial results. Fred Bayliss, the senior civil servant working with the pay board, recently described Robinson as having the most tenacious and ferocious intellect he had ever encountered. Robinson could go into subjects in such depth and breadth, and emerge with conclusions so solidly based on evidence, that they were virtually unchallengeable. He fully demonstrated that ability during the inquiry.

The board's finding, that the miners were justified in believing that their pay had fallen behind, was a sensational rebuttal of the government's position. Heath wrote to Figgures to complain of bias in the analysis and the fact that the board's findings had been leaked before the election. Figgures replied that the pay board could not control the media. Press attention turned to Robinson's father – a former coalminer who was still employed by the Coal Board at Wentworth Silkstone colliery outside Barnsley – and to his son's empathy with the trade unions. Robinson's reply was straightforward – that the report stood on its own and he would defend the analysis. Had the facts pointed in a different direction, he would have been as robust in his views in defending it. The election was held on 28 February 1974 and Heath lost by a very narrow margin.

It may all have been a pyrrhic victory for the trade unions, as the "one-nation" Heath was dislodged as leader following the election, with Margaret Thatcher replacing him. Heath continued to blame Robinson for his defeat. At one event they were both attending, he came across to talk to the group with Robinson, pointed to him, and said "That man is the reason I am not prime minister."

Robinson was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, son of Benny, a coalminer, and Mary. That background honed his temperament, fired his convictions and endowed him with his accent. Later, when he was a distinguished fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, he was challenged by a friendly colleague that the deeper he was integrated into Magdalen the stronger became his accent. "Yes, lad," he replied, "but in this world you have to define your territory."

After Barnsley grammar school and a mundane civil service job, Ruskin College provided Robinson with the stepping stone to Oxford academia, and it was at Ruskin that he met his wife, Jean (nee Lynch), whom he married in 1956. Robinson went on to Lincoln College, where he achieved first-class honours. After a short period of teaching at Sheffield University, he returned to Oxford, to the Institute of Economics and later, in 1969, to Magdalen. He also spent a sabbatical teaching at the American universities of Cornell and Hawaii.

Robinson produced a stream of studies of labour market issues, a very useful Introduction to Economics (1986) and a cogent analysis, Monetarism and the Labour Market (1986). He had a justifiable reputation for brilliance as a lecturer, challenging, frequently provocative, and always stimulating. Among his students, he claimed William Hague to be one of the brightest stars. He enjoyed the way Hague, when challenged, could bat issues back.

Robinson's attendances at TUC conferences in the 1960s and 70s became legendary. He would arrive before mid-day and place himself in a strategic position somewhere outside the conference hall. Throughout the day, the union leadership would filter in to debate with him. This would continue until conference closed and the evening receptions began. He would then move in turn from one to the other, constantly sparking debate, until well after midnight, with no signs of fatigue. His accompanying colleagues would by then be exhausted.

In the 1980s he worked as adviser to the International Labour Organisation and spent time sorting out the labour market policies of a range of overseas governments. Occasionally he would be met at the airport, taken to a cabinet room stacked with papers, read the papers over the next few hours and write his conclusions. A car would take him back to the airport, and all would be conducted without direct contact with anybody in authority. By contrast, when he worked in South Africa, President Nelson Mandela met him and personally commended him for his work with the International Reference Panel.

To the very end, Robinson engaged in entertaining friends at dinners in Magdalen, an environment in which he felt completely at home. He brought a warm and engaging personality to all his relationships. His wife, Jean, had an active professional life while supporting him throughout their long and happy marriage; he was devoted to his son, Toby, and daughter, Lucy; all survive him.

• Derek Robinson, economist, born 9 February 1932; died 1 September 2014