PHD PROGRAMME IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

PhD students

XXVII Academic cycle

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Alessandro Carraro

For information please see CV

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Caterina Arciprete

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Paola Biasi

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foto2_200 Omar Bashagha-Aladghem

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XXVI Academic cycle

angelillo_100 Nicola Angelillo
Research interests: Twin deficits and debt crises, Chinese intellectual property strategy, international economic relations between China and the US.
Nicola obtained his undergraduate degree in International Sciences and his postgraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Florence, Faculty of Political Sciences. His undergraduate thesis dealt with US foreign policy during the Nixon – Kissinger era while his final thesis was about the economic development of the Emirate of Dubai also focusing on the banking system of the UAE and Islamic finance.
He attended a master’s degree in Diplomacy and International Politics (University of Bologna) and then had an internship in Beijing (PRC) at the Intellectual Property Rights desk and Foreign Trade Commission (ICE).
He was selected for this PhD program in November 2010. His main research interests are the economic relations between China and the US.
For more information please see CV
Sara Bonfanti
Research interests: Migration, Social Exclusion, Education.
Recent papers: Biggeri, M., Bellanca, N., Bonfanti, S., N., Tanzj, L. (2011), "Rethinking Policies for Disabled Persons through the CA: the Case of Tuscany Region", ALTER. European Journal of Disability Research, Vol. 5(3), pp. 177-191
Sara Bonfanti is a PhD student working as a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Umea, in Sweden. Ms. Bonfanti's research project aims at exploring the broad issue of young vulnerable people's social exclusion during the transition phase from school to working life analysing the trajectories of life of young migrants settled in Sweden and by adopting the capability approach as main theoretical framework.
In an attempt to map the main factors shaping such trajectories, particular attention will be paid to understand whether and to which extent education is able to prevent the reproduction of processes of social exclusion.
Thesis: 'Analysing Young Migrants' Social Exclusion in Sweden: a Capability Approach Perspective', with the supervision of Prof. Mario Biggeri and Prof. Mattias Strandh (Marie Curie programme).
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Lucia Ferrone

Research interests: Household Economics, Migration, Demography, Gender Issues.

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XXV Academic cycle

Michele Binci

Research interests: Migration, Gender, Labour Market, Rural Development

Recent papers: 2010 'The Impact of Remittances on Child Well-being in Vietnam', University of Florence

2011 'The Gender Impact of Economic Shocks and Crises in Kenya', Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex

2012 'The Benefits of Migration', Economic Affairs, Vol. 32, Issue 1, pp. 4-9

2012 'Internal vs. International Migration: Impacts of Remittances on Child Well-Being in Vietnam', Working Paper N. 08/2012, Working Paper Series, University of Florence

Michele obtained his undergraduate degree in International Studies and postgraduate degree in International Relations from the University of Florence, with a final thesis on development cooperation in the Mediterranean area. In the course of his studies he had an internship at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Directorate General for Development Cooperation (DGCS).

In order to further his understanding of development issues he then went to the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where he completed a Master of Science in Population and Development, with a dissertation concerning the relationship between migration and development.

Prior to starting his PhD at the beginning of 2010, he also worked in London for a development NGO as a Campaigns Researcher, writing on international trade, African regional integration, migration flows and gender issues.

In May 2010, Michele Binci's research on Return Migration was published by Quaderni Forum as a scholary monograph.

In 2011, Michele Binci spent the Spring Term at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), in the UK, as a Visiting PhD Student, researching on the gender-specific impacts of economic shocks and crises in Kenya. Michele has researched gender issues also for the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, participating in the FAO project on 'Gender Dimensions of Vulnerability to Food Insecurity'.

In 2012, Michele's article on 'The Benefits of Migration' was published in Economic Affairs and his research with Prof. Giannelli on 'Internal vs. International Migration: Impacts of Remittances on Child Well-Being in Vietnam' became a Working Paper of the University of Florence.

For more information please see CV.

Antonio Scognamillo

Research interests: Regional trade integration, Returns to education, Impacts of macroeconomic and sectoral policies on inequality, poverty, food security and other issues related to economics and politics in LDCs, focusing on Latin America.

Recent papers: 2010 'Different Models of Regional Trade Integration: Comparing NAFTA and MERCOSUR Experiences', University of Florence

Antonio obtained his undergraduate degree in Development Cooperation from "L'Orientale" University of Naples in 2006 and his postgraduate degree in Advanced Development Economics from the University of Florence in 2009.

His thesis research was based on a 6-month fieldwork carried out at the University of Colima in Mexico and was focused on Counter Agrarian Reform in Mexico and on the prospects of Ejido system survival.

During his studies, Antonio had an internship at the Italian NGO CISS and straight after completing his postgraduate degree, he was selected for the PhD programme.

His main research interests are regional trade integration, returns to education, impact of macroeconomic and sectoral policies on inequality, poverty, food security and other issues related to economics and politics in LDCs, focusing on the Latin American continent.

For more information please see CV

Raffaele Bertini

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Ambra Collino

Research interests: Healthcare system, labor market, gender issues, rural development, focus on China

Recent papers: 2010; Development and Health: Perspectives and Reforms in the People's Republic of China with Prof. Mario Biggeri (paper presented at the CEA conference, Dublin, Ireland)

Ambra obtained her undergraduate degree in Languages and Economics of Far East Asia and her postgraduate degree in Languages and Economics of Far East Asia from Ca' Foscari University in Venice, Faculty of Languages (chinese studies). Her undergraduate thesis dealt with chinese banking system reforms.
Thanks to a scholarship of the Foreign Trade Commission ( ICE), she completed a postgraduate course in business and internationalization at the Venice international University with a final dissertation about business negotiation in China.
Prior to starting his PhD at the beginning of 2010, she worked as a JR export manager for an italian company (Savio spa) in China.

For more information please see CV

XXIV Academic cycle

Federico Ciani

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Research interests: Gender issues and their impact on child and women health; complex emergencies; agricultural markets; resilience and vulnerability to food insecurity

Recent papers: 2012; A Resilience-Based Approach to Food Insecurity: The Impact of Mitch Hurricane on Rural Households in Nicaragua (Job Market Paper)

2011; Surviving the Genocide: the Impact of the 1994 Rwanda Genocide on Child Mortality; with Prof. G.C. Giannelli (paper presented at the XXV ESPE conference in Hangzhou, China)

2010; Is Rwanda the Promised Land for African Women? Evidence from DHS; mimeo; University of Florence

2010; Betting on Food the Role of Market Fundamentals in 2008-2009 Food Price Boom (paper presented at the 117th EEAE Seminar in Stuttgart in November 2010)

Thesis: 'Resilience approach as an instrument for policy making: the case of Nicaragua', with the supervision of Prof. Donato Romano

Federico obtained his undergraduate degree in Economic Development and International Cooperation and his postgraduate degree in Advanced Development Economics from the University of Florence. His undergraduate thesis was on child health in Mali while his final thesis dealt with Chinese impact on African agriculture. During his studies Federico had several internships in Italy and abroad. He had an internship at Terranuova (an Italian NGO ) in Mali; at CTM, one of the most important European firms in the field of fair trade and at Banca Etica, Italian leader as concerns ethical banking.

Immediately after the achievement of his postgraduate degree Federico was selected for this Phd programme. Since then Federico went on focusing its research interests on child health and agricultural markets and resilience to food insecurity.

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Marco Tiberti

Marco Tiberti

Research interests: Agriculture-growth nexus in the Africa, Rural development, Poverty, Microsimulations

Recent papers:2012 The Impacts of Agricultural Policies in Tanzania: An Agricultural Household Model-Based Assessment (Job Market Paper)

2010 'Agricultural sector and growth: an empirical investigation', mimeo, University of Florence

2010 'Banking, Currency and Stock Market Crises: Theory and Stylized Facts', mimeo, University of Florence

Thesis: ‘Estimating the impact of agricultural policies on households’ welfare within the perspectives of agricultural household models: the case of Tanzania’, with the supervision of Prof. Donato Romano

Marco obtained his undergraduate degree in Economic Development and International Cooperation and his postgraduate degree in Advanced Development Economics from the University of Florence with a final thesis on the estimation of equivalence scales in order to empirically analyse the sensitivity of poverty and inequality measures in Syria.

In the course of his studies he had an internship at C.O.P.E. (an Italian NGO) in Tanzania and he participated in a research project at the Economics Department and Banca Etica (Italian leader as concerns ethical banking) in Florence.

Straight after completing his postgraduate degree, he was selected for the PhD programme. His main research interests are the issues related to rural development and the agriculture-growth nexus in the African continent.
 From February to June 2010 he worked as short term consultant at FAO in Rome, providing analytical support on the project "Smallholders in transition: Behavior, constraints and policies".

For more information please see CV