Dr Chiara Natalie Focacci
BSc Bologna, MSc Oxf, PhD Bologna/Hamburg/Rotterdam
Junior Golding Research Fellow
I am a Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, where I joined in 2024.
My work examines the intersections of behaviour, technology, and the labour market, with a particular interest in how work and reskilling are reshaped in times of socioeconomic transition, and how vulnerable categories are affected by these changes.
I also investigate the role of social capital and community networks in shaping well-being, resilience, and ageing in place.
Before joining Oxford, I held research roles at several international institutions, including UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (with Prof. Carlota Perez), the Robert Schuman Centre at the European University Institute, and the Law & Economics Centre at Erasmus University Rotterdam. I also collaborated with the Laboratoire d’Études sur les Nouvelles formes de Travail, l’Innovation et le Changement (LENTIC) at HEC Liège. Across these roles, I have developed mixed-methods expertise on projects spanning employment, education, innovation policy, and the green economy.
I completed my PhD in Economics and Law, summa cum laude, through a joint programme between the University of Bologna (Prof. Enrico Santarelli), Erasmus University Rotterdam (Prof. Michael Faure), and Universität Hamburg. My dissertation explored the socioeconomic and historical dimensions of active labour market policies and reskilling programmes, focusing on the construction of labour market identities and their social dynamics.
2025. The Missing Window of Opportunity and Quasi-Experimental Effects of Institutional Inte-
gration: Evidence from Ukraine, Rev Law & Econ [w/ Kovač, M, Spruk, R].
2024. Managers in the Era of Digital Transformation: Navigating the Dual Realities of Time, New
Technol Work Employ [w/ Rondeaux, G, Pichault, F].
2024. Green Jobs, Intertemporal Preferences, and Social Pressure: An Experiment for a Green
Transition of the Labour Market, Environ Econ Policy Stud [w/ Dini, G].
2024. Guest Editorial: Empowering Older Adults – Education’s Crucial Role in a Changing Techno-
logical and Environmental Landscape, J Popul Ageing, 17(3).
2023. Mitigating the Labor Displacing Effects of Automation through a Robot Tax, Econ Innov New
Technol [w/ Carbonara, E, Santarelli, E].
2023. Understanding the Dynamic of Government Expenditures for Disability and Other Social
Benefits: Evidence From a Lotka-Volterra Model for the Netherlands, Qual Quant, [w/ Mascini, P,
van der Veen, R].
2023. Let the Facts Speak, Not the Pictures. An Experiment for Rape Narratives, Int J Sociol Soc
Policy, 43(13/14) [w/ Lam, PH].
2023. When We Were Young: How Labour Market Attachment During Mid-Career Affects Working
Life Exit, Int J Sociol Soc Policy, 43(13/14) [w/ Öylü, G, Serratos, L, Kelfve, S, Motel-Klingebiel, A].
2023. The Value of Pension Reforms for Late Working Life: Historical Evidence From Sweden, Int J
Sociol Soc Policy, 43(13/14) [w/ Öylü, G, Kelfve, S, Motel-Klingebiel, A].
2023. Ethnolinguistic Diversity, Quality of Local Public Institutions, and Firm-Level Innovation, Int
Rev Law Econ, 75(106155) [w/ Kovač, M, Spruk, R].
2023. How Does Institutional Context Shape Work-Related Functionings for Regular and Self-
Employed Workers? A Contextualised Application of the Capability Approach to Belgium, France,
and the Netherlands, Int J Sociol Soc Policy, 43(13/14) [w/ Pichault, F].
2022. The Importance of Education and Training Policies in Supporting Technological Revolutions:
A Comparative and Historical Analysis of UK, US, Germany, and Sweden (1830-1970), Technol Soc,
70(102000) [w/ Perez, C)].
2022. Old Versus Young: How Much Do Countries Spend on Social Benefits? Deterministic
Modeling for Government Expenditure, Qual Quant, 57(1).
2022. Choosing the Right COVID-19 Indicator: Crude Mortality, Case Fatality, and Infection Fatality
Rates Influence Policy Preferences, Behavior, and Understanding. Nature Humanit Soc Sci Commun,
9(19) [w/ Lam, PH, Bai, Y].
2022. A New Role for the Social Services: Fighting Unemployment in the Time of Covid-19. Eur J
Soc Work, 25(5).
2021. Technological Unemployment, Robotisation, and Green Deal: A Story of Unstable Spillovers in China and South Korea (2008-2018). Technol Soc, 64(101504).
2021. Regional Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Technological Transformation, Digitalisation and the
Longer Term. The Case of the UK and Bulgaria. Local Econ, 31(1) [w/ Kirov, V].
2021. Active Labour Market Policies in the Evolution of Italian Labour Law. Polis, 35(3).
2020. Why Do Unemployed People Avoid Participation in Training? An Experiment for Policy
Making. Soc Policy Adm, 54(7) [w/ Lam, PH].
2020. “You Reap What You Sow”: Do Active Labour Market Policies Always Increase Job Security?
Evidence from the Youth Guarantee. Eur J Law Econ, 49(3).
2020. Unpredictable Spillovers Among Water Uses? An Analysis of Agricultural, Industrial, and
Household Uses of Water in the Balkans. PLoS ONE, 15(7) [w/ Quintavalla, A].
2019. Can Elites Make a Difference? The Building up of Prerequisites for Modernisation in
Lombardy and Venetia (1814-66). J Eur Econ Hist, 48(3).