Current research

Since 2023

The Political Economy of Knowledge-Based Growth (with Diessner S.,  Durazzi, N., Filetti, F., Hope, D., and Kleider, H.)

The project aims to advance the knowledge economy literature in three ways: (i) by providing a new empirical measurement of the knowledge economy that is based on a multidimensional conceptualisation of it; (ii) by identifying different types of knowledge economies and their political-institutional determinants; and (iii) by examining the impact of the knowledge economy on individual policy and political preferences through comparative, observational and experimental surveys of public opinion.

Since 2023

Skill for the Knowledge Economy: The Changing Role of Collective Skill Formation (with Durazzi, N.)

Dual apprenticeship systems have provided economically efficient and socially equitable outcomes in industrial societies by ensuring a supply of skills that match demand and good employment opportunities for academically less promising students. Whether dual apprenticeship systems have adapted to the needs of knowledge economies is still an open question, which this research project aims to test by analysing the effect of such systems, at both macro and multilevel levels, on various socioeconomic indicators and students' school-to-work transitions, taking into consideration the moderating role of the knowledge economy.

Since 2023

Dual Vocational Education and Training, Youth Unemployment and Right-Wing Voting in the Knowledge Economy (with Durazzi, N. and Rathgeb, P.)

This project examines the role of dual-learning systems in shaping the political preferences of European youth in the knowledge economy. Sociological literature documents an increased tendency of the working class to vote for far-right political parties in post-industrial societies. Evidence on the effect of technological change on voting behaviour suggests that this political realignment can be explained by the fact that many routine jobs can now be replaced by technology, low-skilled, low-cost immigration and offshoring, devaluing the working class as a political category. Therefore, working class members increasingly tend to identify with other categories that give them dignity, such as nationhood. The project, therefore, asks whether dual apprenticeship systems, which offer better employment opportunities, can mitigate this status anxiety and reduce the likelihood of young working-class Europeans voting for radical right-wing parties. The test is conducted with a multilevel model using data from the European Social Survey.

Since 2021

Cross-class solidarity in times of crisis: the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on support for redistribution (with Deeg, F., and Harris, E.)

This project analyses the impact of the economic crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on support for redistributive policies in Germany. We develop an alternative hypothesis to the classical self-interest hypothesis, drawing on the growing research on the role of altruistic considerations. We hypothesise that higher-income individuals economically affected by the pandemic are more supportive than their unaffected counterparts of welfare expansion, even if they do not benefit from it, and are less likely to consider welfare recipients "undeserving." We propose a mechanism whereby firsthand crisis experiences change beliefs about the role of fate in one's economic situation in the presence of an exogenous shock. We combine observational and experimental data from an original survey conducted in Germany in April 2021 to test our expectations.