New starters: Mariachiara Barzotto

I joined the Birmingham Business School as a Post-Doctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow on the 18 September 2015. The two-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant entitled “SkillUp: Skill development and firm upgrading to sustain the competitiveness of the EU manufacturing sector” (H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 Proposal No 660022) will enable my scientific advisor, Professor Lisa De Propris, and I to explore routes that combine firms’ upgrading strategies along with workforce skill development in order to enhance the innovative capability of EU manufacturing industries. I am delighted to have joined BBS and, in particular, the Global Value Chain Research Cluster.

I have been a visiting Ph.D. student and research collaborator at Cass Business School - City University London (UK). I obtained my Ph.D. degree in 2014 and, before joining BBS, I worked as a Post-Doctoral researcher at Ca’ Foscari University Venice (Italy). My research interests and work experience mainly focus on organisation of global value chains, international competitiveness, EU industrial policy and employment in advanced economies - including skill misalignments and skill development in high-income countries. More broadly, with my research I have strived to reach a better understanding of which territorial levers sustain companies’ performance in Europe and how multinational firms might boost positive externalities within their domestic base by combining global and local value chains. I have been involved in research projects investigating the effects of the hollowing out of manufacturing activities in advanced economies on their home regional socio-economic system, i.e. human capital endowment, supply networks, and institutions.

It is a great pleasure to be a part of BBS. I really look forward to working and discussing research activities with you all.

Mariachiara Barzotto

Post-Doctoral Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow

Email: m.barzotto@bham.ac.uk