Two 2-year Postdoctoral Research Positions in Economics

Research Areas:

The positions are associated with the following two research projects:
1. Public Debt and Democratic Resilience:
This project aims to establish robust empirical evidence on the drivers of public debt dynamics and to design optimal policies that ensure debt sustainability while aligning with economic agents’ incentives. The goal is to safeguard democratic institutions
through informed fiscal strategies.
2. Sustainability Preferences, Behavioral Constraints, and Predictive Policy Design:
This project investigates individuals’ preferences, willingness to pay, and openness to change in the context of environmental, social, and intergenerational sustainability. It combines high-frequency surveys, lab experiments, discrete choice experiments, and
structural modeling to inform effective policy design under behavioural and political constraints. Building on recent advances in predictive policy analysis, a goal is also to develop and apply methods for ex-ante policy evaluation—leveraging short-run
experimental and quasi-experimental data to predict long-run impacts. This includes the use of surrogate indexes and the application of machine learning and econometric tools to optimise policy targeting and enable real-time policy adaptation.

Candidate Profile:

We welcome applications from candidates working in any field of economics, though alignment with the research themes is desirable. Candidates must:

• Hold a Ph.D. in Economics or be near completion (Ph.D. must be completed by 31 March 2026 at the latest);
• Show evidence of potential to publish in leading international economics journals;
• Have strong quantitative and analytical skills appropriate for empirical and/or theoretical work.

Position Details:

• Job location: Via del Santo 33, Padova, 35123, Italy
• Salary: Approx. € 33.600 gross per year [the Italian taxation authority offers a generous tax break nearly offsetting taxation for all individuals, regardless of their nationality, who were tax residents outside of Italy during the previous two years prior to joining. Individual circumstances apply, for more information, please read here]
• Teaching: No teaching obligations
• Starting date: Q1 2026
• Duration: Two years

Application Procedure:

Applicants should send the following materials to scouting.economia@unipd.it by 21 September 2025:

• Curriculum Vitae
• (Optional) Job Market Paper or representative research work
• (Optional) Cover letter outlining fit with the research themes

Selection Process:

The official selection process entails a formal application according to the official call for applications which will be published in the section ‘Lavora con noi / Ricerca / Assegni di Ricerca’ available here.

About Us:

The University of Padua is committed to equal opportunities, diversity, and inclusion. The DSEA is recognized as one of the leading Italian research institutions in economics and offers a dynamic and supportive academic environment.
Learn more about our department here

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