The Research Group, leaded by Prof. Franco Malerba, on the project “Catching–Up along the Global Value Chain: models, determinants and policy implications in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution” (CatChain) funded by European Commision through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action named RISE (Research and Innovation Staff Exchange), invites applications for a post-doctoral position beginning april/may 2018.
The position is designed to foster research related to the project (CatChain) where ICRIOS – Bocconi University is the coordinator with other 12 partners both belonging from developed and developing countries.
Project aims:
A1. To identify whether and how a country should focus more on developing domestic trade networks, to develop sophistication and upgrade before entering into (the more competitive environment of) Global Value Chains (GVCs); or whether it should improve its infrastructure and networks in regional value chains by implementing the Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3) to support economic transformation;
A2. To identify the emerging Business Models (BMs) underpinning the successful entering, learning, and upgrading in GVCs and export, after analysing and validating meaningful case studies in different sectors and countries.
A3. To analyse how the so called 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) will change GVCs in different areas of the world; in particular, since export-oriented manufacturing has been a critical part of the catching-up development story in emerging economies, there might be issues related to the fact that domestic wages rise but the products remain in low-end segment. Therefore, some economies are showing signs of being stuck into the so-called “middle-income trap”.
A4. To identify the most effective modes of engaging with GVC in terms of building effective national (or sectoral) innovation systems and identify the right policies in order to respond to the rising of the 4IR and to take advantage of its opportunities. This due the fact that 4IR may re-write the rules of manufacturing.
A5. To identify the conditions that determine the preferable entry strategy; to identify the policy framework (with reference also to the RIS3 strategy) that could facilitate this entry and support SMEs in developing a profitable business strategy, underpinned by successful BMs, which contributes to economic growth. To give robust scientific answers on whether to enter by sponsoring one large national firm or a set of small and dynamic entrepreneurial ventures, the project intends to bridge the catching–up approach with the GVCs literature, paying particular attention to the role that entry, learning and upgrading strategies linked with different successful BMs, play in fostering a process of country–level catching–up in distinct sectoral systems.
Requirements:
- PhD in Economics or related fields, preferably on innovation-related topics;
- Good command of English. Knowledge of French or Spanish would be a plus;
- Research experience and scientific publications in the topics of the project would be a plus.
Contract features:
- Duration: 24-month, full time contract.
- Starting date: April/May 2018.
- Payment: around € 17.200, net salary, per year.
- Location: Milan (Italy) – A period of maximum 12 months (secondment) will be planned and must be spent by the PostDoc in the partners’ hosting facilities (Centre for Economic Catch-Up – South Korea, Univesidad Nacional de Costa Rica – Costa Rica, Universidade Estadual de Campinas – Brazil, or other partners) for the purpose to reach the common objectives of the project. During this period a top-up allowance of maximum € 2.000 per month will be provided and has to be fully used to support travel, accommodation and subsistence costs for the Post-Doc during the secondment.
Application instructions:
- Application deadline: March 12th 2018
- Candidates should follow all the instruction of the full call available HERE
- Application form could be find at Bocconi website
More infos at: ub-icrios.recruitment@catchain.eu
Principles of research integrity – as set out, for instance, in the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity – will apply to this call.
