The proposed research project investigates how place-based policies shape regional productivity, firms' behaviour and territorial resilience in the face of climate, technological and geopolitical shocks. It combines Earth Observation (EO) data with administrative, survey, experimental and firm-level datasets to generate spatially detailed indicators of economic activity, accessibility, infrastructure performance, mobility and tourism flows, supporting the rigorous evaluation of place-based policies and their effects on long-run regional growth and competitiveness. A central theme concerns territorial resilience: the capacity of regions, firms and communities to absorb and adapt to shocks, including natural hazards, geopolitical crises, infrastructure failures and technological transformations. The successful candidate will develop original research questions within this framework, employing state-of-the-art methods such as causal inference, spatial econometrics, machine learning and experimental approaches, contributing to the literature on regional economics and sustainable territorial development.

Candidates should preferably have an academic background in economics and data analysis, analytical capabilities, the ability to handle and analyze large datasets and perform quantitative research in econometrics and social sciences. GIS competences are useful. Fluency in English is recommended.

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The research team is led by Professor Angela S. Bergantino, a full professor of Applied Economics at the University of Bari. She has held and currently holds senior positions in the transport sector at the national and international levels. The research team is composed of several researchers (specialized in transport economics, experimental economics, environmental economics, econometrics and tourism) and post-doc and PhD students in economics. The PhD candidate will use the laboratories and research infrastructures equipped with computers and statistical software specific to research activities.

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