Economic Sociology, Organization and Labour Studies

Behavioural and Computational Sociology

The PHD faculty in this area focuses on the understanding of socio-economic behaviour following experimental and computational methods. It is linked to the BehaveLab, a new centre for research and training on behavioural sociology that includes laboratory facilities for performing behavioural research. It follows quantitative methods and uses agent-based modelling and network analysis to examine the interplay of individual behaviour and network dynamics in determining complex aggregate social patterns.

Research in Behavioural and Computational Sociology is particularly focused on three broad sub-areas:

(a) the behavioural foundations of socio-economic behaviour, often with a behavioural game theory approach;
(b) the role of social networks and their formation and dynamics to explain aggregate social patterns;
(c) the influence of social patterns on social behaviour.

Exemplary topics include cooperation and social norms, inter-personal trust in strategic settings, social dynamics & social evolution, reputation & gossip as decentralised social control mechanism, instrumental and expressive ties in economic interaction, social networks and social capital, social emotions and economic behaviour, advice, professional and financial networks, social determinants of health and ageing, opinion dynamics and collective behaviour.

Employment Relations & Labor Law

The PHD faculty in this area is a research group which explores different aspects of labour markets, industrial relations and individual employment relationship dynamics drawing upon diverse social sciences, mainly economic sociology and labour law, and employing an interdisciplinary approach and comparative methodology.

Research in the Employment Relations and Labour Law area is particularly focused on the following broad sub-areas:

(a) the impact of labour market and industrial relations institutions and collective action on terms of employment and working conditions;
(b) the developments in labour and employment relations at national, local and company levels, especially from a comparative perspective;
(c) the impact of technology on employment and industrial relations and on individual and collective rights;
(d) the protection of human and social rights in the (national and international) labour market and within the employment contractual relationship;
(e) the supranational and national policies to increase the quantity and quality of jobs.

Exemplary topics belonging to one or more of such sub-areas include the protection of privacy of workers; new forms of subordination in the gig economy; risks and opportunities of remote working; intra and extra UE competition on employment conditions and salaries; collective representation in immaterial workplaces; collective representation at supranational level; effects of globalization development and crisis on employment and industrial relations; collective representation of non-standard workers; new forms of collective action and protest; UE and national policies to fight risks of employment precariousness, discriminations and inequalities.

Organization Studies & Human Resource Management

The PHD faculty in this area is a pluralistic research group which explores different aspects of organizational dynamics drawing upon diverse social sciences (such as sociology, economy, psychology, management, and anthropology) and employing both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. 

Research in the Organization and HR Management area is particularly focused on three broad sub-areas: 

(a) the complex interplay between organization, management, HR,  and social and environmental sustainability;
(b) the role of technology in today's workplaces;
(c) the complementarities between collective and individual dimensions of employment relationships at the workplace level.

Exemplary topics belonging to one or more of such sub-areas include employee well-being, inequalities in and through workplaces, HRM and (economic, business, social and environmental) performance, job insecurity, organizational design in digitalized firms, HRM in hybrid work settings, technology and creative/craft work, human capital management, employee turnover, compensation policies, employee freedom and employee voice and silence.

Social Stratification, Occupations and Education

The PHD faculty in this area includes scholars interested in all aspects of social stratification and socio-economic inequality, including the institutional as well as the socio-demographic dimensions. We work mostly, but not exclusively, with quantitative methods, including the statistical analysis of both survey and administrative micro-data, and experimental approaches based on the counter-factual paradigm.

Research in the Social Stratification, Education and Occupations area is focused on the empirical study of the distribution of resources among individuals and social groups in contemporary societies, its change over time and space, and its intergenerational transmission. We are interested in the socio-economic mechanisms producing as well as reducing status inequality, including public policies and the welfare state; mating and family formation; group processes creating identities and discrimination; spatial patterns of diffusion and segregation; geographical mobility.

Exemplary topics include concepts and theories of inequality; life-course analysis; poverty; gender and ethnic differences in stratification processes; changes in the occupational structure; social-demographic patterns of inequality; inequality of educational opportunities; vocational training and skill formation; the school-to-work transition; higher education; labour market and career processes; unemployment and active labour market policies; income and wealth inequality. A comparative perspective is welcome, as well as attention to the micro- and meso-mechanisms producing the macro phenomena.