Liliana's work

Teaching:

I am a lecturer in economics at the Robert Gordon University, in Aberdeen, Scotland since February 2003. I am as well the course leader of the PgDip/MSc in European Public Policy, Law and Management.

I previously taught economics in the Bristol Business School , at the University of the West of England, and also contributed to the teaching in the School of Economics and the Faculty of Languages and European Studies.

Research topic:

My research, undertaken during the PhD I have written at the University of the West of England led me both to the fascinating area of the economics of labour migration and gave me a good insight into current European integration issues.

Brief research topic presentation:

I have analysed the issue of international labour migration, in the context of European integration and in the particular case of EU enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The research approaches the influence of economic and institutional factors on migration and looks at the implications of geographical labour mobility in an enlarged Europe, especially concerning the occupational distribution among native and foreign workers. The main goal is to evaluate the qualitative aspects, or the labour skill content of migration flows between CEE and Western Europe. The research investigates both self-selection and 'interventionist selection' - through specially designed EU immigration policies for CEE citizens. These two processes will jointly shape labour movements from East to West.

The question of the research originates in the recognised need to evaluate the possible impacts of future labour migration flows in a wider European space. In order to do that, one first needs to tackle the causes of such impacts, to identify push and pull factors and finally to try to determine who does actually migrate and in what occupations do they engage. It is relevant to look whether East Europeans migrating West are complementary to the labour of incumbent Member States in the EU – and thus expected to enhance the efficiency of the labour markets in West European countries, to which CEE workers tend to emigrate; or if they are rather supplementary to EU labour – and thus, if we should expect negative effects on particular sections of the labour market in Member States. This further influences the future response of natives towards foreign workers and it can guide policy makers in their decisions. Only after clarifying this qualitative aspect, more accurate predictions and decisions can be made, as of what kind of action (or in-action) might bring about the best outcome for an "enlarged European labour market".

And here is a list of my PhD related papers/conferences:

‘The mobility of CEEC workers: a comparative study of Romania and Bulgaria’, book chapter in The new economists on the Romanian economy, (eds) D. Daianu and M. Isarescu (2003), Bucharest: The National Bank of Romania.

September 2001: presentation of paper asking ‘Are some CEECs’ nationals more mobile than others?’ at the Annual Conference of the University Association for Contemporary European Studies in Bristol, 3-5 September 2001

July 2001: PhD seminar paper on ‘The impact of EU integration on the structure of East-West migration’ at the University of Limerick , Republic of Ireland

May 2001: paper presented: ‘Who Migrates? An empirical Analysis of the Selection of Immigrants in Europe’ at the PhD seminar on Enlarging Europe: The Enlargement of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization – in Portaferry , Northern Ireland

May 2000: presented paper on ‘Public opinion and East-West labour migration in Europe’ at the second European Political Economy Infrastructure Consortium EPIC workshop in Corfu, Greece

April 2000: gave paper at the Annual University Association for Contemporary European Studies Conference in Budapest, Hungary on ‘Waves of enlargement and labor migration flows’

November 1999: presentation of Ph.D. research topic on ‘East-West Labour migration in the context of enlargement’ at the first EPIC workshop in Corfu, Greece

Some useful links related to my research topic:

• The UCL Migration Research Unit
• International Labour Office – International Migration
• Migration Dialogue
• Institute for the Study of Labout - IZA
• Intitut fuer Arbeitsmarkt-und Berufsforschung forschung - IAB

Further work:

In 1999 I have been an in-service trainee with the European Commission, Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs, unit for ‘Employment in other Community Policies’. I have mostly worked with issues related to the labour markets in European transition economies, an experience which further guided my PhD research.

Between 1995 and 1997 I worked as a projects coordinator/assistant at the Agency of Economic Development of the Timis county, Romania, in the framework of the Partnership for economic development Banat-Romania, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. Our most successful project was an agro-tourism promotion program through a motorcycling off-road competition. Have a look at EnduRomania

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