We are looking for an applied economist to join our team of developers and analysts at CeMPA. The appointee will help us extending the SimPaths dynamic microsimulation framework developed at CeMPA. The work involves using quantitative empirical methods to update estimates for the UK and Italy, and produce new estimates for France, Sweden and Poland. Knowledge of microsimulation methods is welcome but not necessary.

SimPaths is an innovative dynamic framework for life course analysis, which integrates and extends the tax-benefit model EUROMOD/UKMOD. It focuses on the interaction between the family, work and health dimensions of individual life course trajectories, and it allows to study the medium- and long-term challenges to societal well-being and the constraints and opportunities faced by the welfare state.

The work is part of a project funded by ESPON, an EU-sponsored programme that delivers quality expertise to public authorities responsible for designing territorial policies (https://www.espon.eu/). The project, titled “Overlapping crises: (re)shaping the future of regional labour markets” involves extending the SimPaths framework to include a more fine-grained regional disaggregation of outcomes, interaction with a proprietary macro model developed by a project partner, re-estimation of the model on UK and Italy, and novel estimation on France, Sweden and Poland.

The appointee will also contribute to research outputs based on the project outcomes, and will contribute to other related research projects at CeMPA, based on his/her interests and expertise.

This is an exciting opportunity for an early-stage researcher to contribute to a fast growing research infrastructure. By working on the estimation and validation of a state-of-the-art model, the appointee will gain an understanding of how microsimulation models operate, and learn how they can be applied to investigate research questions in the field of life-course analysis, social policy, public economics, demography.

The post is for two years, starting 15 January 2024 or as soon as possible afterwards.

Application closing date is 26 November 2023. More information is available here.