I joined the Hellenic Observatory in 2004, initially as Lecturer in the Political Economy of Greece and Southeast Europe. In 2013 I became Associate Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute, LSE, while maintaining my affiliation with the Hellenic Observatory. I was appointed to the Eleftherios Venizelos Chair of Contemporary Greek Studies in September 2023 and assumed the Directorship of the Hellenic Observatory upon its transition into the LSE Centre for Research on Contemporary Greece and Cyprus in September 2004. Prior to this, I was Director of the LSE Research Unit on Southeast Europe and Editor-in-Chief of the Hellenic Observatory’s GreeSE Papers. I hold a PhD in Economic Geography from LSE and BSc and MSc degrees in Economics from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the University of Macedonia, respectively.

I am an economist and economic geographer by training, specialising in three areas of Labour Economics, Economic Geography and Political Economy. I have significant policy engagement on all three areas, including appointments in Experts Committees in Greece (e.g., Expert Committee for Regional Incentives policy in 2011-2012 and Minimum Wage Policy Committee 2018-2021) and work with international bodies such as the European Commission (DG Regio, DG EMPL, DG EAC), the UNDP, the CEFTA Secretariat and the EBRD. I have held visiting positions at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge, the University of Athens, the University of Macedonia, Groningen University and elsewhere; and I am holder of the 2008 Moss Madden Memorial Medal in Regional Science. I am Co-Editor of Spatial Economic Analysis, Fellow of the Regional Studies Association, Committee Member of the British and Irish Section of the Regional Science Association, member of the Scientific Council for Social Sciences of the National Council of Research Technology and Innovation of Greece, and member in various advisory and editorial boards and professional bodies. 

Research Interests

My main research interests are on regional growth and policy; industrial policy and national economic performance; and the labour market. Within these fields, I have published papers on issues relating to FDI, macroeconomic imbalances, public investment, structural reforms, austerity, economic integration, Cohesion policy, regional disparities and growth, minimum wages, unemployment, gender wage gaps, occupational mobility and segregation, labour market flexibility, human capital formation, graduate employment transitions, and others. My current research includes work on regional growth accelerations; and the demand for human capital repatriation in Greece.