Andriana Di Liberto, Andrea Caria (p)

Maria Tsiapa

We used data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic, from March to June 2021, to examine how Italian upper secondary schools reorganized their activities for remote learning (RL). We conducted a three-level survey, administering questionnaires to students (11th and 13th graders), teachers, and school principals at each institution. The final sample includes 11,154 students, 3,905 teachers, and 105 school principals. The data allow us to describe: a) how schools adjusted to the pandemic to ensure learning effectiveness during RL, b) how teachers and school principals managed the transition from traditional to online teaching, c) the perceptions of students, teachers, and school principals regarding the effectiveness of RL. This analysis highlights Italian schools’ challenges in changing teaching styles during RL and identifies inequality patterns at individual and school levels. It also underscores a significant gap between teachers’ perceptions of their digital skills and the actual use of ICT in class during RL activities. Our results identify a positive and robust relationship between the use of innovative teaching methodologies in class, the adoption of appropriate organizational innovations at the school level, and specific teachers’ training with the student’s perceptions of learning and other outcomes related to student success.

Maria Tsiapa (p), Paschalis Arvanitidis

Agnieszka Olechnicka

There is considerable consensus among the scientific and policy-making communities that a mix of policies is required to reverse and more efficiently eradicate the rise of income inequality. To achieve this, policies should not only address the consequences of inequality (ex post) but also prevent its emergence through proactive measures (ex ante). However, many existing policies, such as economic safety nets, tax policies, and short-term employment creation, primarily function as ex post responses. While these measures can alleviate the immediate effects of inequality, they fail to address its root causes or provide long-term solutions. Conversely, a more sustainable approach is to address inequalities at their origins rather than relying solely on redistribution through taxes and transfers. In this reasoning, the pre-market stage involves equipping individuals and firms with the necessary tools to engage in economic activity, such as skills training and adequate infrastructure.

This paper highlights the significance of pre-market policies by analysing their impact, alongside post-market policies, on income inequality levels in European countries over the long-term period of 2005–2021. Pre-market policies, such as investments in education, healthcare, and housing, can create a more equitable foundation, ensuring individuals are better equipped to participate in the economy from the outset. By addressing inequalities at their roots, these policies can lead to more sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Additionally, this paper explores a comparative analysis of areas with varying degrees of urbanisation, examining how these differences influence the effectiveness of pre-market policies. Understanding the unique challenges and opportunities present in different regions allows policymakers to tailor their strategies to address specific local contexts more effectively.

By offering evidence-based insights into the long-term benefits of pre-market interventions, this paper aims to support policymakers in designing proactive, equity-driven strategies that promote inclusive economic growth. By bridging research and policy, it provides a foundation for more targeted and effective measures that address income inequality at its roots, ultimately fostering a more resilient and fair economic landscape.

Agnieszka Olechnicka (p), Adam Ploszaj

Fabio Angei

The paper presents the results of a study on the impact of the 2022 Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine (the first invasion began in 2014) on the universities and other research institutions in 9 European countries bordering Ukraine, Russia, or Belarus.
Research Questions
1. What is the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the functioning of research and higher education institutions in countries bordering Ukraine, Belarus, or Russia?
2. Did the negative consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have a more substantial impact on institutions with a relatively worse financial situation?
Methods & data
A survey of scholars working in higher education and research institutions in Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia. The survey questions were developed based on 11 individual interviews with scholars from the abovementioned countries.
Respondents were invited from a random sample of corresponding authors of publications indexed on the Web of Science database. The survey was conducted online (February- March 2024). It was available in English and 8 other languages used in the 9 countries covered by the study (Estonian, Finnish, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak). We collected 3,743 fully completed surveys (response rate of 10%), with adequate representation of all surveyed countries (Estonia 334, Finland 407, Hungary 413, Latvia 486, Lithuania 527, Moldova 123, Poland 548, Romania 465, Slovakia 440).
Findings
1. Almost every forth respondent (22.5%) reported a negative or very negative impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on their research.
2. The observed impact is predominantly negative, but for some, there have also been positive effects, e.g., an increase in the number of students from Ukraine or new collaboration and research funding opportunities.
3. Scholars who are more involved in international collaboration are more likely to experience the adverse effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
4. Institutions in worse financial condition are more exposed to the negative impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a result, this external shock may deepen the inequalities in the research and higher education sector, which in most of the analyzed countries was already struggling with underfunding, brain drain, and decreasing student admissions.

Fabio Angei (p), Silvia Balia, Rinaldo Brau, Giovanni Sulis

Alessio Garau

Demand for meaningful work has intensified in recent years, especially in the wake of COVID-19’s labor market disruptions. Yet, even as workers increasingly seek jobs that provide purpose and improve job satisfaction meaningful jobs appear to be growing scarcer. Moreover, the pursuit of meaning may entail important trade-offs: if meaning is not an inherent job attribute but must be earned continuously through effort (more working hours), workers could face heavier workloads and diminished leisure time. How workers balance these trade-offs, and why some are more inclined to pursue meaning-intensive roles than others, remains only partly understood.

This paper investigates three job-meaning attributes: autonomy (control over tasks), competence (skill utilization), and relatedness (supportive interpersonal connections) and how they shape the perceived benefits and risks of meaningful work. Using a novel survey of 3,510 Italian employees, we adopt a hypothetical scenario methodology in which respondents evaluate eight different “job profiles.” In each job scenario, one or more job meaning dimensions vary between "low" and "high", allowing us to measure beliefs about how each of these meaning dimension influences job satisfaction (the benefit) and work-life tensions in terms of reduced private and family time (the risk).

Our findings indicate that, on average, workers believe that autonomy, competence, and relatedness contribute significantly to job satisfaction (benefit). Although higher autonomy and relatedness correlate with lower perceived work-life time conflicts (risk), competence emerges as a potential source of greater work-life time tensions, having a positive impact on risks. We document that heterogeneities in the perceived benefits and risks across respondents are driven by education, gender, and regional contexts.

We then compare the elicited subjective beliefs to actual outcomes, constructing indices for autonomy, competence, and relatedness based on detailed survey questions about respondents' actual jobs. The results show that workers’ beliefs serve as strong predictors of real-world patterns. Higher autonomy in one’s actual job correlates with greater stated job satisfaction and lower job-search activity. Competence, while boosting satisfaction, also aligns with increased risks such as more working hours, mirroring the perceived trade-offs highlighted in the hypothetical scenarios. Our results underscore that meaningful work, although beneficial, can also carry hidden costs. Second, our study contributes to the literature that integrates subjective beliefs and expectations with observed outcomes, revealing how workers’ perceptions of job meaning have tangible consequences for both time allocation and overall well-being.

Alessio Garau (p), Giovanni Sulis, Silvia Balia, Daniela Sonedda

Andrea Caria

During crises, labor markets transform in ways that reshape employer strategies and worker mobility. Exploiting Italy’s mandatory sectoral shutdowns during COVID-19, we analyze how forced closures in non-essential industries affected workforce transitions. Using a difference-in-differences framework and the CICO dataset (13% Italian workforce sample), we track employment trajectories over 2008–2022. We find that shutdowns significantly increased transitions to unemployment, especially among physically or mentally demanding occupations, which face elevated stress and limited remote work options. Re-employment possibilities also declined, particularly for older and migrant workers.
By categorizing occupations using physical and psychosocial burden indices, we reveal distinct heterogeneous patterns in how workers respond to crisis-driven disruptions. Highly educated individuals exhibit lower unemployment risk, probably because they can benefit from more remote opportunities, while migrants and residents in Italy’s South encounter more significant employment challenges. These findings underscore the importance of occupational characteristics in shaping labor market adjustments and highlight remote work’s protective role. Our work contributes to the understanding of how shocks impact labor market dynamics and carer paths, underscoring the interplay between occupation-related burdens and workers' characteristics.