Current positions:
Professor of Development Economics, University of Manchester
Research fellow, IZA (the Institute of the Study of Labor), Bonn, Germany
Research fellow, Global Labor Organization
Education:
Ph.D. in Economics, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, 2005
MA in European Economic Studies, College of Europe, Bruges, Belgium, 1997
Bachelors in International Economic Relations, Economics University of Varna, Bulgaria, 1996
Employment history:
09/2020-05/2023: Associate Professor (Reader) of Development Economics, University of Manchester
09/2010-08/2020: Senior Lecturer of Development Economics, University of Manchester, UK
09/2005-08/2010: Lecturer in Economics, Brunel University, London, UK
04/2005-08/2005: Marie Curie Fellow, Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Vieillesse, Paris, France
10/2004-03/2005: Marie Curie Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Germany
11/2001-09/2004: Research Assistant, LICOS, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
Funded research projects:
01/2023-present: “Making migration and migration policy decisions amids societal transformations”, the project is sponsored by Horizon Europe and led by ISS in the Hague. Together with Hanna Fromell from Aarhus I work on the behavioral module.
01/2021-05/2022: “Formal provision of childcare facilities and female labor force participation in Jordan”, The project was funded by The World Bank and conducted in collaboration with Interdisciplinary Consultants-Jordan.
2017-2021: “Future Dams. Design and assessment of resilient and sustainable interventions in water-energy-food environment mega systems” Research Councils UK as part of the Global Challenges Research Framework, I am a Co-I on this project led by David Hulme and Julien Harou.
2016-2017: “School-to-work transitions of young women and men in the MENA region” The International Labor Office, with Karim Stephan.
2016-2017: “Can the skill mismatch problem be resolved through vocational training? Evidence from Jordan”, consultancy project for the OECD
2015-2016: “Household preferences and child labour. Field experiment from Ivory Coast”, The British Academy/Leverhulme trust, PI. With Arnab Basu from Cornell University and Monnet Benoit Patrick Gbakou from the University of Cocody-Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Summer 2012: “Female empowerment through high value agriculture”, with Ira Gang from Rutgers University, USA, United Nations Foundation.
2009-2012: “The impact of macroeconomic policies and shocks on employment and poverty in Africa”, The British Academy, Principal Investigator. In collaboration with Latif Dramani (Senegal), Barthélémy Biao (Benin), Pam Zahonogo (Burkina Faso) and Patrick Gbakou (Côte d’Ivoire)
2008-2009: “Nutritional science insights into the economics of food consumption in Bulgaria”, the Leverhulme trust, Principal Investigator, In collaboration with Ira Gang and Daniel Hoffman. Patrick Gbakou was hired as research fellow as part of the project.
Languages:
Bulgarian (native), English (fluent), French (fluent, Dalf C2 Certificate), Russian (limited professional proficiency: perfect oral and written understanding, but rusty speaking and writing skills), German (higher intermediate: Goethe Zertifikat B2, studying for C1), Bengali (basic: can follow simple conversations)
Short term visits:
Cornell University, Springs of 2015 and 2017: Visiting researcher
Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d’Ivoire, Summers of 2015 and 2016: Visiting researcher
Rutgers University, Economics and Nutritional Science Departments, visiting researcher and lecturer, Summers 2004, 2006 and 2008
IZA, Bonn, Germany, visiting researcher, Summers 2004, 2006
The World Bank, Washington D.C., summer intern, Summer 2002
download detailed version: last update May, 2023
