Centre for Rural Economy

Staff Profile

Dr Sara Maioli

Senior Lecturer in Economics

Background

Introduction

I am an applied economist with expertise in firm-level data. My research interests relate to applying micro-econometrics techniques to issues in international economics, trade, labour and international business, applied industrial organisation, SMEs, Chinese firms and rural businesses. I am a co-investigator at the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) funded by Research England (2020-24) where I currently lead some research on the internationalisation process of rural businesses. I am also a co-investigator and member of the Extended Senior Management Team at the Centre of Excellence for Policy and Evidence in the Creative Industries funded by AHRC (2023-28) and led by Newcastle University with the Royal Society of Arts, working on the internationalisation of UK creative industries.

Background

I joined Newcastle University Business School in October 2006 as a lecturer in Economics, where I am now Senior Lecturer.

After gaining a Laurea in Economia e Commercio (Economics with Business, Accounting and Law) with summa cum laude at the University of Brescia (Italy) I spent one year in industry working for two small and medium Italian enterprises and was about to join a third company when I decided to continue my education in the UK. I gained an MSc in Economics at the University of Glasgow under the Scottish Doctoral Programme and a PhD in Economics (passed with no corrections) at the University of Strathclyde. My studies were funded by the University of Brescia (master) and the University of Strathclyde (PhD).

I also held the following positions: Research fellow at Leverhulme Centre for Globalisation and Economic Policy (GEP), University of Nottingham (2003-2006); Research Fellow at the Ente Einaudi, Rome (Sept. 2002-Dec. 2002).

Roles and Responsibilities at Newcastle University

I previously held the following positions at NUBS: Director of Post-Graduate Research (2020-23); Newcastle University Pathway Lead for Economics, Business and Management Studies for the NINE Doctoral Training Program (2020-23); PhD students selector and convenor for Economics (2019-20); Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes for NUBS (2016-19), Deputy Director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes (2015-16), Degree Programme Director for the MSc in International Economics and Finance (2012-15).

I held these positions at University level: member of Newcastle University Post-Graduate Research Regulations Working Group (2022-present); member of the task & finish group overseeing the introduction of compulsory training for PGR supervisors at Newcastle University (2022-23); Senate-elected member of Newcastle University Council (2017-20), Member of Newcastle University Senate (2014-17), Senate representative on the NU Rankings and Reputation Special Interest Group (Jan-Jul 2017).

Other Positions and Roles Held Elsewhere

Associate editor for Foreign Trade Review published by SAGE in association with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (2020-present).

OECD Consultant (2021, 2023).

Member of the Advisory Board for the Revista de Economia (second oldest economics journal in Brazil) since 2020.

Postgraduate dissertation supervisor at Glasgow University Business School (2017-present).

Board member of the Northern Advanced Research Training Initiative (NARTI) (2020-23).

External assessor at Edinburgh University Business School for the review all PGT and PGR programmes (2023).

External Assessor at the University of Surrey for the validation of the Surrey Business School 24-month programmes with placement (2020).

External Assessor for UG and PGT programmes at Surrey Business School (2019).

Invited visiting professor at Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara (2015).

I taught a short course on Globalisation and Foreign Direct Investments at two summer schools jointly organised by the University of Brescia, Universitate de Vest Timişoara and the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture of Timişoara (2009 and 2010).  

Visiting lecturer in International Finance at Grenoble School of Management (2008-09)

Visiting lecturer in micro and business economics, Groupe Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Toulouse (Toulouse Business School) (2002-07).

Short-Term EU Expert in Romania for the project ref. EuropAid/120943/D/SV/RO ‘Strengthening the Administrative Capacity of the Romanian Parliament’ (2006).

 I am NOT a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Business and Social Sciences or the International Journal of Business, Humanities and Technology. These 'Journals' are not authorised to use my name and refused to remove it from their website. The story has been covered in the media by the Times Higher Education here.

In the Media

Interviewed on 6th May 2021 on the programme Breakfast, BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester, to discuss why people have set up new businesses during the pandemic.

Interviewed on 7th July 2020 during the Dotun Adebayo show, BBC Radio 5, to discuss the regional differences in the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Interviewed on 3rd February 2020 by BBC Radio 5, Live Breakfast show, to discuss trade agreements.

Interviewed on 9th August 2019 by Stephen Nolan for BBC Radio 5, programme Live, and by Rebecca O'Neill for BBC Radio Newcastle about the UK GDP and the impact of the latest figures, which show that during the second quarter of 2019 the UK economy shrank for the first time since 2012.

Interviewed on 1st March 2019 by Radio 4 for the Today programme on the impact of a no-deal Brexit in the North East of England and the future prospects for the local economy.

Mentioned in this article by the Chronicle, on the Bank of England Agency for the North East event that took place at Newcastle University Business School on 17th September 2018, in which I gave a talk on why UK wage growth was weak despite unemployment being at a historical low level.

Interviewed by the Italian TV channel Retequattro, on 24th October 2016 on the topic of Brexit for the documentary "Arrivederci Londra", programme Terra! [in Italian]:

http://www.video.mediaset.it/video/terra/full/arrivederci-londra-24-ottobre_657449.html#

I wrote the following commentaries regarding the US election of Trump:

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2017/01/trumpinauguration/

http://www.ncl.ac.uk/press/news/2016/11/uselectionscommentandanalysis/#hp-banner

Research

Google Scholar Profile here                                 Research Gate Profile here


Research Interests

I am an applied economist with expertise in firm-level data. My research interests relate to international economics, trade and labour, applied microeconometrics, international business, SMEs and rural businesses.

Examples of topics I have investigated include investment under uncertainty and irreversibility; exporting and FDI; firms' inventories; spatial differences in firm productivity; international trade via air cargo; markups estimation under different market structure assumptions.

Recent research Grants

2020: 

·   Co-investigator for the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (NICRE) funded by Research England with £3.7 million. NICRE is led by Newcastle University with contributions by Warwick (ERC), Gloucestershire (CCRI) and Royal Agricultural Universities. Start date September 2020, duration 3 years.

·      Awarded a Researcher Mobility Fund from Fundação Araucária through the Conselho Nacional das Fundações Estaduais de Amparo à Pesquisa / CONFAP-UK Academies scheme to spend 2 months visiting the Federal University of Paranà in Brazil (March-May 2020). Title of the project: "Non-Tariff Barriers and the Performance of Brazilian Agribusinesses" (with Prof. Mauricio Vaz Lobo Bittencourt). [CANCELLED DUE TO COVID-19]

2019: Principal Investigator for "Spatial disparities for SMEs productivity in England" funded by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). £5,000.

2018:

·      Co-investigator at the Centre of Excellence for Policy and Evidence in the Creative Industries led by NESTA and funded by AHRC. With the Workstrand 5 based at Newcastle University we work on the internationalisation of the UK Creative Industries with an awarded amount £370,619.99. Start date November 2018, duration 5 years.

·         Co-investigator for an ESRC Productivity Insights Network Small Project, £9,999.76

2016:

·         Co-investigator for “Start-up Phase of Rural Enterprise UK”, £43,250 from SAgE HEIF (Higher Education Innovation Fund), Newcastle University;

·         Co-investigator for “Secondary Analysis of the Longitudinal Small Business Survey”, £6987 from UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

 

Research Impact

Our article Phillipson et al. (2018) is cited by the House of Lords Rural Economy Committee Report: Time for a Strategy for the Rural Economy, House of Lords Library Briefings, 30th August 2019.

My work done with the Rural Enterprise UK (REUK) team rural-proofed the Industrial Strategy and underpinned the following HM Government’s Industrial Strategy blog entry: https://industrialstrategy.blog.gov.uk/2019/06/21/how-should-delivery-of-the-uk-industrial-strategy-embrace-rural-economies/

My work done with the REUK team was mentioned by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) at page 95 in the Statistical Digest for Rural England, August 2017 Edition, becoming therefore official statistics.

  

 

Output produced with the affiliation to the Rural Enterprise UK (2016-20) and the National Innovation Centre for Rural Enterprise (2020-present):

Maioli, Sara, Pattanapong Tiwasing, Matthew Gorton, Jeremy Phillipson and Robert Newbery, “Spatial disparities in SMEs productivity in England”, ERC Paper No 84, Enterprise Research Centre, Warwick University, February 2020.

Turner, Roger, Jeremy Phillipson, Matthew Gorton, Pattanapong Tiwasing, Paul Cowie, Sara Maioli and Robert Newbery, “Progressing Rural Contributions to the UK Industrial Strategy”, Rural Economy and Land Use Policy and Practice Note no. 8, Rural Enterprise UK, Newcastle University, September 2019.

Tiwasing, Pattanapong, Matthew Gorton, Jeremy Phillipson, Sara Maioli, Robert Newbery, "Spatial Variations in SME Productivity", Productivity Insight Network Report, April 2019.

Phillipson, Jeremy, Roger Turner, Pattanapong Tiwasing, Matthew Gorton, Sara Maioli, Robert Newbery, "Rural Economies and the UK Industrial Strategy", Rural Economy and Land Use Policy and Practice Note no. 6, Rural Enterprise UK, Newcastle University, July 2018.

Phillipson, Jeremy, Roger Turner, Matthew Gorton, Sara Maioli, Robert Newbery, Pattanapong Tiwasing, "What's holding rural businesses back?", Rural Economy and Land Use Policy and Practice Note no. 2, Rural Enterprise UK, Newcastle University, November 2017.

Phillipson, Jeremy, Matthew Gorton, Sara Maioli, Robert Newbery, Pattanapong Tiwasing, Roger Turner, “Small Rural Firms in English Regions: Analysis and Key findings from UK Longitudinal Small Business Survey, 2015”, CRE and Newcastle University Business School, updated version September 2017.

Phillipson, Jeremy, Matthew Gorton, Sara Maioli, Robert Newbery, Pattanapong Tiwasing, Roger Turner, “Rural business aspirations, obstacles and support: an analysis of the Longitudinal Small Business Survey 2015”, Enterprise Research Centre Research Paper 58, Warwick University, February 2017.

 

Other Outputs: 

·         Maioli, Sara, Salvatore Di Novo, Giorgio Fazio, Jonathan Sapsed and Wessel Vermeulen (2021). “The UK’s International Creative Trade: A Review of the Official Data Sources”, London: Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, Nesta.

·          Salvatore Di Novo, Giorgio Fazio and Sara Maioli (2021). “Creative firms and trade: some stylised facts from the CIC Access to Finance Survey”, Discussion Paper 2021/10, London: Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre, Nesta.

 

·         Maioli, Sara, Ben Ferrett, Sourafel Girma and Holger Görg “The Market Disciplining Effects of FDI: Does the Mode of Entry Matter?”, GEP WP No. 2006/16, University of Nottingham.

·         Maioli, Sara, “The Impact of Market Structure and Irreversibility on Investment under Uncertainty: An Empirical Analysis”, GEP WP No. 2005/45), University of Nottingham.

·         Maioli, Sara, “A Joint Estimation of Markups and Returns to Scale in 30 French manufacturing industries: A Structural Approach”, ETSG 2004 Conference paper.

 

PhD student supervision

I welcome proposals from prospective PhD students in the following broad areas: international economics (i.e. both international trade and international finance), trade agreements, foreign direct investment, firms’ performance (in particular productivity, innovation, exporting), internationalisation of creative firms, Chinese firms, rural firms. Get in touch if you want more specific ideas to develop a proposal under my supervision. You need to have advanced econometrics skills at postgraduate level.

Completed

· Nichola Williams (ESRC funded; "Three Essays on Health and Education in Guyana", co-supervised with Dr Smriti Sharma).

Bo Gao (ESRC funded; "Firms Exporting Behaviour and Trade Policy in China", co-supervised with Dr Nils Braakmann and Prof Mich Tvede).

· Muhammad Siddique, "Exploring the Linkages between High Performance Work Systems and Organizational Performance: The Role of Relational Coordination in the Banking Sector in Pakistan", co-supervised with Prof Stephen Procter.

·Hany Eldemerdash, "The Effects of Fiscal Policy on the Current Account: Econometric Analysis of Developing Countries", co-supervised with Dr Hugh Metcalf.

On-going

·    Muharrem Cevik (co-supervised with Prof Giorgio Fazio)

·    Nirat Rujimora (co-supervised with Prof Giorgio Fazio and Dr Saumik Paul)

·    Yexiang Wang (co-supervised with Prof Giorgio Fazio)

 

 

 

 

Teaching

During 2023/24 I am on sabbatical in semester one, and on teaching buy-out in semester two due to externally-funded research.


Office Hours

I don't hold fixed office hours (based on many years' experience they can't accommodate different timetables across several programmes) but I am happy to see students around their timetable. Please however drop me an email in advance to arrange a mutually suitable appointment.

  

Past teaching

International Economics; International Trade; International Finance; Advanced Topics in International Trade; Economics of Development; British Economy; Fair Trade; European Economy plus a variety of seminar teaching (maths, globalisation, introductory micro and macro).

Publications