Laboratory: Creativity, Motivations, Technology - CreMTech Economic Research Center
Position type: Internship / Research Assistantship
Duration: 150-300
Location: University of Cassino and Southern Lazio (on-site or remote collaboration)
Description
The CreMTech Laboratory is seeking a Research Assistant to contribute to a project analyzing the share of working hours that the “average” worker in different countries must devote to covering the cost of basic or subsistence goods and services.
While reliable data on average wages across countries are readily available, estimating the actual cost of a yearly subsistence basket—an absolute poverty benchmark—is considerably more challenging. Accordingly, one of the expected outcomes of this research will be a report outlining the methodological challenges encountered in cross-country comparisons, accompanied by a set of indexes summarizing the above-mentioned estimated share of working time needed to meet subsistence costs.
Main tasks
- Identify relevant international databases and assess their coverage and comparability.
- Develop a methodological approach to define a comparable “subsistence basket” of goods and services across countries.
- Collect and present data (in local currencies) on both the cost of subsistence and the yearly average wage for as many countries as possible.
- Explore the feasibility of replicating the analysis over the past 50 years to study long-term trends.
- Prepare summary statistics, charts, and visual maps to support CreMTech’s broader research on poverty dynamics and income distribution.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s student in Economics, International Economics and Business, or Data Science.
- Strong interest in the theory of value, income distribution, and comparative economic analysis.
- Basic skills in data collection and organization (e.g., Excel or equivalent).
- Solid analytical and communication skills.
- Good command of English, particularly for reading and summarizing international reports and datasets.
Learning outcomes
The intern will gain:
- Familiarity with key data sources and methodologies used in research on poverty and wellbeing.
- Hands-on experience in building and harmonizing international databases.
- The opportunity to engage in applied economic research on income distribution and social policy within the CreMTech Laboratory.