Job description

This is an exciting opportunity for a post-doctoral researcher to carry out applied empirical research in political economy within a team of scholars. The research associate (RA) will support research activities related to the Leverhulme Trust Grant “The Political Economy of Growth Models in an Age of Stagnation”. The RA will be working in a team led by Professor Engelbert Stockhammer and Dr Inga Rademacher at the Department of European & International Studies at King’s College London.

The project analyses the institutional and macroeconomic sources of divergent growth performances between Anglo-Saxon, northern, and southern European countries after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. It engages with the recent growth models approach to Comparative Political Economy and combines macroeconomic and institutionalist analyses.

The RA will be working on the work package which analyzes fiscal-monetary relations and policy responses since the Global Financial Crisis. More specifically, we will explore the emergence of unconventional monetary policy tools in the UK during and after the Global Financial Crisis. Considering the common notion that unconventional policy tools, like quantitative easing (QE), have blurred the lines between the fiscal and the monetary sphere, this paper explores how fiscal and monetary actors came to agree on these new policy tools. It asks if there have been conflicts over the distribution of influence over the new instruments among fiscal and monetary actors, and, if so, how these conflicts were resolved.

The study will develop a theoretical account within the institutionalist tradition of Political Science. Empirically, it will feature a document analysis on the basis of published documents from the Bank of England and the Treasury such as meeting minutes, speeches and public statements.

The Department of European & International Studies (EIS) produces world-leading research in the fields of European studies, European politics and International Political Economy. It has a wide range of expertise from modern languages and critical theory to political science, international political economy and heterodox economics. Through the activities of our research groups, EIS provides specific expertise in research designed to understand crisis and the limitations of European and global order.

This post will be offered on an a full-time fixed-term contract basis for 7 months or a part-time fixed term contract basis at 80% FTE for 8.75 months.

This is either a full-time or part-time post as indicated above.

The latest possbile end date for this contract is 30th September 2023.

Key responsibilities

• Literature review on macroeconomic policy making in the Bank of England since the Global Financial Crisis  
• Identifying and collecting relevant policy documents 
• assisting in qualitative analysis of documents using qualitative research programmes (MaxQDA or Nvivo) 

The above list of responsibilities may not be exhaustive, and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks and responsibilities as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.  

Skills, knowledge, and experience 

Essential criteria 

1.       PhD (completed or dissertation submitted) in political science, economic sociology, political economy or a closely related field

2.       Good knowledge of debates on contemporary monetary and fiscal policies in the UK

3.       Experience in publishing / conducting high-quality research of a qualitative nature on contemporary monetary and/or fiscal phenomena 

Desirable criteria 

1.       Experience in conducting document analyses with a text-coding programme such as MaxQDA or Nvivo

2.       Good knowledge of the political science discussions surrounding institutionalism including knowledge of historical institutionalism and actor-centred institutionalism

  Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

We anticipate to interview candidates on 13 October.