What are you currently working on in your research?
I have several works-in-progress with different co-authors, mostly around what traditionally has been my main research area: Multinational enterprises (MNEs), innovation and regional economic development. The current research focus is on the impact of MNE operations on local industries and regions – in terms of various indicators (e.g. innovation, jobs, structural change) – looking at both inward foreign investment and outward investment abroad and considering new policy approaches. I have a few forthcoming talks on this topic, as for example, the Lezione di Economia Marche 2016, a public lecture at the Facoltà di Economia 'Giorgio Fuà', Ancona, 30 May 2016; again as a key-note speaker at an event organised by the Italian Confindustria and British Council in Sofia, Bulgaria, 13 - 15 June 2016; and as discussant at the Workshop 'Smart Specialization in a Comparative Perspective: Challenges and Ways Forward', European Commission, DG for Regional & Urban Policy, Brussels, 27 June 2016. Another active research area is that of the relationship between supply and demand of skills and local economic development in Italy, for which my co-authors and I will present a new paper at both the Workshop on 'Risk and Resilience: A Regional Perspective', Roma Tre University, 31 May - 1 June 2016; and the Uddevalla Symposium hosted by Birkbeck, University of London, 30 June - 2 July 2016.
How do you divide your time between research and Head of Department duties?
This is a difficult question, as I am not sure that my balance is ideal! However, being HoD is a big responsibility and a highly demanding task, and one has to be prepared to put research on a side as there are other priorities. I learnt that adjusting my own expectations is crucial not to feel permanently frustrated. Thus, I do less than before, more focussed on maximum a couple of research lines, and I think that for the moment I have different sources of personal reward, first and above all the appreciation of my colleagues. Obviously, I look forward to my sabbatical when my mandate is over in summer 2017!
What do you enjoy most about working in the Department of Geography & Environment?
The people. All of them, academics and administrators, LSE Fellows and GTAs, and the students both UG and PG. I am very lucky as my Department is a good working environment, where people are open, collegial and like getting together socially.
Simona Iammarino is Head of Department and Professor of Economic Geography in the Department of Geography & Environment.