Dr Donato Di Carlo

Donato Di Carlo is Assistant Professor in Political Economy at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Founder of the Luiss Hub for New Industrial Policy (LUHNIP), an interdisciplinary policy hub that bridges academic research, policy debate, and stakeholder engagement on industrial policy and economic governance in Europe and Italy. A comparative political economy (CPE) scholar, his work revolves around three interrelated research streams: EU and Italian industrial policy; continuity and change in European models of capitalism and growth regimes; and the political economy of labour market and wage-setting institutions.

Before joining LSE, he was Lecturer in Political Economy at Luiss Guido Carli, Senior Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, and a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute. He has experience at the interface of research and policymaking, including as external economic advisor to the Cabinet of the Mayor of Rome and through the development of policy-oriented research initiatives and partnerships via LUHNIP.

His work has been published in international journals including: Governance, Perspectives on Politics, Politics & Society, Regulation & Governance, Socio-Economic Review and has received awards from the European Union Studies Association (EUSA), the Council for European Studies (CES), and the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies (MPIfG).

He teaches comparative and international political economy and European economic governance, with a focus on European models of capitalism, growth strategies, EU industrial policy, and the political economy of US–Europe–China relations in an emerging multipolar order.

Expertise

• EU industrial policy
• Comparative political economy
• European economic governance
• Growth models and growth regimes
• Varieties of capitalism
• Labour markets and wage-setting institutions
• EU state aid and competition policy
• Economic statecraft and geoeconomics
• Political economy of the euro area

Donato Di Carlo is a comparative political economy scholar whose research is organised around three interrelated streams: (1) EU and Italian industrial policy; (2) continuity and change in European models of capitalism; and (3) the role of the state in labour markets and wage-setting institutions.

The first stream examines the resurgence and transformation of industrial policy in Europe along three dimensions: the strategic objectives of intervention, the instruments and legal modalities deployed, and the authority structures and distributive coalitions through which intervention is organised. Empirically, this research analyses the European Union’s shift from a predominantly regulatory state toward a more strategic and geopoliticised model of intervention. Particular attention is devoted to the evolution of the EU state aid regime, the hybridisation of instruments combining joint funding, regulatory flexibilisation and geoeconomic tools, and the emergence of the European Commission as a developmental network state that enables and steers national industrial activism within a multilevel governance architecture.

The second stream investigates continuity and change across European models of capitalism, with a particular focus on growth regimes, their institutional and political foundations, and their regional variation. A central line of inquiry concerns the evolution of the German growth model and the coalitional dynamics that have sustained it, especially in the face of mounting external competitive pressures such as the “China Shock 2”, energy dependency, and the green transition. In parallel, this research examines the transformation of Mediterranean political economies, analysing the rise of tourism-led growth as a “low-road” service-sector transition and studying its drivers and related political and socioeconomic effects. A further dimension explores regional growth regimes, particularly in Italy and comparatively across Europe, investigating their foundations, structural features, and interconnectedness within the broader process of European economic and monetary integration.

The third stream focuses on the role of the state in labour markets and wage-setting systems. It studies the state not only as regulator but as a public and political employer, examining how governments shape wage outcomes directly through public sector wage-setting and indirectly through coordination effects across the wider economy. This research conceptualises public sector wage-setting as a domain of fiscal policymaking structured by common-pool problems and special-interest politics. It analyses how institutional delegation to finance ministries or independent agencies shapes wage restraint, inflation dynamics, and distributive outcomes across Europe.

Across these three streams, his research seeks to explain how states structure markets, shape growth trajectories, and mediate distributive conflict under the evolving constraints of European integration, structural transformation, and geopolitical competition.

Working Papers and Policy Research

In addition to peer-reviewed publications, he produces policy-oriented research through LUHNIP, including the EU Industrial Policy Report, the LUHNIP Report on Italy’s Industrial Policy, and thematic policy briefs on industrial strategy, economic security, and European economic governance.

Grants and Research Funding

He founded LUHNIP with a start-up grant from the Berlin-based think tank Dezernat Zukunft and participates in collaborative research networks, including the European Macro Policy Network (EMPN). His research engages both academic and policy communities at the European level.

Donato Di Carlo’s engagement work focuses on bridging political economy research with contemporary policy debates on industrial policy and economic governance in Italy and the European Union.

He is Founder of the Luiss Hub for New Industrial Policy (LUHNIP), an interdisciplinary and non-partisan policy hub within the Luiss Institute for European Analysis and Policy (LEAP). Established in 2023 with a start-up grant from the Berlin-based think tank Dezernat Zukunft, LUHNIP conducts research, policy advocacy, and public engagement on industrial policy and economic governance in Italy and the EU. The Hub produces policy reports, working papers, briefs, and public events aimed at political decision-makers, academics, stakeholders, and the broader public. LUHNIP is part of the European Macro Policy Network (EMPN), a pan-European network connecting research teams and policy organisations working on Europe’s fiscal, monetary, and economic architecture.

He serves on the Scientific Committee of the Democratic Party’s “Forum Industria” in Italy, a policy forum tasked with developing proposals for a renewed industrial strategy for Italy and Europe. In this capacity, he contributes academic expertise to structured policy discussions on industrial transformation, competitiveness, and EU economic governance.

He has also served as external economic advisor to the Cabinet of the Mayor of Rome, where he worked directly on two major policy dossiers: the design of Rome’s Social Pact for industrial policy and economic development, and the preparation of the city’s bid to host the European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).

He regularly contributes op-eds and policy commentary to major Italian newspapers, particularly la Repubblica – Affari & Finanza and Il Sole 24 Ore, on topics related to EU industrial policy, European economic governance, and the Italian political economy. More broadly, he engages with policymakers, trade unions, employer associations, think tanks, and media outlets on issues concerning industrial policy, growth strategies, and economic governance in Europe.