Irina Mirkina

Irina Mirkina is an IMT alumni, having earned her PhD (Doctor Europeaus) from the IMT in 2013. Currently she works as a Visby Postdoctoral Fellow at the department of economics at the School of Economics and Management, Lund University in Sweden. She was previously associated as a visiting researcher with the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals, Barcelona in 2011-2012 and with the Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Stockholm in 2012. Before moving to Italy, Irina worked as a lecturer both at a branch of the All-Russian State Distance Institute of Finance and Economics, Barnaul in 2002-2008 and at the Altai Institute of Financial Administration, Barnaul in 2007-2010.

Research area
Institutional Economics; Regional Politics; Comparative Political Economy; Political Economy of Development; Economics of Migration and Social Change


Teaching experience
Public Economy; Microeconomics; Long-Run and Short-Run Financial Strategy 

Research Interest


  • Globalization and Institutional Quality: A Panel Data Analysis, with Andreas Bergh and Therese Nilsson
  • Does Globalization Curb Corruption?, with Andreas Bergh and Therese Nilsson
  • Does Migration Affect Institutional Quality, with Andreas Bergh and Therese Nilsson

European Regions: People and Institutions

  • Assessing Regional Institutional Quality: Effectiveness, Autonomy, and Capacity
  • European Migration and Challenges of Social Mobility

Institutional Changes in the Regions of Russia:

  • Corporate Tax Cut and Foreign Direct Investment: A Causal Inference Approach, with Leonardo Baccini and Quan Li
  • Fiscal Incentives for Foreign Direct Investment and Social Welfare Cuts: Evidence from Russian Regions, with Leonardo Baccini and Kristina Johnson
  • Impact of Welfare Policy on Human Capital and Social Mobility: Evidence from the Regions of Russia