Introducing the FUS Faculty: Rossana Galli

ADJUNCT PROFESSOR, DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

PhD Economics, Brikbeck College, University of London, UK
MSc Economics, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK
BSc Economics, Catholic University, Milan, Italy

Office: North Campus, by appointment
Email: rgalli@fus.edu

Rossana is a macroeconomist with research interests at the intersection of poverty, employment and economic development, and related government policies. She completed her Masters and PhD in Economics (Applied Macroeconometrics) at Birkbeck College, University of London, and has taught at several universities, including the University of London, University of Zurich, USI (Lugano) and the Università Cattolica di Milano. She collaborated as a researcher at the International Labor Organization in Geneva for over twenty years, working on topics related to poverty and decent work in low-income countries, such as informal employment, global supply chains, structural transformation, technologies for smallholder farmers, and child labor.

Rossana’s passions for teaching, development and field work came together in 2018, when she co-founded Boky Mamiko (“Books my Love”), an NGO which supports quality education in rural Madagascar. Created with her former students of the University of Zurich, the association also promotes development-oriented academic research in Madagascar. When not teaching or researching, Rossana continues leading Boky Mamiko, which currently supports five schools in the region, impacting over 1300 local students and teachers.

In Fall 2022, Rossana began collaboration with Franklin, where she is teaching the academic travel course, Sustainable Education in Madagascar, and the topics course, Decent Work and Sustainable Development (from Spring 2024).

2024-2025 Courses

ECN 100	Principles of Macroeconomics	FALL 2024
This entry-level course in economics covers the fundamentals of macroeconomics and, together with ECN 101, it provides the necessary prerequisites for any other upper-level course in economics. This course introduces students to the study of economics as a field of knowledge within the social sciences. In the first part, focus will be on the definition, the explanation, and the significance of national income, business fluctuations, the price level, and aggregate employment. In the second part, special attention is devoted to the functioning of a payment system based on currency and bank money. Finally, students will discuss the instruments and the functioning of public policy aimed to stabilize prices and maintain high levels of output and employment within the current macroeconomic context. Current economic news will be regularly scrutinized.
SJS 100	Sustainability and Social Justice	FALL 2024
One of the fundamental questions we all face today is how to counter the urgent challenges posed by global climate change and unequal economic development. Questions coalescing around notions of ethics, justice, equality, and human rights intersect with questions of how to shape a culturally and environmentally sustainable world. Exploring a wide range of theoretical and practical perspectives on Sustainability, Social Justice and Ethics, this cross-disciplinary, introductory course will give students multiple disciplinary frameworks to think critically and productively about the intersections between the social and the natural worlds. The course provides the gateway to the program in Social Justice and Sustainability (SJS).
SJS 377T	Sustainable Education in Madagascar	FALL 2024
This course explores the challenges faced by the population of rural Madagascar – one of the poorest countries in the world – including limited schooling and poor learning outcomes, scarce and low-income employment opportunities, lack of basic infrastructure, high fertility, bad nutrition, poor health conditions and adverse environmental impacts. In particular, the Madagascar educational system and the reasons behind its very low quality are examined. During the travel, students are hosted by local schools and must adapt to lodging and transport conditions that, albeit still a luxury for most of the local population, are relatively closer to the lifestyle of the local population. This gives students the possibility to obtain first-hand experience of how different it is to live in low-income countries. Students have numerous opportunities to meet and bond with local students, teachers, school directors, tourist guides, and micro-entrepreneurs, allowing them to learn how rich Madagascar is in terms of cultural, natural, and human resources and to hear directly from the local youth what their needs, wishes and aspirations are. This academic travel in a remote non-touristic part of North Madagascar is organized by the Swiss NGO Boky Mamiko. Students are expected to participate in some pre-travel volunteering work and to represent the NGO in Madagascar in a professional and responsible manner. NOTE: This Academic Travel course carries a supplemental fee: CHF 1,200 (for students invoiced in CHF) or USD 1,430 (for students invoiced in USD).
ECN 100	Principles of Macroeconomics	SPRING 2025
This entry-level course in economics covers the fundamentals of macroeconomics and, together with ECN 101, it provides the necessary prerequisites for any other upper-level course in economics. This course introduces students to the study of economics as a field of knowledge within the social sciences. In the first part, focus will be on the definition, the explanation, and the significance of national income, business fluctuations, the price level, and aggregate employment. In the second part, special attention is devoted to the functioning of a payment system based on currency and bank money. Finally, students will discuss the instruments and the functioning of public policy aimed to stabilize prices and maintain high levels of output and employment within the current macroeconomic context. Current economic news will be regularly scrutinized.

Professional experience:

Co-founder and President of Boky Mamiko, an NGO supporting quality education in rural Madagascar, officially recognized in Switzerland and Italy (since 2018).

External research collaborator of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Geneva (2000-2019).

University of Zurich, Department of Political Science (Institut für Politikwissenschaft),

Lecturer of Employment, Poverty and Workers’ Rights in Developing Countries (2011-2018).

Università della Svizzera Italiana, Department of Economics, Lecturer of Advanced Macroeconomics for the Master in International Economics and Policies and Master in Public Management and Policy (2010-2013).

Università della Svizzera Italiana, Department of Economics, Lecturer of Macroeconomics and Lecturer of Economic Growth, Bachelor’s degree in Economics (1999-2005).

Areas of research:

Economic development, poverty, employment, decent work, development policies. For a full overview see: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rossana-Galli/research

Publications:

Galli, R. (2019) ‘The “Possible Trinity” of Agricultural Investment Policies: Enhancing Employment Creation, Productivity and Sustainability of Agricultural Investments in Sub-Saharan Africa’, Working Paper N. 249, International Labour Organization, Geneva. Available at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/---emp_policy/documents/publication/wcms_732192.pdf

Galli, R. (2017) ‘The Role of Investment Incentives for Structural Transformation: a comparative analysis of investment incentives legislations in Sub-Saharan African, South-Asian and South-East Asian developing countries’, Working Paper N. 211, International Labour Organization, Geneva. Available at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_554302.pdf

Kucera, D., Galli, R. and Al-Hussami F. (2014) ‘Keeping up with the Joneses or Keeping One’s Head above Water? Inequality and the Post-2007 Crisis’ in: Islam, I. and Kucera, D. (eds.) Beyond macroeconomic stability: structural transformation and inclusive development, Palgrave/MacMillan, pp. 288-326.

Galli, R. and D. Kucera (2008) ‘Gender, Informality and Employment Adjustment in Latin America’, Working Paper 85, Policy Integration and Statistics Department, International Labour Organization, Geneva. Available at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---integration/documents/publication/wcms_094087.pdf

Galli, R. and D. Kucera (2004) ‘Labor Standards and Informal Employment in Latin America’, World Development, 32(5):809-828. Re-printed in J. Berg, and D. Kucera (eds) (2008), In Defence of Labour Market Institutions. Cultivating Justice in the Developing World (New York: Palgrave Macmillan).

Galli, R. and D. Kucera (2003) ‘Informal employment in Latin America: Movements over business cycles and the effects of worker rights’, Decent Work Research Programme, Discussion Paper 145/2003, International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva. Available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/papers/

Galli, R. (2001) ‘The economic impact of child labour’, Decent Work Research Programme, Discussion Paper 128/2001, International Institute for Labour Studies, Geneva. Available at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inst/papers/

Galli, R. and R. van der Hoeven (2001) ‘Is inflation bad for income inequality: the Importance of the Initial Rate of Inflation’, Employment Paper 2001/29, International Labour Organization, Geneva. Available at http://www.ilo.org/employment/Whatwedo/Publications/WCMS_142351/lang--en/index.htm

Galli, R. (1998) ‘Dematerialization and Long Term Trends in Energy Intensity. An application to Asian developing countries’, The Energy Journal, 19(4):85-105.

Galli, R. (1997) ‘Is there Long Run Industrial Convergence in Europe?’, International Review of Applied Economics, 11(3):333-368.

For a full list see:

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rossana-Galli/research

Awards and honors:

Royal Economic Society Junior Fellowship, UK, 1996.
Economic and Social Research Council scholarship, UK, 1995.
Banca d’Italia, Stringher scholarship, Italy, 1994.
Fondazione Luigi Einuadi scholarship, Italy, 1993.