Laura Prota holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Macquarie University in Sydney, a Master’s degree in Economic Development and Cooperation from the University of Bologna and an undergraduate degree (magna cum laude) from the University of Federico II in Naples. She had a post-doctoral fellowship form the Faculty of Economics and Statistics, University of Salerno from 2012-2015.
Specialized in social network analysis and rural development, she adopts a relational approach to study the configuration of agricultural production and innovation systems under globalization. She published on issues related to the specificity of Southeast Asian market transition with a particular focus on place and path dependent trajectories of development, land markets, persistent poverty, gender and labor rights. Laura also published methodological articles on network analysis aiming at identifying methods to identify the structural evolutionary patterns of economic systems.
Beyond her academic interests, she worked as consultant and project coordinator in several rural development projects in Southeast Asia.