Luiss, in partnership with social cooperative and project lead KARIBU and other entities, was selected as a recipient for research funding toward a program for integrating refugees into the socio-economic system of Italy. The Per.Se.O. project – Paths, Services, Orientation – ranked 15/30 projects presented, and will receive a research grant of nearly €2.2 million. The program, financed through the Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration 2014-2020 (FAMI), responded to the call for projects going toward the "Realization of individual paths for socio-economic autonomy for holders of international protection", promoted by Italy’s Ministry of the Interior.
Per.Se.O. aims to ensure support for job placement of refugees in Italy, contributing to their general autonomy through the creation of specific individual socio-economic integration pathways after they are no longer considered dependent refugees (18 months). The research team for Luiss will be guided by Livia De Giovanni, professor of Statistics and Giovanna Vallanti, professor of Econometrics, along with the Luiss CeFOP Research Center - Study Center for Economics of Education and Professions.
Their research will center around monitoring and evaluating the various areas of intervention promoted concerning the paths and services for refugees. The main purpose for monitoring is to detect any deviations from set objectives in order to allow timely course corrections. Data will be both qualitative and quantitative to determine the program’s impact. Post-evaluation methodology will use multivariate and econometric causality statistical techniques to assign effective attribution of results to the various areas of intervention of the Per.Se.O. project.
Luiss researchers will look at different aspects of efficiency (of resource allocation), effectiveness (with respect to the objectives) and sustainability of the Per.Se.O. project throughout its mandate in the hopes of providing viable solutions to the refugee crisis in Italy and beyond.