Close-ups

Let’s talk about you: what is your background, what do you teach, and what are your research interests?
I’m Francesca Zantomio and I joined Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in 2010. Since then, I’ve been teaching Public Economics, Public Economics and Welfare System, and Advanced Public Finance. I mainly conduct applied research in public economics, health and work. I’ve been working on drawing and evaluation of welfare programmes and fiscal systems, support policies for disabled on non-self-sufficient people, the effects of health shocks on work activities, inequalities in health and access to care, and more recently on inequality in child development.

Tell us about your academic path.
After obtaining a degree in Economics and Business at the University of Padova, I continued my studies with a doctorate in Public Economics in Pavia. I then moved to the UK where I got my Master of Science in Economics at the University of York and a PhD in Economics at University of Essex. I worked there for many years as a researcher at the Institute for Social and Economic Research, before moving back to Italy.

What has given you the greatest satisfaction in your career?
The first and most unforgettable was winning the call to be a researcher at Ca’ Foscari. A great satisfaction was also my first publication in the Journal of Health Economics thanks to the research I had conducted during the doctorate.
Apart from my personal achievements, certain messages from students make me feel very grateful and proud of my pedagogic efforts.

What are you most passionate about in your field of research?
I’m very interested in the theme of inequality in its multiple forms, and in the dynamics with which it seeps into several aspects of society, inside families and in people’s life cycle. I’m very passionate about the intervention policies that aim to decrease inequality, especially when such inequality depends on factors that are beyond individual control.

Have you always known that this was going to be your path?
No, I only realised while writing my final thesis that I wanted to start to do research as a profession. It’s been a long and challenging journey, with an uncertain outcome. It has required a lot of sacrifice, but I have always thought that it was worth it.