Camila Steffens

Camila Steffens, PhD, is a Researcher at the ZEW – Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, based in the Research Unit 'Labour Markets and Social Insurance' since September 2024. Her research focuses on empirical labour economics and applied microeconometrics, with particular attention to the adjustment mechanisms of workers, firms, and local labour markets to demand shocks and regulatory changes.

Her academic journey began with undergraduate studies in economics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, followed by a master's degree in economics from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. She completed her doctoral studies in December 2024, earning a PhD in Economics with distinction from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.

Dr. Steffens' research interests encompass a broad spectrum of economic inquiry. She specializes in causal inference methods and applies them to questions in labour economics, health economics, and development economics. Her current projects investigate the stimulative effects of public spending on local labour markets, methodological improvements for difference-in-differences designs to address pre-trends, and the adaptation strategies of local retailers in the face of e-commerce competition.

As a promising early-career economist, she has been selected as a mentee for the 2025–2026 mentorship program of the Society of Labor Economists (SOLE), which supports her ongoing research and professional development.

Within ZEW, Dr. Steffens collaborates closely with the Labour Markets and Social Insurance research unit, contributing to a dynamic team that examines critical issues at the intersection of labour markets and social policy.