Milena Nikolova

Nonresident Fellow - Global Economy and Development

Milena Nikolova is a nonresident fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings and an assistant professor and Rosalind Franklin fellow at University of Groningen (in the Faculty of Economics and Business, Global Economics & Management). Nikolova's research focuses on topics related to subjective well-being, migration, transition economies, nonprofits and civil society, international development, labor issues, and institutions. Her research has appeared in journals such as World Development, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Comparative Economics, among others.

Milena Nikolova is a nonresident fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings and an assistant professor and Rosalind Franklin fellow at University of Groningen (in the Faculty of Economics and Business, Global Economics & Management). Nikolova’s research focuses on topics related to subjective well-being, migration, transition economies, nonprofits and civil society, international development, labor issues, and institutions. Her research has appeared in journals such as World Development, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, European Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Comparative Economics, among others.

Contact: Email; 202.238.3552 — Communications Team, Brookings Global Economy and Development; 202-797-6034 — Global Economy and Development program
Programs: Global Economy and Development
Additional Expertise Areas: Subjective Well-Being; Migration; Transition Economies; International Development; Nonprofits
Current Positions: Assistant Professor and Rosalind Franklin Fellow, University of Groningen, Faculty of Economics and Business, Global Economics & Management; Research Fellow, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn, Germany; Fellow, Global Labor Organization (GLO); Research Affiliate, Happiness Research Organization; Research Fellow, Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI); Nonresident Fellow, Bruegel
Past Positions: Nonresident Researcher, Global Economy and Development Program, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC; Research Associate, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA); Emerging Scholar, Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, The Urban Institute, Washington, DC; Managing Editor, Journal of Population Economics
Education: Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park, 2014; M.P.P., School of Public Policy, The American University, Washington, DC, 2011; B.A., Gettysburg College, 2008

Research

French jobseeker Alexandre, 24-years-old, makes a phone call to apply for a job in Pessac near Bordeaux June 17, 2013. Alexandre, unemployed for over a year, left school at 16 with a CAP diploma in auto mechanics. In the past, he has been employed as a mechanic, worked part-time in the building industry and held other, short-term jobs. He now hopes to find a regular job in 2013, and has been making visits to the National Agency for Employment (Pole Emploi) and applying for positions in regional companies. If he cannot find work in France, he is considering trying his luck in a foreign country such as Germany. Alexandre currently lives at home with his mother, and goes to an abandoned warehouse to work out because he cannot afford a gym subscription. Picture taken June 17, 2013. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau (FRANCE - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 9 OF 18 FOR PACKAGE 'YOUNG, FRENCH AND UNEMPLOYED'. SEARCH 'CAP DIPLOMA' FOR ALL PICTURES - GM1E96K16V601

Report

Sometimes your best just ain’t good enough: The worldwide evidence on well-being efficiency

Milena Nikolova and Olga Popova

Monday, May 1, 2017

Jose Manuel Abel (R), 47, and his wife Oliva, 47, are seen at home before having dinner in Munich October 12, 2013. In 2012, former salesman Jose Manuel Abel left his family behind in Spain and moved to Germany in search of work, arriving in Munich with just 250 euros in his pocket. A year on, Abel has found a permanent job in a fruit and vegetable warehouse and hopes that his family will be able to join him in Munich in the near future. Oliva, who still lives in Spain with their two children, spent a week in Munich visiting Jose Manuel. German joblessness unexpectedly rose in October to its highest level since June 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, but the unemployment rate remained close to its lowest level since reunification more than two decades ago. The number of people out of work increased by 2,000 to 2.973 million, data from the Labour Office showed on October 30, 2013. But the jobless rate held steady at 6.9 percent, making it the envy of struggling euro zone peers like Greece and Spain, where more than one in four people are out of work. Picture taken October 12, 2013. REUTERS/Marcelo del Pozo (GERMANY - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY EMPLOYMENT)

ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 27 OF 30 FOR PACKAGE 'REVISITED - A NEW LIFE WITH 250'
SEARCH 'JOSE MANUEL ABEL' FOR ALL IMAGES - GM1E9AU123Y01

Report

Your spouse is fired! How much do you care?

Milena Nikolova and Sinem H. Ayhan

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Report

Suffrage, labor markets and coalitions in colonial Virginia

Elena Nikolova and Milena Nikolova

Thursday, September 1, 2016

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In The Media

The average life satisfaction between advanced and transition countries has started to converge in recent years.

Milena Nikolova IZA Press Wednesday, December 9, 2015

From subjective well-being research, we learn how to operationalize normative concepts like dignity, develop relevant measures, and use the information to better understand human experience.

Milena Nikolova IZA Press Wednesday, October 28, 2015

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