Dr. Gaspare TORTORICI

Gaspare is an economic historian who joined the C²DH in June 2025. As a Research Associate, he will collaborate with Denis Scuto at the newly created Chair of History and Migrations.

His research interests revolve around migration and economic development. He specialises in the Age of Mass Migration – from the 1850s to the outbreak of WWI – and is particulraly interested in understanding the causes of large-scale migration episodes – e.g. globalization, natural disasters, legal changes, demography –, as well as the dynamics of migrants’ self-selection. Given that ideas move with people, he is equally keen on identifying the link between technology transfers and economic growth during the industrial revolution. Gaspare’s approach to research integrates a meticulous study of historical sources with cutting-edge data analytics. He has published on leading economic history journals like The Journal of Economic History and Explorations in Economic History.

During his PhD, Gaspare was awarderd a prestigius 3-year doctoral scholarship from the Irish Research Council.

He joined LISER (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research) as a Research Associate in 2021. Before moving to Luxembourg, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Heidelberg Universität (Germany).

After completing an MSc in Economics at the University of St Andrews (Scotland, UK), he undertook a PhD in Economics at Trinity College Dublin (Ireland).