Dr Danilo Spinola is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Birmingham City University. His research examines how technological change, productive structures, macroeconomic dynamics and environmental constraints shape economic development, particularly in emerging and developing economies. Drawing on evolutionary, structuralist and Keynesian approaches, he combines empirical research with agent-based, stock-flow consistent and multisectoral modelling, network analysis and econometrics.
His research has appeared in Ecological Economics, Industry and Innovation, Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Review of Political Economy, Metroeconomica and other journals. He co-authored Evolutionary Selection and Keynes–Schumpeter Macroeconomics (Cambridge University Press, 2025). He is BCU’s designated scientific lead on a €180,000 research partnership with the French Development Agency (AFD), developing modelling tools to support analysis of Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan.
Dr Spinola completed his PhD at Maastricht University/UNU-MERIT and has worked with international research and policy institutions, including ECLAC, the Inter-American Development Bank and UNIDO. He is an Associate Editor of Innovation and Development and SN Business & Economics, serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Evolutionary Economics, and is Vice-President of the GLOBELICS Scientific Board (2026–2030).
At BCU, he teaches economics and supports doctoral researchers. His teaching emphasises Problem-Based Learning, critical engagement with evidence, accessible academic guidance and personal tutoring. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
- Innovation economics, technological capabilities and innovation systems
- Structural change, industrial development and economic complexity
- Ecological macroeconomics, green industrial policy and climate-transition analysis
- Keynesian–Schumpeterian, Post-Keynesian and structuralist macroeconomics
- Global value chains, digital production technologies and uneven development
- Agent-based modelling, stock-flow consistent models and dynamic input–output analysis
- Econometric methods, network analysis and policy-oriented quantitative research
- Problem-Based Learning, curriculum design and postgraduate research supervision
- PhD in Economics — Maastricht University / United Nations University (UNU-MERIT), Netherlands (2020)
- Master’s degree in Economics — University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
- Bachelor’s degree in Economics — University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
- Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences — University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Brazil
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Vice-President, GLOBELICS Scientific Board (2026–2030).
- Associate Editor, Innovation and Development.
- Associate Editor, SN Business & Economics.
- Editorial Board Member, Journal of Evolutionary Economics.
- Affiliated researcher, UNU-MERIT / Maastricht University; Senior Research Associate, SARChI Industrial Development, University of Johannesburg.
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
- International academic governance and doctoral-training service, including the Young Scholars Initiative (YSI).
BCU economics modules taught, led or developed (teaching allocations vary
by academic year):
- Classical Political Economy / Political Economy (module development)
- Economic History (module development)
- Economics and Sustainable Development / Economics for Sustainable Development (module development)
- Labour Economics
- Macroeconomics and introductory economics
- Statistics and quantitative methods for economics
- Teaching approach: Problem-Based Learning (PBL), guided enquiry, policy cases, formative feedback, personal tutoring and support for students from varied educational backgrounds.
- Ecological transformation in Brazil: multisectoral and macro-financial modelling of industrial policy, energy transition and environmental constraints, within the AFD-funded GEMMES–ESTEEM programme.
- Innovation, technological capabilities and development: firm learning, economic complexity, digital production technologies and global technological trade networks.
- Demand-led and evolutionary macroeconomics: integrating aggregate demand, innovation, financial dynamics and productive transformation in computational models.
- International trade, global value chains and uneven development: technological upgrading, competition, external constraints and structural change.
- Land use and the green transition: interactions among conservation, land prices, agricultural production and macroeconomic vulnerability.
Dr Spinola supervises and mentors PhD researchers working on innovation systems, economic development, technological change and computational modelling. He welcomes enquiries on agent-based and stock-flow consistent modelling, ecological macroeconomics, economic complexity, green structural transformation and global value chains. He has also contributed to doctoral training and external research supervision through international academic networks. Supervision depends on research fit and BCU admission and capacity arrangements.
Accepted for publication (not yet published):
Spinola, D. and co-authors (accepted 3 November 2026). “Trade, competition and uneven development: Chinese manufacturing import penetration in Belt and Road economies.” Development and Change.
Selected invited academic engagement:
ECLAC/ELADES (Chile); GLOBELICS Academy; University of Sheffield; international research seminars and conferences in innovation, economic development and ecological macroeconomics.
Available to comment on innovation, industrial policy, economic development, climate economics, macroeconomic policy, inequality and public finance.
Applied research and policy engagement with international public-sector and
development organisations:
- French Development Agency (AFD): BCU scientific lead on a €180,000 research partnership developing ecological macroeconomic and multisectoral modelling tools to support analysis of Brazil’s Ecological Transformation Plan, working with AFD and Brazilian policy stakeholders.
- Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC/United Nations): research consultancy and specialist teaching in economic development, structural change and Latin American macroeconomics.
- Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): training and capacity-building in innovation economics, including a course in Paraguay.
- United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO): research contributions on manufacturing unit values and commodity prices for the Industrial Development Report 2018.
