One of the central aims of LSEE is to produce high-quality, multi-disciplinary in-house research that will track developments in the region. LSEE also aims to encourage research completed in collaborative efforts and co-authorships with partners at the LSE, in the region and further afield. LSEE staff engage in research projects centred around three thematic streams: Social policy, regional policy and labour markets; European integration, macroeconomic policy and institutional reform; and International relations, minorities, security and state-building.
Social Cohesion Stream
Research in this stream includes the work of SMEs, regional policy and development, skills shortages and labour market performance, administrative and fiscal decentralisation, health and social services provision, and poverty and social protection. The recently established LSEE Research Network on Social Cohesion in SEE supports and strengthens such areas of research through collaboration with colleagues from the region and the initial support of the Regional Cooperation Council, the IFI Coordination Office for the Western Balkans and Turkey, and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
Macroeconomy Stream
In the fields of economic policy and performance the topics covered have been FDI spill-overs (in Bulgaria and Serbia), trade integration and the new CEFTA2006, the emergence of industrial centres in Central Turkey, and the impact of the global economic crisis on the region as a whole. Other areas of research include analyses of the process of European association, evaluation of the investment of pre-accession assistance, analysis of trade flows and trade integration (CEFTA) and others.
Security-Minorities Stream
Recent and current research in the area of conflict management and state-building covers topics such as the role of the EU as state-builder, the limits of EU foreign policy in Kosovo, the role of international organisations, transforming the Balkans (in collaboration with the US-Greece Task Force) and quality of life in FYR Macedonia. Additionally, minority rights research focuses on Roma rights, post-conditionality and ethnic relations in FYR Macedonia.
LSEE's aim is to assist the production of high quality research in these areas and to facilitate the dissemination of research outputs in the form of journal articles, published books and in-house publications, as well as through public events and input into regional and governmental organisations and policy fora.