Predoctoral Fellowship in Business, Economics, Management or Engineering (ExpWork)

(R1) Positions: PhD Positions Application Deadline: 31 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Madrid) Country: Spain Type of Contract: Temporary Job Status: Full-time Hours Per Week: 37.5 Offer Starting Date: 1 Dec 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number: PID2023-150698NB-I00. Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No Offer Description Esade Business School of Ramon Llull University offers a predoctoral fellowship as part of the State Plan for Scientific and Technological Research and Innovation of the Ministry for Science Innovation and Universities of the Spanish Government to undertake a PhD thesis in the framework of the funded project: “Eliminating worker exploitation in supply chains: The mitigation role of regulation and public scrutiny (ExpWork)”. Project reference: PID2023-150698NB-I00. The Project “Eliminating worker exploitation in supply chains: The mitigation role of regulation and public scrutiny (ExpWork)” aims to empirically investigate the implications of supply chain due diligence regulation and public scrutiny on (ir)responsible practices related to working conditions. Specifically, this project aims to find mitigation levers to manage the ever prevalence issue and societal concern of worker exploitation in supply chains in the form of and regulation and public scrutiny. The ExpWork project has two highly innovative components. From one side we consider the role of national, and international supply chain due diligence regulations in combination with public scrutiny as reinforcing levers to reduce worker exploitation. From the other side we address possible response strategies of companies that have detected cases of worker exploitation in their supply chain. The efficacy of supply chain due diligence regulations is currently debated due to a lack of enforcement mechanisms and due to difficulties that companies are facing to implement effective sustainable supply chain management practices along their supply chains. We consider public scrutiny to foster the efficacy of regulations as this might damage the company reputation. We refer to public scrutiny as the accusation and critical assessment of irresponsible practices of worker exploitation known by the general public. On the other side we investigate the efficacy of sustainable and disclosure practices put in place by companies in their supply chains as responses to regulations and public scrutiny on working conditions and possible facilitators and barriers for the effectiveness of such strategies. This project will take a multidisciplinary perspective considering both supply chain management and business ethics implications and combining quantitative and qualitative methodologies to analyze the research problem. The researchers leading this project provide the multi-disciplinary knowledge needed to address the implications of worker exploitation in supply chains combining both management and business ethics perspectives. Where to apply E-mail: research@esade.edu Requirements Research Field: Economics — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent Research Field: Management sciences — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent Research Field: Engineering — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent Skills/Qualifications Applicants must have a Master degree from an accredited university in the area of business, economics, management or engineering. Applicants should have at least 25 ECTS in areas of methodology and topics related to business management. Preference might be given to those candidates possessing a Master of Research degree or previous experience as research assistant in tasks such as data collection, data analysis and writing results. Applicants’ research interests are expected to be aligned with those of the project. Specific Requirements Admission to ESADE’s doctoral program will require shortlisted candidates to perform the ESADE Qualifying Exam, covering epistemology, research tools, organization and management theory. At the time of admission candidates are to fulfill all admissibility criteria (among others GMAT/GRE; proven proficiency in English). Languages: ENGLISH — Level: Excellent Additional Information Benefits Duration: maximum 3 years Salary (subject to changes): Year 1: € 23,871.70 Year 2: € 23,871.70 Year 3: € 23,871.70 Selection process If you are interested in doing a doctoral thesis and are motivated for this research, send your detailed curriculum vitae and academic record along with a motivation letter and two recommendation letters to: research@esade.edu . A board of two researchers will review all applications and the three best ranked applicants will be selected for an interview (to be conducted online). The ranking of each applicant will follow the punctuation shown below, as mandated by the fellowship rules stated by the Ministry for Science and Innovation: Criterion 1 Research-based and scientific trajectory (up to 50 points) 1a. Scientific-technical contributions (up to 45 points) 1b. Mobility and internationalization (up to 5 points) Criterion 2 Suitability of the candidate to the research activities to be developed (up to 50 points) Work Location(s) Number of offers available: 1 Company/Institute: Esade Business School Country: Spain State/Province: BARCELONA City: Sant Cugat del Vallés Postal Code: 08172 Street: Avenida Torreblanca 57 Contact State/Province: Barcelona City: Barcelona Website: https://www.url.edu/ Street: c/ Claravall 1-3 Postal Code: 08022 E-Mail: rh@rectorat.url.edu Phone: 636300863