Center for the Study of Democracy: Rositsa Dzhekova

Coordinator, Security Program

Education: MA Social Research (Distinction), University of Sheffield; BA Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin.

Biography

Rositsa is Coordinator at the Security Program of the Center for the Study of Democracy. Her work at CSD is related to crime, corruption, informal and underground economies, asset forfeiture, law enforcement, border security and radicalisation. She provides team coordination and carries out research, data collection and analysis within key EU-funded projects in the area of justice and home affairs.

Between 2013 and 2014 Rositsa was Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield (UK) within the FP7 project “GREY: Out of the shadows - developing capacities and capabilities for tackling undeclared work in Bulgaria, Croatia and FYR Macedonia”. She conducted research and analyses of the shadow economy in Southeast Europe, as well evaluations of policy measures aimed at tackling the informal sector.

Before joining CSD, she she worked as a political analyst and corporate investigations consultant at the global risk consultancy Control Risks in Berlin and London, where she provided in-depth risk assessments and forecasts related to organized crime, security and terrorism risks, political stability, corruption and state capture in the Balkan region. She further conducted corruption audits, fraud investigations, integrity due diligence and litigation support for international clients operating in South-eastern Europe.

Research focus:

Оrganised crime, corruption, policing, border security, , radicalisation and violent extremism, fraud and tax abuse, grey economy, criminal justice and home affairs.

Languages: English, German

Publications:

Book chapters

Dzhekova, R. and Rusev, A. (2015) The Private Security Sector in Bulgaria. In: Klopfer, F. and van Amstel, N. (eds.) A Force for Good? Mapping the Private Security Sector in South-east Europe. Geneva: DCAF.

Dzhekova, R. (2014) Civil forfeiture of criminal assets in Bulgaria, in: King, C. and Walker, C. (eds.) Dirty Assets: New Issues in the Regulation of Criminal and Terrorism Assets. Aldershot, Ashgate.

Journal articles

Williams, C. C. and Dzhekova, R. (2014) Evaluating the Cross-National Transferability of Policies: A Conceptual Framework. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 19(4), 1450022.

Williams, C.C., Franic, J. and Dzhekova, R. (2015) Explaining and tackling the undeclared economy in Bulgaria: an institutional asymmetry perspective. SEE Journal of Economics and Business, 9(2), 33-45.

Williams, C.C., Franic, J., Dzhekova, R., Mishkov, L. (2015) Evaluating the policy approach towards the undeclared economy in FYR Macedonia. Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 24(2), 268-286.

Reports

Dzhekova, R. (2015) Policy approaches to monitoring, countering and preventing radicalisation. In: Todorov, B. and Shentov, O. (eds.) Radicalisation in Bulgaria: Review of Trends and Threats. Sofia, Center for the Study of Democracy.

Dzhekova, R. and Williams, C.C. (2014) Tackling the Undeclared Economy in Bulgaria. A Baseline Report, GREY Working Paper 1, Sheffield University Management School.

Dzhekova, R., Gounev, P. and Bezlov, T. (2013) Combating Police Corruption: European Perspectives. Sofia, Center for the Study of Democracy.

Dzhekova, R., Franic, J., Mishkov, L. and Williams, C.C. (2014) Tackling the Undeclared Economy in FYR Macedonia, GREY Working Paper 3, Sheffield University Management School.

Dzhekova, R., Parvu, S., van Hulten, M., Slingerland, W. and Beltgens, M. (2013)

Civil society organisations involvement in drafting, implementing and monitoring anticorruption policies in Romania. Assessment Report. Bucharest, Pro Universitaria.

Gounev, P., Dzhekova, R., Bezlov, T. (2012) Study on Anticorruption Measures in EU Border Control, Sofia, Center for the Study of Democracy.