Policy evaluation & impact assessment
Ex ante, interim and ex post assessments, policy effectiveness, regulatory impact and cost-benefit analysis.
BRUSSELS · ECONOMIC RESEARCH & ADVISORY
Evidence that informs.
Insight that advances.
Independent economic analysis, policy evaluation and strategic advisory across innovation, competitiveness, AI, corporate performance and sustainable growth.
European policyApplied econometricsImpact evaluation
Grounded in academic rigour. Designed for real-world decisions. Informed by contributions to studies for European institutions, public authorities and international organisations.
01 / EXPERTISEComplex challenges.
Complex challenges.
Clear analysis.
We combine robust empirical methodologies and policy understanding to turn complex economic evidence into actionable recommendations.
Research, innovation & competitiveness
R&D policy, business innovation, research funding, innovation systems and industrial competitiveness.
AI, digitalisation & firm performance
Digital technologies and AI adoption, organisational capabilities, econometric assessment of firm productivity and business performance.
Climate & sustainability policy
Emissions trajectories, carbon markets, responsible business conduct due diligence, ESG impact and the economics of decarbonisation.
Regional development & EU cohesion
Regional ecosystems, structural disparities, EU funding programmes and smart specialisation strategies.
Econometrics & advanced analytics
Microeconometrics, causal inference, machine learning, modelling, survey analysis and bibliometrics.
02 / SELECTED WORKResearch with
Research with
a public record.
Selected reports and policy studies contributed to by Michele Cincera. Roles vary by project: commissioned consultant, co-author, scientific expert or academic advisor.
Project descriptions are based on the September 2026 CV and, where available, external publishing records. Entries without a public report link are supported by the CV or privately supplied evidence, and should not be presented as published reports. Exact contracting relationships must be confirmed separately from individual academic contributions.
03 / CURRENT WORKNew questions.
New questions.
Rigorous methods.
Selected current topics and methodological work. The descriptions below do not imply that every tender, proposal or collaboration has resulted in an awarded contract or published final report.
POLYTRoPOS system-dynamics modelling
Independent expert review and quality assurance of a JRC model of system innovation, under a 2024–2025 expert contract. Related JRC publication ↗ (authored separately).
European Innovation Act
Research interest in ex ante impact assessment of measures to strengthen Europe's innovation ecosystem. The supplied supporting document is a call for tenders, not evidence of contract award.
Due diligence, ESG and financial performance
Research methodology on responsible business conduct due diligence, ESG practices and financial outcomes. The September 2026 working document proposes longitudinal firm-level analysis across a 10,000-company sample.
Digital technologies and corporate performance
Empirical analysis of how digital technologies and AI capabilities relate to productivity, organisational change and firm performance.
Investment and programme evaluation
Advanced quantitative evaluation methods for large-scale public interventions, drawing on proposal-development and advisory experience. Tender submissions are not represented as awarded work.
BRISTI — Belgian innovation systems
Editorial contributions to the BELSPO BRISTI reports: the 2001 indicator volume, 2002 companion volume and BRISTI 2021 (published in 2022). Read the latest report ↗
04 / APPROACHMethods adapted to
Methods adapted to
the policy question.
Our work combines transparent analytical design with the specific institutional, data and operational constraints of each evaluation.
Counterfactual evaluation
Panel-data designs, matching, difference-in-differences and robustness analysis to assess interventions against plausible alternatives.
Structural & systems analysis
Economic modelling, scenario analysis, systems thinking and the validation of model assumptions for policy use.
Firm-level performance
Longitudinal company data, econometrics and machine-learning techniques to analyse technological adoption and productivity.
Research system indicators
Innovation surveys, bibliometrics, R&D statistics, international benchmarking and comparative institutional assessments.
Mixed-method evidence
Stakeholder interviews, literature reviews, policy mapping and quantitative triangulation for defensible conclusions.
Auditability & communication
Reproducible analysis, sensitivity testing, clear reporting of uncertainty and concise recommendations for decision-makers.
05 / INSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCEExperience across
Experience across
institutions and sectors.
The professional portfolio of our director includes reports, collaborative research and scientific advisory assignments associated with the following institutions and programmes.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
DG RTD · DG REGIO · DG ECFIN · JRC
Innovation programmes, regional policy, economic analysis and policy evaluation.
BELGIAN AUTHORITIES
Innoviris · IWEPS · BELSPO · National Bank of Belgium
Innovation systems, public expenditure reviews, competitiveness and economic research.
INTERNATIONAL & NON-PROFIT
OECD-related work · Carbon Market Watch
Comparative R&D statistics, national innovation systems and maritime climate policy.
FRENCH AUTHORITIES
French Ministry for Overseas Territories
Economic assessment of structural business disadvantages in outermost regions.
Institutional names indicate documented project involvement, not necessarily a direct contractual client relationship with Cincera Consulting SCS. No endorsement is implied.
06 / ABOUT USResearch depth.
Research depth.
Policy perspective.
Led by Professor Michele Cincera
Cincera Consulting SCS is a Brussels-based economic research and consultancy company founded and led by Michele Cincera, Professor of Industrial Economics at the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, Université libre de Bruxelles.
His experience spans the economics of innovation, industrial organisation, quantitative policy evaluation and applied econometrics. He has served as a visiting scientist at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and as a visiting fellow at DG ECFIN.
The company profile describes specialist capabilities in econometrics, bibliometrics, machine learning and the socio-economic assessment of research and innovation policies.
See our evidence base ↗07 / CONTACTLet’s bring evidence
Let’s bring evidence
to your next decision.
For research collaborations, evaluation assignments, consortium partnerships and expert advisory enquiries. We normally respond by email; no third-party contact form or tracking cookies are used on this site.
LOCATION
Brussels, BelgiumNOTE
For enquiries about consulting assignments, please include a short description of the project, expected deliverables and timeline.