About Me

• I study the private sector in low- and middle-income countries, focusing on how industrial development—through firms, productivity, trade, industrial policy, and labor markets—can drive economic growth and reduce poverty; in my research and policy work, I collaborate with government agencies, multilateral organizations, and national statistical institutes, using administrative and survey microdata; in 2025, my work was recognized with the McGill University Faculty of Arts Distinction in Research Award;

• Giorgio Chiovelli, Serafin Frache, and I lead the MONT² Econ Lab, a joint research, policy, and training initiative of McGill University in Montreal and the Universidad de Montevideo in Uruguay;

• I am affiliated with the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD), the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and the International Growth Centre (IGC); I am also a fellow of the Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) and the ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin - Institute for the Economy and the Future of Work (RFBerlin); at McGill, I am a member of the Centre on Population Dynamics (CPD) and the Centre interuniversitaire de recherche en économie quantitative (CIREQ);

• Each year, I co-organize the Firms, Labor Markets, and Development Workshop together with Michele Di Maio, Mariapia Mendola and Marco Sanfilippo; this is typically held in late June-early July in Italy, and the call for papers is out in January-February.

Working Papers and Work in Progress

Beefing Up the Service Sector: Commodity Export Booms and Production Network Spillovers (with G. Chiovelli and S. Frache)

• CEPR Discussion Paper No. 20078 [📖 cite]

Labor Market Power and Self-Employment Around the World (with E. Brancati, P. Brummund, N. de Roux and M. Di Maio)

• CEPR Discussion Paper No. 18828 [📖 cite]

• Revise and Resubmit, The Economic Journal

Labor Market Institutions and Wage-Setting Power: Evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean (with E. Brancati, N. de Roux and M. Di Maio)

• CEPR Discussion Paper No. 20539 [📖 cite]

• Revise and Resubmit, Journal of Human Resources

The Effect of Migrant Regularization on Labor Exploitation (with E. Benveniste, M. Carillo and M. Riudavets-Barcons)

• CEPR Discussion Paper No. 20750 [📖 cite]

The Local (Informal) Multiplier of Industrial Jobs (with E. Benveniste, H. Pham and M. Sanfilippo)

Selected Published and Forthcoming Papers

Selection, Absolute Advantage, and the Agricultural Productivity Gap (with F. Alvarez and M. Poschke)

• Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, forthcoming [📖 cite] [📈 replication]

Labor Market Power, Self-Employment, and Development (with P. Medina and M. Morlacco)

• American Economic Review, 2025, 115(9): 3014-3057 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] [📈 replication]

Measuring Labor Market Power in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombian Plants (with N. de Roux)

• Journal of Labor Economics, 2024, 42(4): 949-977 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Trade Liberalization, Economic Activity, and Political Violence in the Global South: Evidence from PTAs (with L. Baccini, G. Chiovelli and M. Di Maio) 

• Economic Policy, 2024, 39(118): 275-322 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

The Employment Effects of Ethnic Politics (with G. Chiovelli and S. Hohmann)

• American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2024, 16(2): 456-491 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] [📈 replication]

Workplace Incentives and Organizational Learning (with M. A. Martinez)

• Journal of Labor Economics, 2023, 41(2): 453-478 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Security, Trade, and Political Violence (with L. Baccini and M. Di Maio)

• Journal of the European Economic Association, 2021, 19(1): 1-37 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] [📑 online appendix]

Ethnicity and Violence During Democratic Transitions: Evidence from South Africa (with G. Chiovelli)

• Journal of the European Economic Association, 2018, 16(4): 1234-1280 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] 

Input Allocation, Workforce Management and Productivity Spillovers: Evidence from Personnel Data (with M. A. Martinez)

• The Review of Economic Studies, 2018, 85(4): 1937-1970 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] [📑 online appendix]

Making Do with What You Have: Conflict, Input Misallocation and Firm Performance (with M. Di Maio)

• The Economic Journal, 2018, 128(615): 2559-2612 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] [📑 online appendix]

Additional Publications

Weather Shocks Affect Trade Policy: Evidence from Preferential Trade Agreements (with L. Baccini, G. Chiovelli and M. Di Maio)

• American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2025, 107(2): 696-717 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version] [📈 replication]

Work Style Diversity and Diffusion Within and Across Organizations: Evidence from Soviet-Style Hockey (with S. Hoey and J. Schneider)

• Management Science, 2024, 70(4): 2294-2314 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Agricultural Comparative Advantage and Legislators' Support for Trade Agreements  (with L. Baccini, G. Chiovelli and M. Di Maio)

• The Journal of Politics, 2022, 84(2): 1244-1249 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Bribes vs. Taxes: Market Structure and Incentives (with J. Choi, G. De Giorgi and A. Rahman)

• Journal of Comparative Economics, 2022, 50(2): 435-453 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Pre-colonial Ethnic Institutions and Party Politics in Africa (with G. Chiovelli and D. Munson)

• Journal of Comparative Economics, 2022, 50(4): 969-980 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Crime Protection Investment Spillovers: Theory and Evidence from the City of Buenos Aires

• Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2019, 159: 626-649 [📖 cite] [📝 wp version]

Policy Briefs and Research Notes

• Labor Market Power, Self-Employment, and Development (with P. Medina and M. Morlacco) [pdf]

• Working in Export Manufacturing: A Blessing or a Curse? (with A. Menzel) [pdf]

• The Effect of the Italian Support System for Refugees and Asylum Seekers on the Local Economy (with A. Martelli and C. Paoli) [pdf] 

• Trade Restrictions Lead to Lower Wages and More Violence (with M. Di Maio) [pdf] 

Op-Eds and Other Media

• Faire en sorte que les dépenses en défense créent de bons emplois, Le Devoir, December 2025 [link]

• Pourquoi l’aide étrangère du Canada qui favorise l’égalité des genres ne devrait pas surprendre (wth S. Laszlo), Journal de Montréal, March 2025 [link]

• Quebec companies announce layoffs ahead of Trump tariffs, CBC Montreal, February 2025 [link]

• Trump’s tariffs gamble rests on three pillars and carries big risks, Montreal Gazette, February 2025 [link]

• Canada post-Trudeau: Paese al bivio?, ISPI, January 2025 [link]

• Économie : Canada et Québec, L'anti-chambre d'écho, December 2024 [link]

• Tarifs douaniers évoqués par Trump: Et si le Canada en profitait pour se positionner stratégiquement.., La Presse, November 2024 [link]

• Vor der US-Wahl: Wie Kanada auf das mächtige Nachbarland blickt, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, October 2024 [link]

• Se la sinistra cede alla tentazione del protezionismo (with A. Martelli), La Repubblica, September 2024 [link]

• Le protectionnisme de gauche, Le Devoir, August 2024 [link]

• How ethnic politics shapes labour markets in Africa (with G. Chiovelli and S. Hohmann), voxdev.org, June 2024 [link]

• How the wage-setting power of firms shapes Peru’s economy (with P. Medina and M. Morlacco), voxdev.org, January 2024 [link]

• Labor market power, self-employment, and development, Faculti.net, December 2023 [link]

• Atteindre le plein potentiel des universités francophones, Le Devoir, October 2023 [link]

• Reforming Montreal's transit system (with V. Geloso), Montreal Gazette, January 2023 [link]

• Push to resume pay hikes for essential retail workers, CBC The National, January 2022 [link]

• Immigration could help Quebec nursing shortage, CTV News, January 2022 [link]

• Health-care staff shortages? Let's talk immigration, Montreal Gazette, January 2022 [link]

• Pay Out Emergency Benefits or Subsidize Wages, Montreal Gazette, March 2020 [link]

• How conflict disrupts the economy: New evidence from the West Bank and Gaza (with M. Di Maio), voxeu.org, December 2018 [link]

• Se i Rifugiati Danno Posti di Lavoro agli Italiani (with A. Martelli and C. Paoli), lavoce.info, October 2018 [link]

• Feedback rating to decrease bribery: Evidence from the Kyrgyz Republic (with J. Choi, G. De Giorgi and A. Rahman), voxdev.org, July 2018 [link]

• Il Ventennio Boom del Divario Generazionale (with A. Martelli), linkiesta.it, June 2014 [link]

• Firms in Conflict: Adapt or Perish (with M. Di Maio), sipri.org, May 2014 [link]

• Percepciones y Realidad sobre el tema de los Delitos en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires (with L. Freira), focoeconomico.org, February 2013 [link]

Bio

I grew up in Rutigliano, a small town in the province of Bari, Puglia. I also lived in Siena and Bologna in Italy, then moved to Barcelona before settling in Montreal.