Published and Forthcoming Papers:

Digital Highways and Firm Turnover (with Carlo Cambini)

Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 2023, Volume 32, 673-713

The Impact of Ultra-Broadband on Labor Income: An Event Study Approach (with Carlo Cambini and Laura Abrardi)

Forthcoming at Economics of Innovation and New Technology

Ultra-Fast Broadband Access and Productivity:  Evidence from Italian Firms (with Carlo Cambini and Elena Grinza) 

International Journal of Industrial Organization, 2023, Volume 86, 102901

Ultra-broadband Investment and Economic Resilience: Evidence from the Covid-19 Pandemic (with Laura Abrardi)

Telecommunications Policy, 2023, Volume 47, 102480 

Privacy regulation and online concentration during demand peaks: evidence from the E-commerce sector (with Geza Sapi) 

Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, 2023, 50, 265-282

The Impact of Privacy Regulation on Web Traffic: Evidence from the GDPR (with Raffaele Congiu and Geza Sapi) 

Information Economics and Policy, 2022, Volume 61, 101003 

Online Privacy and Market Structure: Theory and Evidence (with Geza Sapi) 

Information Economics and Policy, 2022, Volume 60, 100985 

Working Papers:

The Faster the Better? Advanced Internet Access and Student Performance (with Carlo Cambini and Sarah Zaccagni) 

Accepted at Telecommunications Policy

In this paper, we study the impact of high-speed internet access on student performance. Our empirical analysis leverages a unique dataset that combines information on ultra-broadband (UBB) diffusion in Italy with data on student performance in 2nd, 5th, and 8th grades for the period 2012-2017. We exploit the staggered roll-out of UBB, starting from 2015. Through an event study approach, we find evidence of endogeneity between student performance and UBB diffusion. We deal with this issue through an instrumental variable approach that exploits plausibly exogenous variation in the diffusion of the essential UBB input. Our results suggest that advanced internet connections significantly decrease student performance in Mathematics and Italian language in the 8th grade. In contrast, we do not find any significant effect in the 2nd and 5th grades. Male students from low-educated parental backgrounds are those more adversely affected, especially if they attend schools with a low IT usage.

Economic Benefits of New Broadband Network Coverage and Service Adoption: Evidence from OECD Member States (with Wolfgang Briglauer, Carlo Cambini, and Klaus Gugler)

Resubmitted at Industrial and Corporate Change

A broad-scale rollout and adoption of new broadband networks and services, respectively, are expected to generate innovative services for consumers and create a high potential for productivity increases and economic growth. However, there is no evidence available on the causal impact of both broadband coverage and adoption on economic outcomes, which we measure as gross domestic product (GDP). Moreover, no study has yet simultaneously considered the impact of both new wireline broadband based on fiber-optic technologies and wireless (mobile) broadband based on 3G+/4G technologies. Distinguishing these effects is of crucial relevance for the efficient design of broadband policies. To provide reliable evidence on causal effects, we utilize comprehensive panel data for 32 OECD countries for the years 2002–2020 and panel fixed-effects estimators including instrumental variables estimation. Our results show that both fixed and mobile broadband adoption exert a substantial and significant impact on GDP, while network deployment per se exhibits only minor multiplier-related effects on GDP per capita. Contemporaneous effects of a 1% increase in fixed broadband adoption impact GDP per capita growth in a range of 0.026% to 0.034%, while a 1% increase in mobile broadband adoption contributes between 0.092% and 0.102%. While the impact of contemporaneous mobile broadband adoption is substantially higher, fixed broadband adoption shows stronger dynamic and cumulative effects, as well as larger effects in later deployment periods. Generally, our results are consistent with the notion that the diffusion of technologies to substantial proportions of the population is most important in driving economic growth. 

iEnforcement and Road Safety (with Giorgio Caramma) - New version coming soon!

In this paper, we study how information technologies (IT) affect road safety through higher enforcement of traffic laws. Thanks to administrative geo-localized data on the universe of road accidents in a major Italian city, we assess the impact of IT on road safety within a quasi-random experiment that exploits the roll-out of intelligent red-light cameras in road intersections. Our findings suggest that IT-based enforcement (iEnforcement) significantly reduces accidents, but have negligible effects on injuries, as it affects mostly accidents that do not involve casualties. The impact is extremely local, and it is not driven by displacement effects toward uncontrolled roads. Exploring potential mechanisms, we find that the increase in road safety can be explained by higher coordination: iEnforcement improves coordination among road users by restraining them toward more compliant behavior. In turn, this affects overall road safety.

Work in Progress:

• Cultural Exception? The Impact of Price Regulation on Prices and Variety of Books (with Christos Genakos, Mario Pagliero, and Tommaso Valletti) - Draft coming soon!

• Broadband and Innovation (with Carlo Cambini, Pierluigi Murro, Fabiano Schivardi, and Francesco Sobbrio)

• Entry Deregulation, Firm Turnover and Labour Market Outcomes (with Matteo Broso, Carlo Cambini, and Giacomo Rosso) - Draft coming soon!

• Privacy and Online Security (with Laura Abrardi and Geza Sapi)