«Management and Remote Work» with Andrea Linarello (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Megha Patnaik (LUISS and CEPR), and fabiano Schivardi (LUISS, EIEF and CEPR)
«Quantitative Spatial Models and Policy Experiments in Italy» with Antonio Accetturo (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Lorenzo Arcà (Universuty of Zurich, Fabio Bertolotti (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Andrea Linarello (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Salvatore Lo Bello (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Luca D. Nota (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Andrea Petrella (Bank of Italy, Research Department), Giacomo Ziglio (Bank of Italy, Research Branch Trento)
Abstract: This paper provides the first application of Quantitative Spatial Models (QSMs) to policy experiments in Italy. We first adapt the model from \cite{CPRHS} to the Italian economy by adding the international trade channel. We then use a calibrated version of the model to perform three policy experiments, namely evaluating the impact of: (i) the 2016 earthquake in central Italy; (ii) the changes in the transportation structure within Italy; (iii) the shut-down of trade linkages between China and Western countries.
«Mechanisms of the urban productivity premium: Evidence from Italian firms» with Andrea Petrella (Bank of Italy, Research Department)
Abstract: In this paper we study the determinants of the productivity advantage displayed by firms located in urban areas. Using detailed data on the universe of Italian firms, we are able to disentangle the role played by two components: (i) the sorting of intrinsically more productive firms to urban areas, and (ii) the extent of agglomeration economies specific to each city. While both channels significantly contribute to the urban productivity premium, the former is more sizable than the latter. We then focus on firms relocating across cities to shed some light on the mechanisms through which firms accrue a productivity advantage from locating in a urban environment. We first document some notable facts about moving firms, and then set up a synthetic control exercise that builds appropriate conterfactuals to evaluate the productivity gains arising from relocation. The results show that firms reap the benefits of agglomeration in two ways: on one hand, the simple fact of being located in a city (especially a big one) entails a static productivity premium; on the other hand, productivity gains accumulate more rapidly in urban areas, hinting at potentially faster learning processes for firms located in these environments.
«Innovation and trade. Evidence from Italian manufacturing firms», with Antonio Accetturo (Bank of Italy, Research Unit, Trento), Matteo Bugamelli (Bank of Italy, Research Department), and Andrea Linarello (Bank of Italy, Research Unit, Turin)
Abstract: Firms exposed to foreign demand have larger incentives to innovate, if market size matters for innovation. We test this hypothesis using Italian firm data. We measure innovation as the probability of applying for a patent to the European Patent Office, whereas most of the existing papers focus either on productivity or other self-reported measure of innovation. Using information on destination markets of province aggregate exports to construct an instrument for changes in exporting, we find that passing from the 25th to the 75th percentile of the export distribution increases the probability of applying for a patent by half a standard deviation. Our result is heterogenous across firms: export favors innovation to a larger extent for smaller and less productive firms.
«Multi-sector quality ladder models with heterogeneous R&D»
Abstract: This paper adapts a standard quality ladder model (Grossman and Helpman 1991) in order to allow for heterogeneity among entrepreneurs as concerns their ability to exploit spillovers from a stock of general purpose knowledge. The model shows that heterogeneity along such dimension translates into heterogeneity in the optimal choice of employment in R&D and has an effect on aggregate growth rates depending on the assumptions about the structure of the market, i.e. whether the single entrepreneur consider is contribution to general purpose knowledge negligible or not.