Research
PUBLICATIONS IN PEER-REVIEWED JOURNALS
1) Rode, M.; Pitlik, H.; Borrella-Mas, M.A. (2018). Does Fiscal Federalism Deter or Spur Secessionist Movements? Empirical Evidence from Europe
Publius: The Journal of Federalism, Volume 48, Issue 2, 1 March 2018, Pages 161–190
[ DOI | Google Scholar | WP | Presentation ]
2) Bajo-Buenestado, R.; Borrella-Mas, M.A. (2019). Passing-through Taxes Beyond Borders with a Cobra Effect
Journal of Public Economics, Volume 177, September 2019, 104040
[ DOI | Google Scholar | WP | Presentation ]
3) Borrella-Mas, M.A.; Rode, M. (2021). Love is Blind: Partisan Alignment and Political Corruption in Spain
SERIES - Journal of the Spanish Economic Association. 12(3), 423-451
[ DOI | Google Scholar | WP | Presentation ]
4) Bjørnskov, C; Borrella-Mas, M.A.; Rode, M. (2022). The Economics of Change and Stability in Social Trust: Evidence from (and for) Catalan secession
Economics & Politics, Volume 34, Issue 2, July 2022, Pages 275-297
[ DOI | Google Scholar | WP | 5centims (Spanish) | Presentation ]
5) Bajo-Buenestado, R.; Borrella-Mas, M.A. (2022). The Heterogeneous Tax Pass-through under Different Vertical Relationships
The Economic Journal. Volume 132, Issue 645, July 2022, Pages 1684–1708
[ DOI | Google Scholar | WP | NeG (Spanish) | Presentation ]
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WORKING PAPERS
(*) How do Labels and Vouchers Shape Unconditional Cash Transfers? Experimental Evidence from Georgia (with Jaime Millán-Quijano and Anastasia Terskaya)
Abstract
We implemented a randomized control trial (RCT) in the country of Georgia to study how labels and food vouchers affect household expenditure for low-income receivers of unconditional cash transfers. Vulnerable households were randomly assigned to receive an unconditional cash transfer, an SMS suggesting the amount that should be spent on children, or part of the transfer as a food voucher which was only accepted at specific shops. We find that labeling increases the share of expenditure on children's education. Meanwhile, food vouchers reduce total consumption, likely due to the increase in the cost of going to voucher-accepting shops.
JEL Classification: D04, I24, I38, O12
Keywords: Cash transfers, Labeling effect, Food vouchers, Randomized control trial
(*) Market Competition and the Adoption of Clean Technology: Evidence from the Taxi Industry (with Raúl Bajo-Buenestado)
Abstract
Environmental policies may be ineffective when firms lack incentives to adopt cleaner technologies due to their market power. We examine whether a competition shock in a concentrated industry can stimulate the adoption of policy-favored cleaner technologies. Using a dataset covering all vehicles purchased by taxi drivers in Spain, we exploit the entry of ride-hailing platforms as a quasi-experiment to identify the impact on their vehicle choices. We find a 30\% surge in electric vehicle adoption among them. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest an overall reduction in CO2 emissions, highlighting the potential of competition policy to promote environmental sustainability while mitigating market power.
JEL Classification: D22, K32, L20, O30, O33, Q55, R11
Keywords: Technological change; Green technology adoption; Market competition; Environmental policy; Diffusion of technology
(*) Non-Contributory Pensions and Households' Decisions. Evidence from Bolivia (with Marcello Sartarelli and Mariano Bosch)
Abstract
We study empirically the effect of a universal non-contributory pension in Bolivia, Renta Dignidad, on households' income, labour supply, consumption and living arrangements decisions. We estimate it, accounting for the gender of the spouse receiving a pension, thanks to rich survey data and a regression discontinuity design, as individuals' pension eligibility jumps discontinuously at age 60. We find that, despite increasing disposable income, receiving one or more pensions has a small and not significant impact on poverty levels in old age at the household level. This is due to the fact that receiving two pensions triggers a weak decrease in female labour supply and an increase in household size as extra grandchildren are observed in beneficiary households, while a pension only to the husband (de)increases transfers (from)to other households. Our novel research design and rich results suggest that, although the pension targets individuals, important decisions are taken at the household level, may be gender-specific and also indirectly affect other household members as well as other households.
JEL Classification: H2, H3, J2
Keywords: Consumption, family arrangements, labour supply, non-contributory pension, regression discontinuity, Renta Dignidad, transfer