General Research Interests

Financial Economics: financial intermediaries, finance and innovation.

Industrial Organization: price signaling, pricing strategies, competition.

Applied Game Theory: signaling games, culture, norms, evolution of preferences.

Social Norms, Strategic Behaviour, and Information

Gender effects in the battle of the sexes: A tale of two countries (with M. Pompeo and S. Sonderegger) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, forthcoming.

(2021) Social distance, speed of containment and crowding in/out in a network model of contagion (with D. Ladley) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 190: 597-625. (supplementary material) .

(2019) "A Theory of Esteem Based Peer Pressure" (with S. Sonderegger) Games and Economic Behavior, 314-335.

(2018) "Signaling About Norms: Socialization Under Strategic Uncertainty", (with S. Sonderegger) Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 120: 685-716 (Supplementary material)

(2018) "Teaching by Example and Induced Beliefs in a Model of Cultural Transmission", (with J.A. Matheson and S. Sonderegger) Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 145: 511-529 (Supplementary material)

(Previous versions of the two papers above have been circulated with the titles "Oblique Complementarities, Social Norms, and the Signaling Value of Parental Behavior" and "Setting the Right Example: a Signaling Theory of Parental Behavior", respectively).

(2009) "Why do parents socialize their children to behave pro-socially? An information-based theory", (with S. Sonderegger) Journal of Public Economics, 93 (11-12) pp. 1119-1124.

(2018) "The signaling value of punishing norm-breakers and rewarding norm-followers" (with S. Sonderegger) Games 9(4) 102 (special issue on Norms and Games).

Evolution and Preferences

(2020) "Optimal Similarity Judgements in Intertemporal Choice (and Beyond)" (with S. Sonderegger), Journal of Economic Theory, 190: 105097 Supplementary material.

(2015) "Trust, Trustworthiness and the Consensus Effect: an Evolutionary Approach" (with S. Sonderegger) European Economic Review, 77, 102-116.

Industrial Organization

(2011) "Competition and the signaling role of prices", (with L. Deidda) International Journal of Industrial Organization, 29, pp. 412-425.

(2009) "Price Signaling and the Strategic Benefits of Price Rigidities" (with L.G. Deidda) Games and Economic Behavior, 67(2) pp. 335-350. (Link to WP version). (This paper has been extensively revised. Please refer to the accepted version).

(2009) "The inflationary consequences of a currency changeover on the catering sector: Evidence from the Michelin Red Guide" (with G. Marini and P. Scaramozzino). Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 71 (1). pp. 111-133. (Link to UoB WP version).

(2005) "Does the Digital Divide Matter? The Role of Information and Communication Technology in Cross-Country Level and Growth Estimates." (with L. Becchetti) Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 14 (6). pp. 435-453.

Financial Economics

(2014) ``How do financial intermediaries create value in security issues?'' (with L.G. Deidda and S. Sonderegger) Review of Finance, 2014, 18(5): 1915-1951. (Previous title "Over-signaling or Underpricing? The Role of Financial Intermediaries in Initial Public Offerings").

(2005) "Observed and "Fundamental" Price-Earning Ratios: A Comparative Analysis of High-Tech Stock Evaluation in the US and in Europe." (with M. Bagella and L. Becchetti) Journal of International Money and Finance, 24 (4). pp. 549-581.

(2004) "Do high-tech stock prices revert to their 'fundamental' value?'" (with L. Becchetti) Applied Financial Economics, 14 (7) . pp. 461-476.

Work in Progress

Financial Intermediaries, Informal Guarantees and Contagion.

Innovation vs Rationalization with Financial Frictions (with P. Zanchettin)

Listening to the Opinions of Others (with D. Rojo-Arjona and S. Sonderegger)

Opacity in Security Design: The Role of Derivative Markets (with S. Bose and X. Gao)