Francesca de Nicola
Current position: Senior Economist, Economic Policy Research Department, IFC
Education: PhD in Economics, Johns Hopkins University, 2011
Research interests: Applied economics with a focus on the role of risk and its impact on households and firms.
Email: fdenicola "at" worldbank "dot" org
Publications
Journal articles
Productivity Loss and Misallocation of Resources in Southeast Asia, with N. Loayza and H. Nguyen, Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, 2023, Older version: Policy Research Working Paper, World Bank, WPS 9483
High-growth firms' contribution to aggregate productivity growth, with M. Bisztray and B. Muraközy, Small Business Economics, 2022
Political connections and financial constraints: Evidence from transition countries, with M. Bussolo, U. Panizza and R. Varghese, European Journal of Political Economy, 2021, Older version: Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 8956, VoxEU
Productivity in the Time of COVID-19: Evidence from East Asia and Pacific, with A. Mattoo, J. Timmis, and T. Tran, Research and Policy Brief, World Bank, vol. 46, 2021
The financial costs of the United States-China trade tensions: evidence from East Asian stock markets, with M. Kessler and H. Nguyen, Review of World Economics, 2020
Spillovers from high growth firms: evidence from Hungary, with B. Murakozy and S. W. Tan, Small Business Economics, 2019
Ex ante and ex post effects of hybrid index insurance in Bangladesh, with R.V. Hill, N. Kumar, N. Magnan, S. Makhija, D. Spielman and P. S. Ward, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 136(Jan 2019), pp. 1-17
Co-movement of major commodity price returns: time-series assessment, with P. De Pace and M. A. Hernandez, Energy Economics, Vol. 57(June 2016), pp. 28-41
The impact of weather insurance on consumption, investment, and welfare Quantitative Economics, Vol. 6(3), pp. 637-661
A chat about insurance: experimental results from rural Bangladesh, with D. Clarke, R. V. Hill, N. Kumar and P. Mehta, Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Vol. 37(3), pp. 477-501, 2015. Previously circulated as "The value of (customized) insurance for farmers in rural Bangladesh"
How accurate are recall data? Evidence from coastal India, with X. Giné, Journal of Development Economics, Vol. 106(Jan 2014), pp. 55-65
International trade, female labor, and entrepreneurship in MENA countries, with S. Contessi and L. Li in Middle East and African Countries: Economic and Political Perspectives in the Aftermath of the Arab Spring, Edited by C. Altomonte and M. Ferrara, 2014, and preprinted in the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review, January/February 2013, Vol. 95(1), pp. 89-114
Weather insurance as a means of supporting vulnerable agriculture, and impacts of climate change, CAB Reviews, Vol. 8(27), 2013
The role of financing in international trade during good times and bad, with S. Contessi, The Regional Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Jan 2012
Distortions in farmer prices since the 1950s: South Africa in international perspective, with K. Anderson, E. Jara, M. Kurzweil, D. Sandri and E. Valenzuela, Agrekon, Vol. 46(4), 427-59, Dec 2007
Books and Chapters in books
Scaling up private finance for clean energy in emerging and developing economies, contributed to Chapters 1 and 3, IEA-IFC Joint report, 2023
The innovation imperative for developing East Asia, with X. Cirera, A. Mason, S. Kuriakose, D. Mare, and T. Tran, World Bank East Asia and Pacific Regional Report, 2021
Working papers
Bank ownership and firm innovation, with M. Melecky, and M. Iootty, 2023, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 10458
The Returns to Innovation in East Asia: The Role of the Business Environment and Firms' Characteristics, with P. Chen, 2022, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 9921
Financial structure and firm innovation: Cross-country evidence, with D. Mare and F. Liriano, 2021, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 9670
On the allocation of resources in developing East Asia and Pacific, with V. Kehayova, H. Nguyen, 2018, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 8634
Political connections and firm behavior, with M. Bussolo, U. Panizza and R. Varghese, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 8956
Foreign banks and trade: Bridging the information gap?, with S. W. Tan, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 7967
Firms export decisions: Demand trumps shocks, with S. W. Tan, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 7953
Handling the weather: Insurance, savings, and credit in West Africa, Policy Research Working Papers, World Bank, WPS 7187
Media coverage: Making Finance Work for Africa Blog
The interplay among credit, weather insurance, and savings for farmers in Ethiopia, with R. V. Hill