My research lies in the field of life-cycle economics and studies how individuals make consumption, saving, and labor supply decisions over the course of their lives. A central focus of my work is the role of social security systems, pension design, and indivudal risks in shaping behavior.
I use a combination of theoretical models and empirical methods to analyze how public policies affect individual choices and welfare, with particular attention to issues related to aging and inequality.
I am a Fellow at Collegio Carlo Alberto, a Research Fellow at CeRP – Center for Research on Pension and Welfare Policies, and a Research Fellow at CEPR. My research is closely connected to policy-relevant debates on savings, pensions, welfare systems, and demographic change.
Work in Progress
Below is a list of my current research projects and working papers
Why Do Households Save and Work?, with Mariacristina De Nardi, Fang Yang, and Johanna Torres Chain, NBER Working Paper no. 33874.
VoxEU column
Measuring and Understanding Health Inequality by Race and Ethicity, with Nicolo' Russo, Mariacristina De Nardi, Margherita Borella, and Ross Abram, NBER WP no. 32971.
VoxEU column
Insuring Against Shocks before and After age 65, with Richard Blundell, Mariacristina De Nardi, and Jeanne Commault.
Subjective Earnings and Employment Dynamics, Manuel Arellano, Orazio Attanasio, Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi and Gonzalo Paz-Pardo (slides - preliminary).
Published and Forthcoming Papers
Peer-reviewed journal articles
Health Inequality and Health Types, Margherita Borella, Francisco Bullano, Mariacristina De Nardi, Benjamin Krueger, and Elena Manresa. The Econometrics Journal, Volume 28, Issue 3, September 2025, Pages 341–384, https://doi.org/10.1093/ectj/utaf015
Old Age Risks, Consumption, and Insurance, Richard Blundell, Margherita Borella, Jeanne Commault and Mariacristina De Nardi, American Economic Review, vol. 114, no. 2, February 2024 (pp. 575-613)
VoxEU column
The Importance of Modeling Income Taxes over Time: U.S. Reforms and Outcomes, (Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi, Michael Pak, Nicolo' Russo, and Fang Yang). Journal of the European Economic Association, Volume 21, Issue 6, December 2023, Pages 2237–2286, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvad053 . "Estimated tax function parameters."
Are Marriage-Related Taxes and Social Security Benefits Holding Back Female Labor Supply? (Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi, and Fang Yang), Review of Economic Studies, January 2023, vol. 90, issue 1, pp 102-131.
VoxEU column
The Lost Ones: The Opportunities and Outcomes of Non-College Educated Americans Born in the 1960s, (Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi, and Fang Yang. NBER working paper no. 25661, 2020. NBER Macro Annual, 2019.
VoxEU column
Who Receives Medicaid in Old Age? Rules and Reality (Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi, and Eric French), Fiscal Studies, March2018, vol. 39, no.1, pages 65-93, doi: 10.1111/1475-5890.12145.
Self-Employment in Italy: the Role of Social Security Wealth (Margherita Borella and Michele Belloni), Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 2019, 18(1), pp. 31-65, doi: 10.1017/S1474747217000300 .
The Aggregate Implications of Gender and Marriage (Margherita Borella, Mariacristina De Nardi, and Fang Yang), The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, special issue on “Macroeconomics and Aging,” edited by Tim Kehoe and Juan Carlos Conesa, May 2018, pages 6-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jeoa.2017.01.005.
Retirement and Memory in Europe (with Laura Bianchini), Ageing & Society, 2016, volume 36, issue 07, pp. 1434-1458.
Modelling Movements in Individual Consumption: A Time Series Analysis of Grouped Data (with Orazio Attanasio), International Economic Review, 2014, 55(4), 959-991.
(Un)expected retirement and the consumption puzzle (with Flavia Coda Moscarola and Mariacristina Rossi), Empirical Economics, 2014, 47, 733–751.
Microsimulation of Pension Reforms: Behavioural versus Nonbehavioural Approach (with Flavia Coda Moscarola), Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 2010, 9: 583-607.
Does Consumption Respond to Predicted Increases in Cash-on-hand Availability? Evidence from the Italian “Severance Pay” (with Elsa Fornero and Mariacristina Rossi) Economics Letters, 105 (2009), 127-129 (pdf WP version).
Le pensioni dei lavoratori parasubordinati: prospettive dopo un decennio di gestione separata (with Giovanna Segre); Politica Economica XXV(1), 2009, pp. 75-103. (In Italian).
Distributive properties of pension systems: a simulation of the Italian transition from defined benefit to defined contribution (with Flavia Coda Moscarola); Giornale degli Economisti ed Annali di Economia n. 65(1) (2006).
The Distributional Impact of Pension System Reforms: an Application to the Italian Case, Fiscal Studies (2004) vol. 25, n. 4, pp. 415-437 .
The Error Structure of Earnings: an Analysis on Italian Longitudinal Data, RISEC (Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Economiche e Commerciali), vol. 51 (2004), n. 3, pp. 405-422 (link to WP version).
Book Chapters
La ricchezza e il portafoglio delle famiglie italiane, con Giovanna Nicodano, 2026. In: Famiglie e risparmio. Come cambiano le scelte finanziarie degli italiani, a cura di Luigi Guiso, Il Mulino.
Characterizing income shocks and their transmission to household consumption, (with Orazio Attanasio and Torben Nielsen), 2014. In: A. Brugiavini and G. Weber (eds.): Longer-term consequences of the Great Recession on the lives of Europeans, Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Changes in Retirement Behaviour of Older Workers in Italy (with Michele Belloni and Elsa Fornero); in E. Fornero and P. Sestito (eds.) "Pension Systems: Beyond Mandatory Retirement"), Cheltenham, Edward Elgar (2005), pp.185-224.
The Market for Annuities in Italy: Reality or Chimera?, (with Elsa Fornero and Giacomo Ponzetto) in E. Fornero and E. Luciano (eds.) Developing an Annuity Market in Europe, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar (2004), pp.262-290.
Other published papers
The 2011 Pension Reform in Italy and its Effects on Current and Future Retirees (Margherita Borella and Flavia Coda Moscarola), CeRP WP N. 151/15.
Asset accumulation and decumulation over the life cycle. The role of financial literacy (with Mariacristina Rossi), Netspar Panel Paper n. 39 (2014) (link)
Adequacy of Pension Systems in Europe: An Analysis Based on Comprehensive Replacement Rates, Borella, Margherita and Fornero, Elsa, (April 28, 2009). ENEPRI Research Report No. 68. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2033652 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2033652