Measuring the extensive margin of a hidden market: evidence from Spain
Regional Studies, Regional Science (2026)
This article introduces a longitudinal, venue-level dataset documenting the spatial and temporal evolution of a specific segment of an informal market in Spain between 2011 and 2023. Using publicly available Google data, we construct a panel of establishments classified within nightlife and adult entertainment categories, commonly referred to in Spanish as clubes de alterne. The primary contribution is methodological: we propose a transparent and replicable framework to track the commercial infrastructure of partially regulated markets that are opaque to standard measurement. The dataset captures the extensive margin of supply the presence and persistence of physical venues and should be interpreted as a conservative, observable lower bound. We document pronounced spatial concentration and heterogeneity across provinces, with establishments clustering in major urban and coastal tourist areas. This dataset provides a new empirical tool to study the interaction between informal markets, regulation and local economic dynamics
GTA Gentry City. Gentrification and Crime across American Metropolis
Applied Economics (2025)
This study investigates the effects of gentrification on criminal behavior in urban neighborhoods to assess whether or not this phenomenon is destructive to communities. To identify gentrified neighborhoods in the 2010s, the study adopts a newly constructed, unique data set of geo-referenced crime records from 14 major American cities paired with Census data. To examine the effect of gentrification on crime, this analysis employs state-of-the-art event study models to evaluate the consequences of gentrification, accounting for variations in the timing of this process between cities and neighbourhoods. The results show that gentrified neighborhoods face a statistically significant increase in crimes of 11 to 17 percent, with property crimes and particularly GTA, showing the most significant increases. Overall, the study indicates that gentrification may have a criminalizing influence on areas, underlining the need for additional research and policy consideration of this issue.
Work-from-Home Job Creation and Local COVID-19 Intensity: Firm-Level Evidence from Italy - R&R
with Bratti (Unimi), Brunetti (INAPP), Maida (Unimi), Ricci (INAPP)
Implementing ``work from home'' (WFH) policies during a pandemic can help firms mitigate the health risks related to virus transmission among their employees. WFH is especially effective for jobs that can be performed remotely. This study examines whether, during the COVID-19 crisis, firms' perceptions of health risks—proxied by local virus prevalence—influenced the expansion of jobs suited to WFH (``WFH jobs''). We employ high-quality firm-level administrative data and an event study difference-in-differences strategy that leverages the considerable spatial variation in the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. We find that higher local exposure to the pandemic raised firm hires in WFH jobs. This was a short-term effect, lasting only one year. Yet, by mainly involving workers with permanent contracts, these changes in labor demand are likely to have long-term consequences for the composition of firms' workforces.
Presented at: COMPIE 2024 conference ( School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam 2024); 39th AIEL Conference (University of Naples 2023); III LABORatorio R. Revelli Biannual Workshop on “Health, Retirement, Mismatch and Data for Policy Evaluation” (Collegio Carlo Alberto)
The effect of tornadoes on local wealth - submitted
This study estimates the causal effect of tornadoes on local wealth in the United States. Combining the GEOWEALTH-US database (1960–2020) with geocoded tornado paths, and employing the De Chaisemartin and D’Haultfœuille (2024) estimator for non-absorbing treatments, I find that F2+ tornadoes reduce mean wealth by 3.3% and median wealth by 5.3% within two decades. The effect is concentrated in commuting zones with low homeownership rates.
Commerce and coercion: the effect of anti human trafficking laws on the sale of sex
with Ciacci (ICADE Comillas)
This study relies on the staggered introduction of human trafficking laws across U.S. states to estimate the effect of such laws on prostitution arrests. We find that more stringent human trafficking laws cause a reduction of prostitution arrests of around 40%. These estimates are robust to recent advancements in the difference- indifferences literature. Our findings also suggest that these laws lead to a decline in sexually transmitted diseases of about 10%. Such results are consistent with an increase in bargaining power of the supply side of the market due to the reduction of coerced prostitutes. This empirical evidence has crucial policy implications and motivates the inclusion of more restrictive human trafficking measures in the policy debate .
Presented at: EALE 2024 Bergen Conference; Second Italian Workshop on the Health Economics of Risky Health Behavior (HERB), University of Bologna; Brown Bag Seminar Series (DEMM 2024)
Football Matches and Sex Working: Evidence from the UK
with Ciacci (ICADE Comillas) , Dragone (University of Bologna) and Passerini (University of Bologna)
Presented at: Second Italian Workshop on the Health Economics of Risky Health Behavior (HERB), University of Bologna; 2nd Milan PhD Economics Workshop (University of Milano-Bicocca 2024)