WoRKING PAPERS

GTA Gentry City. Gentrification and Crime across American Metropolis

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.

Presented at: 3rd year PhD seminar (UCSC 2022); Brown Bag Seminar Series (DEMM 2023); Royal Economic Society Annual Conference (University of Glasgow 2023); Conference in Applied Econometrics using Stata (AMSE 2023); 1st Milan PhD Economics Workshop (UNIMI 2023); 11th SidE Workshop for Ph.D. Students in Econometric and Empirical Economics (2023); 64 Riunione Scientifica Annuale SIE – Società Italiana di Economia (GSSI 2023 - accepted)

Did  COVID-19 (permanently) raise the demand for ``teleworkable'' jobs?

with Bratti (Unimi), Brunetti (INAPP), Maida (Unimi), Ricci (INAPP)

This study leverages detailed administrative data on firms’ job flows and differences across Local Labor Markets (LLMs) in the spread of COVID-19 to investigate shifts in labor demand prompted by the pandemic in Italy. Namely, we investigate the effect of COVID-19 on the composition of new hires in terms of jobs suitable for “working from home” (WFH), which emerged as a new standard during the pandemic. Our results reveal a significant increase in the teleworkable-job hires in LLMs more severely hit by the pandemic, primarily driven by permanent contracts. An event study analysis uncovers substantial heterogeneity over time. Indeed, the effect was short-term and lasted only for two semesters after the pandemic’s outbreak. Although this shift was transitory, by involving permanent hires it had persistent effects on the structure of the workforce. An effect-heterogeneity analysis shows that effects were larger on the demand for female and younger workers and on the hirings of large, service firms, located in Northern Italy.

Presented at: III LABORatorio R. Revelli Biannual Workshop on “Health, Retirement, Mismatch and Data for Policy Evaluation” (Collegio Carlo Alberto)

From Commerce to Coerce: On  The Economic Origins of Prostitution and the Power of Anti-Trafficking Laws

with Ciacci (ICADE Comillas) 

This study delves into the economic foundations of sex work markets combining the most influential economic theories in a single model. This model offers tractable testable predictions. We test one of them exploiting anti human trafficking laws. Namely, our empirical analysis relies on the staggered introduction on laws across U.S. states to estimate the effect of such laws on prostitution arrests. Our findings reveal a significant and permanent reduction of prostitution arrests, ranging from 3% to 9%. These estimates are robust to recent advancements in the difference in differences literature. Such results have crucial policy implications, shifting the policy debate from regulating prostitution to prioritizing anti human trafficking measures. 

Presented at: Second Italian Workshop on the Health Economics of Risky Health Behavior (HERB) , University of Bologna

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