"Adaptation Strategies of Chinese Firms to Disasters" with Mathilde Maurel and Thomas Pernet  

This paper investigates the impact of natural and climate-driven disasters on firm-level innovation in China between 1998 and 2007. Using a novel panel dataset that merges patent filings, firm financial information, and geocoded disaster events, we analyze how different types of disasters - meteorological, hydrological, geophysical, and climatological - affect patenting behavior. Employing a staggered Difference-in-Differences framework with Poisson fixed effects and robustness checks via stacked regressions, we find that disasters generate heterogeneous innovation responses. Large firms and firms with high internal cashflows show persistent increases in patenting, while financially constrained firms and state-owned enterprises remain largely unaffected. Sectoral and technological heterogeneity is pronounced, with capital-intensive and technologically complex fields showing stronger adaptive responses. Regional financial and institutional contexts, including credit availability, and environmental regulations, further shape innovation outcomes. We do also check for spatial spillovers and spatial correlation. Our findings highlight that disasters can act both as constraints and catalysts for innovation, contingent on firm characteristics and enabling institutional environments, offering insights for policy design in disaster-prone economies.
[Draft available upon request]

"Food Insecurity Experience in Italy: a Regional and Local Study Using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale" with Sara Viviani, Daniela Bernaschi,  Carlo Cafiero, and Davide Marino

This study examines food insecurity (FI) in Italy by evaluating the performance of the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES) in a high-income, predominantly food-secure context. While official national estimates suggest low levels of FI, emerging territorial evidence reveals significant disparities across regions and within urban areas. Using nationally representative FIES microdata and original survey data collected in Rome between 2021 and 2025, we assess the validity, sensitivity, and local applicability of the FIES. Results show that Italy is generally food secure -around 60% of respondents report no FI experiences - but important pockets of vulnerability persist: approximately 13.5% of individuals experience FI nationally, compared to 7.1% in Rome. These findings align with complementary territorial indicators which indicate substantial variation across municipalities and socio-demographic groups. By testing the FIES at regional and municipal scales, this study highlights how experience-based indicators can uncover latent forms of deprivation that national statistics tend to obscure. The results support the need for localized FI monitoring systems capable of informing targeted interventions and improving the relevance of FI measurement in high-income countries.
[Draft available upon request]

"Poverty & Remittances" with Sylvie Lambert, Philippe De Vreyer,  Abla Safir

"Climate Change Perception & Aspirations" with Thomas Calvo and Esther Delesalle

"The State of Food Poverty in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian Context", with Felici, F. B. (Eds), Bernaschi, D., Caputo, L., Manetti, I., Marino, D., Minotti, B., Orlandi, L., & Scannavacca, F. (2025). CURSA. Pas(SAGGI), 2025, Vol 11, No. 15, 2025. (Italian version) 

"The State of Food Poverty in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian Context. Report Summary", with Bernaschi D., Caputo L., Di Renzo L., Felici F.B., Frank G., Gualtieri P., Manetti I., Marino D., Minotti B., Orlando L., Scannavacca F, CURSA Pas(SAGGI), Vol. 10, No. 14, 2024.  10.13140/RG.2.2.32159.16801 (Italian version). 

"La valutazione ai tempi dell’attuazione regionalizzata dei Piani Strategici della PAC", with Cagliero, R., Rossi, N., Pianeta PSR, 2024. (Italian version - Last accessed 10/03/24).

"The Path of Defining the National Strategic Plans CAP 2023-2027 in Regionalized EU Member States", with Manzoni, P., Pierangeli, F., Mazzocchi, G., and Cagliero, R.,  Agriregionieuropa, 2021(10). (Available here - Last accessed 18/10/21)

Giacardi, A., and Cagliero, R. (2021). PSN, From Diagnosis to Definition of Intervention Needs in Regionalized EU Member States. Pianeta PSR, 2021. (Italian version- Last accessed 05/10/21).