Research

Publications


We examine the effect of broadband Internet penetration on attitudes toward immigrants by combining survey data from Spain with information on the characteristics of the telephone infrastructure. To address endogeneity concerns, we use landlines penetration in 1996 as an instrument for broadband diffusion, and use data from both the pre- and post-Internet period to estimate a difference-in-difference instrumental variable model. We document a positive effect of broadband Internet on attitudes toward immigrants. Looking at mechanisms, broadband Internet is associated with better knowledge about immigration, reduced concerns about the labor market effects of immigration and lower support for Spain’s right-wing party.


Media coverage: lavoce.info (Italian) nadaesgratis.es  (Spanish) ElPeriodico  (Spanish)  

We use data from Italy to study the political and social impact of a refugee reception policy (SPRAR) directly managed by local governments, whose features recall the conditions of the contact theory (Allport, 1954). Instrumental variables estimates indicate that municipalities that opened a refugee center between the 2013 and 2018 national elections experienced a change in the vote shares of extreme-right parties approximately 7 percentage points lower compared to towns that did not open a refugee center. We document that the positive impact of SPRARs on “compositional amenities” (i.e., local schools) and population growth allows explaining the negative impact on anti-immigrants’ prejudice. Finally, we provide evidence of spillovers in prejudice reduction in neighboring municipalities without a SPRAR.


In this paper, we test whether dynastic leaders differ in their policymaking once in office. Based on a large sample of Italian dynastic mayors, we do not find differences in policy-making in terms of average revenue and expenditure. However, dynastic mayors increase spending and obtain higher transfers during the pre-electoral year, especially when electoral incentives are stronger. We suggest that they might behave more strategically both because they can (thanks to inherited political skills) and because they want to (due to higher returns from politics). Nevertheless, this strategic behavior is not reflected by different performance while in office. Overall, we suggest that dynastic-elected leaders differ concerning policies explicitly linked to their political careers. 


Working Papers


Winner of the Best Paper Award, Barcelona PhD Workshop 2019       | Winner of the III Nada es Gratis Job Market Paper Award, 2020  

Media coverage: thecrimereport.org www.praeventionstag.de  

I investigate whether the election of far-right politicians affects the probability of hate crimes against immigrants. I exploit a unique dataset on hate crimes, and I focus on local mayors in Italy, a country where political support for the far-right has soared recently. Using a regression discontinuity (RD) analysis, I show that in municipalities where far-right mayors are in power, the likelihood of hate crimes is significantly higher (around five percentage points).  In addition, I find the same positive and significant effect when focusing on the most salient and severe hate crimes, namely, those that involve physical violence or damages to immigrants’ properties.

Work in Progress