RESEARCH

Working Papers

Do far-right mayors affect environmental policies? Evidence from Italian Municipalities 

(Daniel Favre de Noguera) - Job Market Paper - Download the draft here

In this paper, I study how far-right control of Italian municipalities reshapes local environmental policy. I assemble administrative data on municipal budgets, a dictionary-based classification of environmental procurement, and election results. Causal effects come from a close-election RD comparing municipalities where a far-right candidate barely wins versus loses. Budgets show selective retrenchment: only current per-capita spending on "Land and Environment Management" and capital per-capita spending on "Traffic and Public Transport" fall significantly, concentrated in waste management, and roads and infrastructure. Procurement results align: far-right administrations are less likely to award waste-related contracts and reduce bike-mobility procurement. Findings are robust to standard checks. Crucially, effects do not differ between re-eligible and term-limited mayors, consistent with the paper's conceptual claim that far-right officeholders are policy-motivated rather than office-seeking.

Political backlash agains climate policy: The electoral costs of renewable energy in a multilayer government

(Daniel Favre de Noguera, Matteo Gamalerio and Albert Solé-Ollé)

Despite broad support for renewable energy, wind and solar farms often face strong local resistance. This paper examines how Spain's multilayered government structure shapes electoral consequences of renewable projects. Using data from 1991-2019 and a staggered difference-in-differences design, we estimate the impact of wind far construction on municipal elections. Results indicate that regional incumbents lose vote share following new projects, while local incumbents are penalized only when aligned with the regional government. These findings highlight how party alignment mediates accountability, suggesting that renewable energy development can generate significant political costs in decentralized governance sysyems.

Work in Progress

Fair climate action: How climate inequality impacts mitigation efforts

(Daniel Favre de Noguera, Matteo Gamalerio, Guillem Riambau and Albert Solé-Ollé)

Climate change threatens societies worldwide, yet public support for mitigation policies often remains limited. One underexplored factor shaping this support is climate inequality—the uneven distribution of contributions to, and impacts from, climate change across income groups and nations. This project investigates whether raising awareness of climate inequality affects individuals’ support for climate policies and personal mitigation efforts. We will conduct a large-scale online survey experiment with 6,000 participants representative of Spain’s adult population. Randomized treatments will expose respondents to different forms of climate inequality, enabling us to causally estimate their effect on climate-related attitudes and policy preferences.