Research

Publications:

SMEs performance in public procurement and the Italian Legality Rating (with Andrea Fazio and Gustavo Piga). CEIS Working Paper n. 587. Accepted at Small Business Economics.

Are we in the same boat? The legacy of historical emigration on attitudes towards immigrants (2026). Journal of Regional Science, 66(1), 270-292. https://doi.org/10.1111/jors.70025.

Ancestors, attitudes, and corporate performance: Evidence from the Italian Mass Migration (with Mingying Cheng and Stefano Manfredonia) (2024). Journal of Financial Stability 76, 101371. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfs.2024.101371.

Information campaigns and migration perceptions [Working Paper version] (2024). The Journal of Development Studies, pp. 1–21. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2024.2429196. 

Coverage: Migrantes Online (in Italian).

Contact vs. Information: What shapes attitudes towards immigration? Evidence from an experiment in schools [Pre-publication version] (2022).  Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics, 96C, 101790.

Learn more about the program here!

Immigration and Perceived Social Position. Insights from an unintended survey experiment (with Andrea Fazio) (2023). The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy 23.2: 547-564. https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2022-0337 

Coverage: Neodemos (in Italian).

Working Papers:

Female Mayors and Public Procurement (with Giancarlo Spagnolo).  CEIS Working Paper n. 623.

This paper investigates the role of mayors' gender in shaping public procurement at the local level. Using a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) and unique datasets on Italian procurement records, firm-level data, and political information spanning 2013-2019, we explore whether procurement contracts published under female mayors exhibit different outcomes compared to those under male mayors in close elections. The results indicate modest differences in procurement practices between female and male mayors: female mayors rely less on negotiated contracts and more on direct awards. Female leadership is also associated with fewer renegotiations and a (surprisingly) lower likelihood of appointing female procurement officers, while no differences emerge in winner characteristics or other post-award outcomes.

Supply Shocks when Workers are Imperfect Substitutes: Implications for Labour Demand and Wages (with Aicha Kharazi).

We examine the impact of supply shock on labour demand and wages for workers of different ages, skill levels, and nationalities in the United States. To analyse these effects, we develop a macroeconomic model of labour demand with a nested CES structure, capturing the distributional general equilibrium consequences of supply disruptions and highly persistent decline in productivity on various groups. We estimate the average elasticity of substitution between different worker categories over time and across industries, based on wage and hours worked.Our model results indicate that supply disruptions disproportionately harmed the most vulnerable workers. Young, low-skilled foreign workers and middle-aged native workers experienced the largest reductions in total hours worked. In terms of wages, middle-aged, low-skilled native workers faced the most significant decline.

Internet Exposure and Social Capital (with Leonardo Becchetti and Sara Mancini).

The game theoretical and experimental literature has found ample support for the hypothesis that “face-to-face communication in presence” increases trust and trustworthiness (crucial components of social capital) and, with them, the likelihood of cooperative solutions in social dilemmas. We argue that web exposure increases the share of non-face-to-face relationships that are poorer in terms of creation of interpersonal social capital. We find support for our theoretical hypothesis with an empirical analysis on the European Social Survey since the average time daily spent on the web negatively and significantly affects interpersonal trust. The effect is nonlinear and stronger for women and for the low educated. 

Selected Work in Progress:

Information, Aspirations, and Policy Preferences. (AEA Registry: AEARCTR-0013255).

'No country for young women'. Population aging and youth labor market perceptions  (with Andrea Fazio). (AEA Registry: AEARCTR-0018682).

Press:

Prospettive e mobilità dei giovani romani in un mondo che cambia. Migranti Press. October 17, 2025 (in Italian).