2024 - Low emission zones and traffic congestion: evidence from Madrid Central. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice (open access), 185, 104099. The most recent working paper version is available for download here. Awards: IV Nada Es Gratis JMP Award; Best Paper Award at UB PhD in Economics Workshop 2020; Special mention V Premio Nacional de Investigación sobre Movilidad Urbana y metropolitana ATUC. Media coverage: Nada es Gratis ; 5centims.cat
2024 - Life satisfaction along the urban-rural continuum: a global assessment. Applied Economics, 57, 3 (with L. Kleine-Ruesckamp & P. Veneri). The most recent working paper version is available for download here.
2023 - Paving the way to modern growth. Evidence from Bourbons roads in Spain. Explorations in Economic History (open access), 90, 101544 (with M.A. Garcia-Lopez, A. Herranz-Loncan & E. Viladecans-Marsal). The most recent working paper version is available for download here.
2023 - Congestion, Air Quality, and Space, in Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics (with L. Sarmiento)
2019 - Analisi della popolazione studentesca dei Centri Provinciali per l’Istruzione degli Adulti (CPIA) della Regione Emilia-Romagna, Misure /Materiali di ricerca dell’Istituto Cattaneo, n.40 (with Gentili A.)
2018 - Indagine sul mercato degli alloggi in locazione nel comune di Bologna, Istituto Cattaneo for Bologna Municipality (with Gentili A., and Zoboli A.)
2018 - Le performance scolastiche degli alunni, in Gentili, A., Condizioni socio-economiche delle famiglie e rendimento scolastico: un'indagine sugli alunni di terza media a Bologna, Misure /Materiali di ricerca dell’Istituto Cattaneo, n.39 (with Gentili A., Leone L., and Porfido A.)
The price of silence (with M. Magagnoli)
Awards: Best Paper Award at ECO-SOS PhD Workshop 2024 || Media coverage: El País ; 5centims.cat
This paper studies the causal impact of street noise on housing prices. It focuses on a very dense urban environment and its entire soundscape, using granular data on listed flats and street noise. We employ a combination of hedonic price and fixed effects model, exploiting the regular grid shape of the Eixample district, in Barcelona. Our results indicate that doubling the perceived street noise generates an average depreciation of 3.4% on sales and 2% on rents. We show that the lower semi-elasticity with which the rental market adjusts for the negative externality is associated with a higher turnover of tenants in louder streets. Moreover, we collect several pieces of evidence which suggest that the effect is not driven by sorting by neighbors. Lastly, we use our results to perform two costbenefit analyses of policies which help reducing noise. Based on our findings, we formulate policy recommendations and highlight specific interventions that can mitigate the negative impact of urban noise.
The electoral effects of banning cars from the streets: Evidence from Barcelona’s superblocks (with C. Estruch, A. Solé-Ollé & E. Viladecans-Marsal)
Awards: Best Paper Award at 11th Environmental Politics and Governance conference || Media coverage: VoxTalks Economics
This paper explores the electoral effects of Barcelona's Superblocks pedestrianization policy, a green initiative designed to reduce car traffic and enhance urban environments. Using census tract-level data from the 2023 local elections, we assess the policy's impact on support for the incumbent mayor. Our findings reveal a positive and statistically significant increase in votes in areas directly affected by the policy, with benefits also extending to neighboring districts. Importantly, there is no evidence that the intervention led to traffic displacement, which suggests that such disruptions did not provoke electoral backlash. Further analysis indicates that the policy's effects are not driven by concerns over gentrification or mobility disruptions. Instead, the effects are stronger in more educated neighborhoods, pointing to the role of environmental attitudes in shaping political support. These results contribute to the literature on the political economy of green policies, underscoring the importance of localized impacts in shaping electoral outcomes and sustaining públic support for urban climate initiatives.
Driving Change: Electric Vehicles as a Window into Firms and Workers Choices (with M. Borsati, M. Cascarano & M. Sartori)
Gentrification on Foot: Pedestrianization, Housing Prices, and Consumption Amenities (with M. Magagnoli)