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Last update: February 2026
I am Associate Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Pavia. My research lies at the intersection of political economy and public economics, with a focus on inequality, redistribution, and the functioning of the welfare state. I also work in the economics of education and on gender inequality, studying how socio-demographic and economic conditions and institutional settings shape opportunities, preferences, and policy support. Using micro-level data and applied econometric methods, I investigate the distributional and political consequences of economic shocks and social policies. My work aims to contribute to academically rigorous and policy-relevant debates on inequality and social cohesion. It has been recognized with the Aldi Hagenaars Memorial Award from the Luxembourg Income Study and the SIEP Prize from the Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
At the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Pavia, I coordinate the Master’s degree in Economic Development and International Relations and serve on the faculty of the PhD in Economics Milano–Pavia. I teach Economic Policy and Introductory Econometrics for Social Sciences at the University of Pavia, as well as Macroeconomics at Bocconi University.
Peer-reviewed journal articles
Peer-reviewed journal articles
The following section lists my articles published in international peer-reviewed journals. Working papers are reported separately below. A complete record of research outputs — including book chapters and policy reports — is available in my CV below and on my Orcid, Ideas/Repec and Google scholar profiles.
Fear of the dark: how terrorist events affect trust in people (with E. Borghi and M. Braga), Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2025
[Society] [Politics]
Social media charity campaigns and pro-social behavior. Evidence from the Ice Bucket Challenge (with A. Fazio and T. Reggiani), Journal of Economic Psychology, 2023
[Redistribution] [Society]
Collective negative shocks and preferences for redistribution: Evidence from the COVID-19 crisis in Germany (with L. Bellani and A. Fazio), Journal of Economic Inequality, 2023
[Redistribution] [Society]
Strategic Compromise, Policy Bundling and Interest Group Power: Theory and Evidence on Education Policy (with L. Bellani and V. Fabella), European Journal of Political Economy, 2022
[Politics] [Education]
Intergenerational Precautionary Savings in Europe (with S. Trucchi), Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 2022
[Inequality] [Generations]
Inequality, privatization, and democratic institutions in developing countries (with L. Ceriani and S. Scabrosetti), Hacienda Pública Espanola/Review of Public Economics, 2022
[Inequality] [Politics]
Comparing governments’ efficiency at supplying income redistribution (with F. Padovano and G. Turati), Constitutional Political Economy, 2021
[Redistribution] [Politics]
Heterogeneity in preferences for redistribution and public spending: a cross-country analysis (with L. Bellani), European Journal of Political Economy, 2020
[Redistribution] [Politics]
Selecting or rewarding teachers? International evidence from primary schools (with M. Braga, D. Checchi and C. Garrouste), Economics of Education Review, 2020
[Education] [Society]
Estimating conversion rates: A new empirical strategy with an application to healthcare in Italy (with E. Chiappero and P. Salardi), Health Economics, 2019
[Inequality] [Health]
Grandparental availability for child care and maternal labor force participation: pension reform evidence from Italy (with M. Bratti and T. Frattini), Journal of Population Economics, 2018
[Gender] [Generations]
The performance of politicians: the effect of gender quotas (with M. Braga), European Journal of Political Economy, 2017
[Gender] [Politics]
Should we resurrect ‘TIPP flottante’ if oil price booms again? Specific taxes as fuel consumer price stabilizers (with M. Di Giacomo, M. Piacenza, G. Turati), Energy Economics, 2015
[Redistribution] [Politics]
Heterogeneous preferences and in-kind redistribution: theory and evidence (with L. Bellani), European Economic Review, 2015
[Redistribution] [Society]
Expansion of schooling and educational inequality in Europe: the educational Kuznets curve revisited (with E. Meschi), Oxford Economic Papers, 2014
[Education] [Inequality]
A new dataset on educational inequality (with E. Meschi), Empirical Economics, 2014
[Education] [Inequality]
Empirics of the median voter: democracy, redistribution and the role of the middle class, Journal of Economic Inequality, 2012
[Redistribution] [Politics]
Education, inequality and electoral participation (with P. Segatti), Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 2012
[Education] [Politics]
Working papers and in progress
Working papers and in progress
Current working papers and research in progress are listed below. Published articles appear in the section above.
Issue salience and women performance: Theory and evidence from Google trends, with M. Cella and E. Manzoni (under review)
[Gender] [Politics]
Exposure to democracy and MEPs attitude toward EU integration, with M. Ceron and A. Fazio (R&R)
[Society] [Politics]
Alcohol consumption in an empty nest, with S. Trucchi (R&R)
[Society] [Health]
Social origins and field of study, with L. Volponi (under review)
[education] [Generations]
Turning bias into leverage: the case for gender quotas, with M. Cella, E. Harka and E. Manzoni
[Gender] [Politics]
Gender pay gap and fairness: a vignette experiment in Italy, with E. Clerici and N. Kulic (part of the IneqPer project)
[Gender] [Inequality]
Acceptance of gender-based violence and willingness to intervene: a vignette experiment, with E. Clerici and N. Kulic (part of the IneqPer project)
[Gender] [Society]
Learning about poverty and preferences for redistribution: results from a survey experiment in Italy, with D. Bellani, O. Griaznova and N. Kulic (part of the IneqPer project)
[Inequality] [Redistribution]
Contacts
Contacts
Francesco Scervini
Università degli Studi di Pavia
Dipartimento di Scienze Politiche e Sociali
Corso Strada Nuova, 65
27100 - Pavia (Italy)
+39.0382.98.4419
Curriculum vitae
Curriculum vitae
CV_complete.pdfPage updated
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