Research

Publications

"Let The Voters Choose Women"(2019),  Journal of Public Economics, with Audinga Baltrunaite, Alessandra Casarico and Paola Profeta.

We study the effectiveness of a novel measure to reduce gender gaps in political empowerment: double preference voting conditioned on gender, coupled with gender quotas on candidate lists. This policy was introduced in 2012 in Italian municipal elections. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that the share of female councilors rises by 18 percentage points. The result is mainly driven by an increase in preference votes cast for female candidates, suggesting a salient role of double preference voting. We also detect changes in voters’ behavior in casting preferences in higher level elections, suggesting the presence of spill-over effects of the double preference voting policy. 

"Gender gaps in housework activities in Europe before and after Covid-19" with Marta Angelici, CESifo Economic Studies (forthcoming)

We use data from the European working condition survey to describe the frequency of housework activities by men and women before and after the Covid-19 pandemic in European countries. We find that, although women continue to spend more time than men in housework activities, men increase housework activities after the pandemic and the gender gaps narrow. The result is driven by countries initially characterized by larger gender gaps in housework activities. 

Working Papers

"Beyond the Party Push: Gender Differences in Voters' persuasion",  R&R European Journal of Political Economy

Despite ongoing efforts to bridge gender disparities, women continue to be underrepresented in political spheres. This paper proposes a novel explanation for the female disadvantage in electoral success, focusing on politicians' capacity to broaden their electoral base and appeal to voters from opposing parties.  Drawing on Swiss elections, this paper leverages various aspects of the electoral system. In Switzerland, the electoral process is characterized by open lists, allowing voters to select candidates within their preferred party, and cross-voting, enabling them to choose candidates from other party lists. Additionally, electoral registers provide data on the number of preference votes garnered by each candidate, categorized by the voter's preferred party.  The analysis reveals that individual preference votes play a pivotal role in driving gender disparities in candidates' electoral achievements. While the gender gap in preferences expressed by supporters of a particular party is not robust, male politicians outperform their female counterparts in collecting preference votes through cross-voting. This implies that male politicians are more skilled at persuading voters from rival parties. These findings, motivated by various underlying mechanisms, carry considerable policy implications concerning the approach to addressing gender inequalities in politics.

"Does Scarcity of Female Instructors Create Demand for Diversity among Students? Evidence from Observational and Experimental Data ",  with Patricia Funk and Nagore Iriberri.  R&R Labour Economics

This paper combines observational and experimental data to investigate whether scarcity of female instructors affects students' demand thereof. First, we exploit variation in the share of female professors across different faculties at a Swiss university to explore gender patterns in student evaluations. We find that female students evaluate female professors more favorably (compared to male students and relative to the gender differences in evaluating male professors) but only in faculties with a relatively low share of female professors (Economics and Computational Science, but not Communication Science). To shed light on the scarcity of female professors as a potential channel for the gender gaps in student preferences, we design an incentivized instructor-choice experiment on MTurk. We experimentally vary the existing pool of instructor gender and let subjects choose one additional instructor among one male and one female. Female (and only female) subjects are more likely to choose the female instructor when the pool of instructors is male-dominated, suggesting that female students appreciate a more balanced instructor pool if female professors are scarce (as is the case in Economics and Informatics).

"Who Cares About Childcare? Covid-19 and Substantive Gender Representation" (2022), with Alda Marchese and Paola Profeta. (Last version will be available soon)

Using the Covid-19 pandemic as a natural experiment, we examine gender differences in public fund allocation to childcare in Italy, one of the first countries severely hit by the crisis. We analyze close mixed-gender races in Italian local elections in small municipalities without gender quotas from 2016 to 2023. Our findings show that pre-Covid-19, female mayors spent more on childcare than male mayors, in line with the substantive representation hypothesis. During the pandemic, the gender gap closed, as male politicians increased spending, a trend that continued post-pandemic. Results reflect voters' preferences: they are driven by male politicians facing re-election incentives and municipalities with more telework during the pandemic.

"It starts early! Male-dominated classes and girl’s bullying" (2024), with Maria Laura di Tommaso, Antonio Melo end Silvia Mendolia.  (Last version will be available soon) 

 Violence begins early in life, and the school environment is not exempt from aggressive behaviors such as bullying. In this paper, we rely on Invalsi data to document gender differences in the self-reported likelihood of being both victims and perpetrators across various dimensions of bullying, for students in primary school. Our findings show that this phenomenon is more prevalent among male students on both sides. Additionally, we analyze the impact of gender-imbalanced classes on bullying among girls and boys. By exploiting the quasi-random allocation of students within schools and across classes, we demonstrate that girls report significantly more bullying, both as victims and perpetrators, when the proportion of male peers in the classroom increases. These results are particularly driven by psychological dimensions of bullying, including mockery, isolation, and insults, and correlate with worse well-being measures and deterioration of friendships. In summary, this evidence illustrates how violence can transmit across same-sex groups, spilling over from boys to girls as the number of boys (initially more violent) increases. These patterns are crucial for understanding the initial social interactions among young peers. Furthermore, the gender implications of these findings are highly relevant to the policy discussion on violence against women

Work in progress:

"Exploring Gender Differences in Students' Trajectories: the Female Leaky Pipeline of Quantitative Studies"(2022), with Paola Profeta and Silvia Griselda. 

Combining survey and administrative data, we investigate the effect of the share of female peers, by exploiting the random assignment of students to classrooms, on students' perception of the classroom environment. In exploring how female peers shape the classroom environment and, subsequently, how they influence students' enrollment decisions and likelihood to consider a career in finance and economics, we can provide insight into the low persistence of women in quantitative disciplines. 

"Evaluating active labour market policies for unemployed youth in Italy" (2020), with Enkelejda Havari.  

This paper provides evidence on the effectiveness of two active labour market programmes targeting unemployed youth in Italy. We rely on administrative data and matching techniques to evaluate  the intervention in terms of the employability of participants. Results indicate that participants are increasingly more likely to be employed within the region in the years after the program completion. We also find gender differences in employability and the type of contract obtained, as well as differences due to the field of study.

"The influence of Sport Events on Voter Turnout" (2019)

In this paper, I study the impact of sportive events, namely hockey and football matches, on voting behavior in Swiss referenda. I implement a fixed effect regression analysis using cantonal level data, and I show that cantons whose teams are involved in a hockey match before a referendum exhibit higher voter turnout. Local level data show that particularly municipalities  closer to the stadium, where more sport supporters live, exhibit higher turnout after hockey and football matches. Preliminary evidence suggests that social pressure fostered by such social events is the main mechanism behind the results.