Gonçalo Pessa Costa

I am a labor and urban economist and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Economics Department of Sciences Po, Paris. I am also a visiting fellow with the Shift Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, where I previously served as a Postdoctoral Fellow.

My research examines market power and power relations in labor and housing markets, with a particular focus on public policy effects.

As part of my ongoing research, I study firms' violations of labor rights, including minimum wage and overtime regulations, and workers' power to complain. I also examine how firm structures like franchising and employee ownership affect job quality and labor standards compliance. I am developing machine learning tools to detect firms at high risk of noncompliance and partnering with state labor enforcement agencies to field-test these tools for enforcement targeting. I was awarded a European Union MSCA grant (Grant Agreement No. 101282936, RIGHTS) to pursue this agenda in the European context.

Here is my CV.