Research

Preliminary abstract: We explore the existence of gender discrimination in an Italian TV game show (L’Eredità)—an environment resembling a natural experiment—where contestants can choose with whom to directly compete. The high-stakes decision-making setting and the heterogeneity of the sample allow for a comprehensive analysis of economically relevant gender discriminatory behavior in the selection of an opponent in competition. Using data from 121 episodes, we investigate discrimination through conditional logistic regression models. 

Results indicate a “battle of the sexes”: men choose to compete against women, and vice versa. This pattern persists even after controlling for performance and level of education, suggesting that statistical discrimination is unlikely to explain the behavior. However, we refrain from directly attributing it to taste-based discrimination, acknowledging the possibility of inaccurate statistical discrimination—where agents may rely on biased beliefs due to heuristics or limited information. To disentangle these mechanisms, we conduct a complementary online experiment eliciting beliefs about players’ relative ability. Results show that participants rely strongly on performance cues and only exhibit minor gender biases (in the absence of performance differences), thus suggesting generally accurate beliefs. Taken together, the evidence points to own-gender favoritism as a key driver of contestant behavior.

Presented at: 14th BEEN Meeting, University of Cagliari (Sep '25) | 15th ASFEE Conference, University of Nancy, France (Jun '25) | CEE-M PhD Lunch Talk, University of Montpellier, France (May '25) |  7th Meeting on Behavioral and Experimental Economics (BEE), University of Florence, Italy (May '25) | Economics of Gender Summer School, Paris School of Economics, France (Jun '24) | 1st Verona Early Career Workshop in Economics, University of Verona, Italy (Apr '24) | 7th Internal PhD Workshop in Economics and Management, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy (Feb '24)

Preliminary abstract: This review synthesizes empirical and experimental research on gender differences in competitiveness across multiple dimensions: entry into competitive environments, performance under competition, and selection of opponents. While women are often found to be less willing to compete and to perform worse in competitive settings than men, these gaps are far from universal. Contextual factors—such as task type, time pressure, and the gender composition of the setting—play a crucial role in shaping outcomes.

The review makes two key contributions. First, it highlights the relatively underexplored domain of competitor selection, documenting both gendered patterns in this choice and how the identity of co-participants shapes individuals’ willingness to compete. Second, it expands the scope of analysis beyond the traditional 1:many tournament format by examining head-to-head (1:1) and team-based (team:team) competitions, revealing that structural features of competition can attenuate gender disparities.

Moreover, the review discusses theoretical and empirical explanations for gender gaps in competitiveness, outlines consequences for education and labor markets, and evaluates the effectiveness of potential interventions. It also presents implications for institutional design and directions for future research.

Preliminary abstract: Organ transplants are the only effective treatment for many acute or chronic diseases. However, the combination of an increasing demand and a shortage of organ donors results in a critical public health issue. To contribute to our understanding of organ donation behavior, this study explores its relationship with social capital and other socio-economic characteristics of Italian municipalities.

When getting an ID card, Italians are asked to consent or oppose to posthumous organ donation. They can also abstain, leaving the decision to next of kin. Using an administrative dataset that aggregates over 16 million individual choices from more than 5,000 municipalities, we examine these decisions, exploiting variation within regions and provinces. Moreover, we complement our analysis with qualitative evidence from interviews with key actors in this process: municipal officers.

We find that higher shares of immigrants and lower levels of education correspond to increased abstention and decreased consent rates, in line with qualitative findings. Social capital shows a positive relation with consent among those expressing a choice. Contrary to what emerged in interviews, we find no evidence relating donation behavior to the prevalence of elderly within the municipality. Our results point to the importance of information provision prior to being asked to make this decision.

Presented at: 28th Italian Health Economics Association (AIES) Annual Conference,  Sapienza University of Rome, Italy (Dec '23) | Joint PhD Seminar Series UniBZ-UniVR, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy (Nov '23) | 10th European Health Economics Association (EUHEA) PhD and Supervisor Conference, University of Bologna, Italy (Sept '23) | 6th Internal PhD Workshop in Economics and Management, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy (Mar '23)