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Zombie Firms and the Growth of the Living: The Labor Market Channel. Joint with Antonio Accetturo and Michele Cascarano (Bank of Italy).
abstract: Zombie firms—economically unviable businesses kept alive through forbearance lending or policy support—may hinder growth not only via capital misallocation, but also by tightening local labor markets. This paper studies whether zombie prevalence weakens healthy firms’ ability to expand employment when they face positive export-demand shocks. Using Italian firm-level data for 2015–2023, we exploit variation in the incidence of employment in zombie firms relative to the active population at the local labor market level and firm-specific exposure to exogenous export-demand shocks constructed with a shift-share design. We show that firms located in local labor markets with a higher incidence of employment in zombie firms exhibit a weaker employment response to foreign-demand shocks. Effects are strongest for white-collar workers and for micro and small firms, consistent with tighter constraints on scarce skills and greater reliance on local hiring. Results are robust to alternative zombie definitions and shock constructions.
Labor Market Imperfections and Reforms: Evidence from Italy, recently published in LABOUR: Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations (Special Issue celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Italian Association of Labour Economics "AIEL"). Joint with Mauro Caselli and Stefano Schiavo (University of Trento).
this paper builds on estimates presented in our previous work "Labour market frictions across worker types".
Firm-level uncertainty and investments: evidence from South Tyrol, in the Journal of Business Cycle Research (2026). Joint with Luciano Partacini and Nicola Riz (Institute for Economic Research, "IRE", of the Chamber of Commerce of Bolzano-Bozen).
circulated as "Occasional Paper" #904, Bank of Italy, 2024.
presented at Fondazione Tor Vergata in Rome (Jan 2025), FBK/IRVAPP in Trento (Feb 2025), and Banco de Portugal in Lisbon (Sep 2025).
Innovative firms unveiled: economic and financialinsights from Italian start-ups. Joint with Maria Giulia Cassinis, Andrea Cintolesi, Sara Formai, Francesco Manaresi, Elisabetta Manzoli, Fabio Parlapiano, Giulio Papini, Pasquale Recchia, and Simone Zuccolalà (Bank of Italy).
circulated as "Occasional Paper" #967, Bank of Italy, 2025.
Labour market frictions across worker types, in Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics (Volume 42, pages 799–827, 2025). Joint with Stefano Schiavo and Mauro Caselli (University of Trento).
Labour shortages in Italy: determinants, firms' responses and employment prospects. Joint with Silvia Camussi, Graziella Mendicino and Francesca Modena (Bank of Italy).
circulated as "Occasional Paper" #887, Bank of Italy, 2024.
presented at the 2024 Aisre Conference in Turin, the 2024 AIEL Conference in Naples and at FondazioneTor Vergata in Rome (Jan 2025).
High-growht young firms. Joint with Andrea Cintolesi, Edoardo Frattola, Rosalia Greco, Francesca Leombroni, Andrea Linarello, Sara Nesi, and Simone Zuccolala.
circulated as "Occasional Paper" #889, Bank of Italy, 2024.
The impact of EU-ETS on trade. Evidence on Italian manufacturing firms, in "Politica economica, Journal of Economic Policy", 2/2022, pp. 253-278, doi: 10.1429/106259 (special issue on “Climate Change and the Energy Transition”). Joint with Giovanni Marin (University of Urbino Carlo Bo), Alessandro Palma (GSSI) and Giulio Dal Savio (Agenzia delle Dogane).
part of the research project "The effects of climate change on the Italian economy" of the Bank of Italy.
for a summary of the main results, see The effects of climate change on the Italian economy, "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2022, no. 728 (pages 77-81).
also featured on: lavoce.info.
presentation slides.
Comunanza linguistica e commercio con l’estero: il caso dell’Alto Adige, in "Regional Economy", Volume 6, Q2, 2022 .
La crescita dell’economia italiana e il divario Nord-Sud: trend storici e prospettive alla luce dei recenti scenari demografici, in "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2022, no. 683. Joint with Marta De Philippis, Giulio Papini and Roberto Torrini.
part of the "Mezzogiorno" research project of the Bank of Italy.
also featured on: lavoce.info.
Does EU Regional Policy promote local TFP growth? Evidence from the Italian Mezzogiorno, in "Papers in regional science". 2021;100:327–348. Joint with Giuseppe Albanese and Guido de Blasio.
circulated under the title "Place-based Policy and Local TFP" as Working paper no. 1253, Bank of Italy, 2019.
also featured on: lavoce.info.
TFP differentials across Italian macro-regions: an analysis of manufacturing corporations between 1995 and 2015, in "Politica economica, Journal of Economic Policy" 2/2019, pp. 209-242. Joint with Emanuele Ciani and Marcello Pagnini.
previously published as: Evoluzione territoriale della TFP: analisi dei dati delle società di capitali manifatturiere tra il 1995 e il 2015, in "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2018, no. 438. Joint with Emanuele Ciani and Marcello Pagnini.
also featured on: lavoce.info.
Heterogeneous Fall in Manufacturing Productive Capacity During the 2008-2013 Italian Double-Dip Recession, in "Politica economica, Journal of Economic Policy" 1/2019, pp. 95-128, doi: 10.1429/93308. Joint with Libero Monteforte and Giordano Zevi.
previously published as: L'eterogenea diminuzione della capacità produttiva nell'industria italiana durante la doppia recessione 2008-13, in "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2016, no. 303. Joint with Libero Monteforte and Giordano Zevi.
Do public health interventions crowd out private health investments? Malaria control policies in Eritrea, in "Labour Economics", Elsevier, 2017, vol. 45(C), pages 107-115. Joint with Alex Armand, Pedro Carneiro, Selam Mihreteab and Joseph Keating.
also circulated as: CeMMAP working papers CWP12/12, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
also circulated as: IZA Discussion Papers 6560, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
also circulated as: Policy Research Working Paper Series 7268, The World Bank.
also circulated as: CEPR Discussion Papers 8976, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
Investimenti diretti esteri e scambi internazionali di servizi: un'analisi basata sui microdati della bilancia dei pagamenti, in "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2016, no. 327. Joint with Chiara Bentivogli, Francesco Bripi, Andrea Carboni, Luca Cherubini, Eleonora Laurenza, Paola Monti, Elisabetta Nencioni, Valeria Pellegrini and Diego Scalise.
Main results of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey: Italy in the international context, in "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2013, no. 161. Joint with Romina Gambacorta, Giuseppe Ilardi, Raffaella Pico and Cristiana Rampazzi.
available also in Italian as: Principali risultati dell’Household Finance and Consumption Survey: l’Italia nel confronto internazionale, in "Occasional Papers", Bank of Italy, 2013, no. 161. Joint with Romina Gambacorta, Giuseppe Ilardi, Raffaella Pico and Cristiana Rampazzi.
Evaluating indoor residual spray for reducing malaria infection prevalence in Eritrea: Results from a community randomized control trial, in "Acta Tropica", 2011 Aug; 119(2-3):107-13. Joint with Joseph Keating, Andemariam Gebremichael, Tewolde Ghebremeskel, Jacob Mufunda, Selam Mihreteab, Daniel Berhane and Pedro Carneiro.
Il quadro economico nel gruppo europeo di cooperazione territoriale Euregio Tirolo - Alto Adige/Südtirol - Trentino, in "Feralismo fiscale e autonomie territoriali : lo stato dell' arte nell' Euregio Tirolo - Alto Adige/Südtirol - Trentino", a cura di F. Palermo, S. Parolari e A. Valdesalici, ed. Cedam (Padova), 2013, Collana: Ius publicum europaeum, ISBN: 978-88-13-32902-0.
Determinants of ownership and use of mosquito bed nets in Gambella, Ethiopia, MSc dissertation, 2008.
Bocconi University. Advisor: Eliana la Ferrara. Discussant: Carlo Altomonte.
European Union policies in Development Aid & Humanitarian Aid, BSc dissertation, 2006.
Bocconi University. Advisor: Carlo Altomonte.