Research

Publications:

Theory and Practice of TFP Estimation: The Control Function Approach Using Stata with G. Rovigatti, The Stata Journal 18 (3), pp. 618-662 (2018). Link to the WP
Bureaucratic Competence and Procurement Outcomes with Decarolis, F., Giuffrida, L. M. , Iossa, E., Mollisi. V., Spagnolo, G., The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization (2020), Volume 36, Issue 3, November 2020. Link to the WP. Media Coverage: "1", "2"
Buyers’ Role in Innovation Procurement: Evidence from U.S. Military R&D Contracts with Decarolis, F., de Rassenfosse, Giuffrida, L. M., G., Iossa, V., Raiteri, E., Spagnolo, G. , Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (2021), vol 30, 697– 720 . Link to the WP.
Dissent is the word: New evidence on municipal turnout after amalgamation with Bolgherini, S., Political Geography (2024), vol 113

Chapters in Books:

Decarolis, F, L Giuffrida, E Iossa, and V. Mollisi (2021), “The role of buyer competence“, Procurement in Focus: Rules, Discretion, and Emergencies, CEPR Press, London. https://cepr.org/chapters/role-buyer-competence ISBN 978-1-912179-53-4

Working Papers:

Quasi-Experimental Demand Estimation of Memberships and of Their Usage

with Filippi, M. & Mastrobuoni, G.

Memberships are everywhere, and a growing number of superstar and small companies are turning their businesses into a membership-based model. However, the econometric challenges posed by endogenous pricing has caused research to lag behind, resulting in poor knowledge of membership pricing effect on consumers' purchase and usage. We fill this gap by focusing on an Italian museum membership card, an industry where memberships are rapidly gaining momentum. In particular, our Regression Discontinuity (RD) framework leverages several \textit{age-based} price discontinuities to provide the first quasi-experimental estimates of membership cards' price elasticity. Depending on the specific age group, we find (absolute) price elasticities in the range 0.5-2.6, which are larger than the elasticities commonly found for single-ticket visits. Furthermore, we find that higher pricing is associated to a more intense and expensive use of the card; a closer look at the underlying mechanism suggests that a price-induced selection may be more important among the older cohorts, where the larger time availability arguably translates into more systematic price search efforts. Finally, we combine our previously-mentioned RD estimates to provide the first policy recommendation on membership cards' pricing.

Inequality and Public Policy (Submitted)

with Zeira, J. & Battisti, M.

This paper shows that public policies have a significant effect on inequality. The main influence is through redistribution, as public expenditures affect the distribution of disposable income through progressive direct taxation and through social benefits. We measure this effect, identify it by use of instrumental variables and find that it is quite large. We then examine how the inequality of market incomes is also affected by public policies, mainly by public education. We measure these effects as well

The Impact of Twitter on Cultural Consumption

with Nadia, C. & Ciarlantini, S.

We investigate the causal impact of Twitter activity on cultural consumption, focusing on museum attendance. Using data from eight museums in the metropolitan area of Turin, Italy, which account for 64% of total museum visits in the region, we examine how user-generated Twitter activity (not that of the museums themselves) influences museum attendance. Employing a Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) approach, we use the past and future average ability to generate engagement of the most impactful Twitter users in our sample as an instrument for Twitter activity for each museum in each month. Our results indicate that a doubling of Twitter activity leads to a 15% to 27% increase in museum visits. The effect is primarily driven by women aged 18 to 24. Importantly, we find no evidence of a displacement effect. Twitter activity generates positive spillovers on the other museums in the area through a mechanism related to geographical proximity to the eight museums.

JMP: The Productivity Effect of Public-Private Partnership (R&R at JINDEC)

In the last two decades, public authorities have increasingly resorted to public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements for the delivery of public services. Under a PPP, the private contractor is in charge of building the infrastructure, as well as managing and maintaining the facility. Under traditional procurement the construction and operation phases, in turn, are separated and regulated by two different contracts. Relying on data collected from the Italian district heating industry, I empirically evaluate whether different forms of contractual arrangements induce differences in the technical efficiency of firms due to heterogeneous levels of capital quality. I find that a PPP contract allows a technological externality between the different phases of a project to be internalized, leading to a positive effect on total factor productivity. Specifically, a unit increase in the capital quality proxy raises the output of PPP firms by 15% .

Do Incompetent Politicians Breed Populist Voters? Evidence from Italian Mayors

with Boffa, F. & Ponzetto, G.

Poor performance by the established political class can drive voters towards anti-establishment outsiders. Is the ineffectiveness of incumbent politicians an important driver of the recent rise of populist parties? We provide an empirical test exploiting a sharp discontinuity in the wage of local politicians as a function of population in Italian municipalities. We find that the more skilled local politicians and more effective local government in municipalities above the threshold cause a significant drop in voter support for the populist Five-Star Movement in regional and national elections. Support for incumbent governing parties increases instead.

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