Research

Shadowless theocracies

[Draft] [Historical appendix] Under review

Abstract: I investigate the long-term effects of theocracy on political preferences and religiosity, exploiting a river that separated the theocratic Papal States from secular states for three centuries. To disentangle the effect of theocracy from other confounders, I propose a novel extension to geographic regression discontinuity designs, the Difference-in-Geographic Discontinuities (DIG). While religiosity and political preferences descriptively differ discontinuously at the river, the causal effect of theocracy is null. Using existing and novel datasets spanning eight centuries, I suggest that pre-existing inheritance norms affected religiosity and political preferences by increasing collectivism and social capital, thereby neutralizing the impact of theocratic institutions.

Targeting vaccine information framing to recipients' education: a randomized trial

with Lisen A. Dahlström. Winner of the Merck Investigator Studies Program grant [Draft] Under review

Abstract: We investigate tailoring information framing to recipients’ backgrounds to boost vaccination uptakes. 7616 Swedish mothers stratified by education and immigration background received a leaflet on their children's upcoming HPV vaccination opportunity. The leaflet’s framing was randomized between emotional and scientific, with control units receiving an uninformative announcement. Mothers with compulsory schooling exposed to scientific framing increased their uptake by 5.7 percentage points (7.25%). The effect was driven by attentive readers with little previous HPV knowledge. Emotional framing decreased uptake by 4.8 percentage points (5.41%) among high school-educated mothers who read superficially and were more hesitant at baseline.

Work in progress

Networks, Diversity, and Migrants' Success: Evidence from the Pontine Marshes, 1932-1941

with Frédéric Docquier, Fabio Mariani and Martin Fernandez Sanchez

Abstract: This paper examines the role of social networks and diversity on migrants' economic performance in an agricultural setting. We rely on a historical episode (i.e., the resettlement of the Pontine Marshes in Italy, 1932-41) that led to a quasi-random allocation of thousands of families to farming plots. Using detailed information on the universe of settlers, we create measures of networks (families from the same origin) and diversity (fractionalization and linguistic similarity) in a narrow vicinity. We find that a larger network has a positive effect on productivity while diversity has a non-linear effect and depends on the economic potential of the plot. We further explore the mechanisms behind these results trying to shed light on the role of social bonds, cooperation, and learning.

The limits and perils of gentle communication against vaccine hesitancy: an informational trial

with Leonardo Boncinelli (PI), Ennio Bilancini and Folco Panizza.

Winner of the PRIN 2022 grant from the Italian Ministry of Education and the NextEU Generation grant "Bando 30 mesi" at the University of Florence

Part of the EcoHETE project involving several departments at the University of Florence: Statistics (Department PI: Daniele Vignoli), Psychology (Department PI: Christian Tarchi), Political Sciences (Department PI: Laura Solito)

Disability and life expectancy over the XXth century: the role of collectivism

with Nicoletta Balbo, Danilo Bolano, Lotta Vikström, Johan Junkka and Erling Haggström Gunfridsson

Non-intact Families and Children's Vaccination Coverage: Evidence from Italy

with Veronica Dorgali, Raffaele Guetto, Valentina Tocchioni and Daniele Vignoli

Funded by the NextEU Generation grant "Bando 30 mesi" at the University of Florence

Executive gender quotas and social services: evidence from Italy

with Flavia Cavallini and Olivia Masi

Abstract: We investigate the effect of executive female representation in local governments on the provision of different social services, in the context of Italy. While Italy is a high-income country, many families still rely on women to take care of children, the elderly, and family members in need of assistance. We exploit a 2014 reform that mandated 40% gender quotas in the executive committees of municipalities with more than 3000 inhabitants. To account for confounding policies introduced at the same cutoff, we employ a difference-in-discontinuities empirical strategy with additional identifying assumptions. We find that while the policy was effective in increasing female representation, it did not have an impact on any social services expenditures.

Publications (pre-Ph.D.)

Landy, J. F., Jia, M. L., Ding, I. L., Viganola, D., Tierney, W., Dreber, A., ... & Crowdsourcing Hypothesis Tests Collaboration. (2020). Crowdsourcing hypothesis tests: Making transparent how design choices shape research results. Psychological Bulletin, 146(5), 451.