My research follows an interdisciplinary, policy-focused agenda that spans education, the impact of technology on society and migration selection. I investigate how human capital is formed, moves across space, and interacts with technology, drawing on concepts and methods from economics, demography and political science. My work contributes to key policy debates by studying how migration selection shapes labor markets and demographic dynamics, how automation and AI transforms employment and political behavior, how education policies influence long-term economic opportunities, and how major shocks like COVID-19 impact social and economic inequalities. A defining feature of my research is the use of original administrative data, often derived from digitized archives, social security records, and government registries. I employ rigorous empirical methods—including Regression Discontinuity Designs, Kink/Notch Designs, Bartik instruments, and network-based identification strategies—to uncover causal relationships that inform evidence-based policymaking across multiple disciplines.  

Publications

​Rule Breaking, Honesty and Migration (with T. Colussi and A. Ichino)

The Journal of Law and Economics, Volume 66, Number 2, May 2023 Online Appendix, Accessible working paper​, Non-technical summary


Emigration and Entrepreneurial Drain
(with G. Basso, G. Ippedico and G. Peri), 

American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 15 (2): 218-52, April 2023


Previously circulated as Youth Drain, Entrepreneurship and Innovation NBER Working paper 26055, July 2019

In the media: Il Sole 24 Ore


Foreign Students in College and the Supply of STEM Graduates 

(with K. Shih and K. Williams), Journal of Labor Economics, Volume 41, Number 2, April 2023


​Individual vulnerability to industrial robot adoption increases support for the radical right​

(with I. Colantone,  and P. Stanig) 

PNAS November 23, 2021 118 (47)e2111611118. 

In the media: La Repubblica, PsyPost, Reddit


Robots, Marriageable Men, Family, and Fertility

(with O. Giuntella and L. Stella) 

Journal of Human Resources

Published online before print November 15, 2021​. Accessible version.

In the media: The Washington Post, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,

Metro, UNILAD, La Repubblica


Fertility Drain or Fertility Gain? Emigration and Fertility during the Great Recession in Italy  (with N. Balbo)

Demography, 1 April 2021; 58 (2): 631–654. 

Online Appendix 

In the media: Population Europe


​Returns to elite university education: a quasi-experimental analysis​

​Journal of the European Economic Association, Volume 18, Issue 6, December 2020, Pages 2824–2868. 

Awarded with the Distinguished CESifo Affiliate award


The Effects of High School Peers' Gender on College Major, College Performance and Income (with G. Peri)

Economic Journal, Volume 129, Issue 618, February 2019, 553–602 

In the media: Featured CESifo working paper 


Does Emigration Delay Political Change? Evidence from Italy during the Great Recession (with G. Peri)

Economic Policy, Volume 32, Issue 91, 1 July 2017, Pages 551–596 

In the media: Oxford University Press Blog, Corriere della Sera

​

Gender of Siblings and Choice of College Major (with G. Peri) 

CESifo Economic Studies (2015) 61 (1): 53-71. 

WORKING PAPERS

Willingness to Pay for Workplace Amenities (with F. Koenig), submitted

​CESifo Working Paper No. 9469, December 2021


Education during COVID: Policy Choices, Family Compensation and Learning Losses (with S. Griselda,  V. Galasso, H. Van de Werfhorst)


RESEARCH IN PROGRESS


The Departed: Origins and Persistence of Organized Crime in the United States (With P. Pinotti and Z. Porreca)

ERC funding


What if you see it? Workers’ perceptions of and reactions to LLMs  (With I. Colantone, Aina Gallego and P. Stanig)


Robots Replacing Trade Unions: Novel Data and Evidence from Western Europe (With P. Agnolin, I. Colantone and P. Stanig)

Cariplo Grant - Technology and Society funding


The Political Ageing Trap: Supply and Demand of Age-based Policies (With I. Colantone, L. Lupo, P. Stanig)

EU PNRR - Partenariato Age-IT funding


The spillovers of child disability on peers' education (With Alice Dominici, Nicoletta Balbo, Sofia Sierra Vasquez)

ERC funding


The Interplay Between Genetic Endowment and Automation: Evaluating Worker Vulnerability to Employment Shocks from Robotics (With Pietro Biroli, Elisabetta De Cao, Silvia Mendolia, Yannick Reichlin)

PRIN-PNRR funding


The long-run labor market effects of university field of study

Draft available upon request. Policy Brief available

In the media: Corriere Della Sera 1,  Corriere Della Sera 2, Corriere Della Sera 3, Sole 24 ore 1, Sole 24 ore 2,  Radio 24, Vanity Fair



BOOK CHAPTERS

Gender Gap in Labor Market Outcomes: Less Explored Aspects and Dimensions (with G. Peri)

Unexplored Dimensions of Discrimination, ed. Tito Boeri, Eleonora Patacchini, and Giovanni Peri (Oxford University Press, London UK, 2015.)​  Cite


Gender Gap in Italy: The Role of College Majors (with G. Peri)

Unexplored Dimensions of Discrimination, ed. Tito Boeri, Eleonora Patacchini, and Giovanni Peri (Oxford University Press, London UK, 2015.)​  Cite


More Unexplored Dimensions of Gender Gap and College Choice: Attitudes, Choice of Partner, and Peer/Teacher Effects in School (with G. Peri)

Unexplored Dimensions of Discrimination, ed. Tito Boeri, Eleonora Patacchini, and Giovanni Peri (Oxford University Press, London UK, 2015.)​  Cite



OTHER WORK IN ITALIAN

Il Valore Economico della Scelta Universitaria (with G. Peri) 

Published by Fondazione Rodolfo DeBenedetti, November 2013