Ciao!
I am the August Family Assistant Professor of Economics at Brown University. Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Associate at MIT Economics. I hold a PhD in Economics from the University of Zurich.
My research is at the intersection of development economics and behavioral economics. I am interested in how the social environment influences the economic behavior of individuals and organizations in poor countries.
I am an affiliate of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) and the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR).
I am on sabbatical at Princeton (RPDE) for the 2025-26 academic year.
My work on the benefits of obesity in poor countries was in the New York Times!
We study the mental health of graduate students and faculty at 14 Economics departments in Europe. Using clinically validated surveys sent out in the fall of 2021, we find that 34.7% of graduate students experience moderate to severe symptoms of depression or anxiety and 17.3% report suicidal or self-harm ideation in a two-week period. Only 19.2% of students with significant symptoms are in treatment. 15.8% of faculty members experience moderate to severe depression or anxiety symptoms, with prevalence higher among non-tenure track (42.9%) and tenure track (31.4%) faculty than tenured (9.6%) faculty. We estimate that the COVID-19 pandemic accounts for about 74% of the higher prevalence of depression symptoms and 30% of the higher prevalence of anxiety symptoms in our European sample relative to a 2017 U.S. sample of economics graduate students. We also document issues in the work environment, including a high incidence of sexual harassment, and make recommendations for improvement.
This study explores the economic implications of obesity in low-income countries, where it serves as an unhealthy yet significant status symbol. By conducting experiments with decision-makers in Kampala, Uganda, who were shown portraits with manipulated weight, the research uncovers four key insights. Firstly, obesity is predominantly viewed as an indicator of wealth rather than attractiveness or health. Secondly, obesity enhances credit access; in a practical experiment with loan officers, the advantage of obesity equates to a 60% increase in reported earnings. Thirdly, the obesity premium diminishes when additional financial information is available, highlighting the role of asymmetric information. Lastly, the perceived benefits of obesity and its value as a wealth signal are often exaggerated, which inadvertently increases the cost of adopting healthier lifestyles.
with Alessandro Borin, Michele Mancini
The future of an institution, such as the European Union, ultimately depends on people’s support. This paper investigates whether EU redistributive policies have improved public attitudes towards European integration, both in terms of public opinion and political preferences. We focus on Cohesion Policy funds, whose allocation allows us to single out these effects by means of a regression discontinuity approach. The results show that EU transfers have mitigated the rise of Eurosceptical attitudes and reduced political consensus for anti-EU parties. The effects are homogeneous across different socio-economic groups, including the most disadvantaged ones. The improvement in public support for the EU does not appear to be exclusively a spillover of the positive economic effect of funding; we show evidence suggesting the existence of a ‘reciprocity-effect’ channel, i.e. citizens in recipient regions recognize the beneficial role of the EU as the source of funding.
with Jeremia Stalder
Agosto 23
This paper examines informal redistribution in the form of work in small and medium enterprises in Kampala, Uganda and its drivers. Using a field experiment, we show that employers and workers systematically choose giving/receiving work over cash transfers. Decisions imply a large willingness to pay for work on both sides of the labor market. Work redistribution choices are unaffected by the economic and training value of the task, and employers pay for zero marginal product work. Removing stakes in the game also does not affect decisions, ruling out signaling and relational personal benefits as drivers. Employers and workers motivate work redistribution mostly with fairness considerations and, secondly, with the psychosocial value of work for workers. Results appear externally valid, as giving via work predicts increased hiring in the firm, but it does not lead to higher revenues, sales, or profits, confirming that work redistribution is unlikely to be productive.
with Claude Raisaro
Agosto 23
We assess how gender stereotypes and systemic constraints affect female hiring in male-dominated sectors (2.8% female workers) in Uganda. In a field experiment, employers, who perceive women as more trustworthy and self-report an unmet demand for female workers, can select from randomly gender-assigned profiles of trainees to hire on probation. We measure hiring gaps under business-as-usual and two randomly-assigned monitoring regimes. In the business-as-usual arm, we observe a relatively mild (10.3 p.p.) hiring gap against women, not driven by ability beliefs, which narrows with employer self-reported worker-gender-mix preferences and disappears in the top quintile. Among employers receiving support to monitor worker behavior, the gender gap is significantly larger (16.7 p.p.; twice as large for diversity-oriented employers). Thus, monitoring support reveals latent bias by lowering the value of trustworthy workers. Among employers assigned support for monitoring workers' safety but not behavior, there is no significant gender gap (1.7 p.p.), suggesting that women’s trust advantage can counteract bias only when harassment concerns are addressed. Systemic hiring constraints can both expose and conceal gender bias. Interventions to ease these constraints may unintentionally disadvantage women.
Teaching and Office Hours
16.20 Introduction to Econometrics
OH: Thursday, 3:00PM-4:00PM (no appointment).
25.10 Development Economics
OH: Meet me after class!
Other Brown & non-Brown students
OH: Sign up here.
Email me at least a day in advance with the topics you’d like to discuss.
All office hours are in Robinson Hall 303D, unless otherwise noted.
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