Publications

(joint work with Michaela Benzeval, Alexandria Andrayas, Tarek Al Baghal, Jonathon Burton, Thomas Crossley, Meena Kumari)

BMC Medical Research Methodology, (2023) 23:134

Working Papers

Inheritance Expectations, Dynastic Altruism, and Education

Presented at: UPF Applied Lunch Seminar, BSE Jamboree, Helsinki PhD Workshop on Economics of Education, EALE 2023 (Prague), UPF-CREI Macro Lunch, 1st Imperial College PhD Conference in Economics and Finance, EDP Jamboree 2024 (Barcelona), 3rd PhD and Post-Doctoral Workshop in Economics and Finance (Naples)

This paper shows that inter-generational asset transfers matter for intra-generational education choices. Based on Italian micro-data, I document two important facts. First, expecting an inheritance robustly predicts the pursuit of higher education. Second, the intention to leave a bequest is strongly associated with having received or expecting an inheritance, consistent with heterogeneity and persistence in dynastic altruism. I rationalize the empirical findings through a simple model, where individuals from more altruistic dynasties accumulate more human capital to increase their long-term earnings, hence their ability to finance bequests. This perpetuates inter-generational disparities in education, income, and wealth. Through a richer quantitative lifecycle model, I show that heterogeneity in bequest motives can account for a third of the observed gap in student rates between youths who do and do not expect an inheritance. The link between inheritance expectations and education is stronger when the present value of the returns to education is lower.

Domestic Inequality and Global Imbalances

(joint work with Andrej Mijakovic )

Presented at (* if by coauthor): 12th PhD Student Conference on International Macroeconomics (Paris Nanterre), European Central Bank IPA Economic Meeting*, Bank for International Settlements Research Seminar*, 2023 Annual Meeting of the Central Bank Research Association - CEBRA (New York), 23rd RIEF Doctoral Meeting*, 27th Theories and Methods in Macro - T2M (Amsterdam), PSE-CEPR Policy Forum 2024, UCL Stone Center PhD Conference on Income and Wealth Inequality, EEA-ESEM 2024 (Rotterdam)*

We document that higher income inequality is associated with higher current account balances for a large set of countries. A 1 percentage point increase in the share of income earned by the top 1 percent is associated with a 0.4-0.8 percentage point higher current account balance. This relation is driven by differences in saving rates but not investment. We rationalize this finding through a two-country heterogeneous agent model and show that, all else equal, capital flows from unequal to equal countries. Non-homotheticities in preferences generate higher saving rates by rich households which translate into current account surpluses under international capital mobility. The model also incorporates an explicit role for financial markets. We illustrate how financial forces can offset the effects of inequality and induce current account deficits in unequal countries such as the United States.

Work in progress

Classical and Non-Classical Measurement Errors in Blood Pressure Measures from Understanding Society: an Estimation

(joint work with Thomas Crossley)

In surveys, it is seldom possible to obtain the most accurate available measure of any variable of interest, given the high costs (monetary and not) associated to the necessary procedures. In the context of Understanding Society, we consider the setting of blood pressure measurements as gathered by nurses and compare them with self-taken and interviewer-taken ones. Assuming classical measurement error for nurse-taken measures and non-classical error for the other two sources, we estimate the parameters of interest through Generalised Method of Moments (GMM) in order to correct for any possible bias in measures exhibiting non-classical error.

Death by Waiting? Treatment Delays, Emergency Department Congestion and Patients’ Outcomes

(joint work with Matteo Lippi Bruni , Cristina Ugolini , and Rossella Verzulli )

Presented at: EuHEA Conference 2024 (Vienna)

Policy Publications

Effectiveness of Cohesion Policy: Learning from the Programme Characteristics that Produce the Best Results

(joint work with Zsolt Darvas, Antoine Mathieu-Collin and Catarina Midoes, prepared for the Regional Development Committee (REGI) of the European Parliament, 2019)

A Monetary Policy Framework for the ECB to Deal with Uncertainty

(joint work with Grégory Claeys and Maria Demertzis, prepared for the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee (ECON) of the European Parliament, 2018)