projects

Working papers

[1] The diffusion of digital services in the Public Administration: patterns and drivers among Italian Municipalities
with Elena Cefis (University of Bergamo) and Andrea Mina (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies)
Abstract: This paper examines how various characteristics of top executives influence the decision to digitalize, focusing particularly on the leader’s previous career paths, homophily with superiors and tenure. While existing evidence on technology diffusion primarily centers on private organizations, this study takes a novel approach by investigating public institutions, specifically the public administration (PA) of Italian municipalities and their mayors. We employ a fixed effects conditional logit model for panel data, analyzing the adoption of the e-payment service provider (PagoPA) by Italian municipalities from 2012 to 2021. Aligning with existing literature in the strategy domain, we find that mayor’s digital skills obtained through previous career paths increases the probability of adoption, while mayor’s tenure has an inverse U-shaped relationship with the adoption of new technologies. Furthermore, we observe that homophily with high-ranking supervisors does not increase the propensity for adoption.
Working paper available upon request

[2] Technological adoption and Firm Resilience: Understanding the Economic Impact of New Digital Technologies
with Laura Bisio (Istat), Valeria Cirillo (University of Bari), Matteo Lucchese (Istat) and Andrea Mina (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies)
Abstract: This study investigates the impact of new digital technologies on the resilience of firms to external shocks. Using rare comprehensive data on both the adoption of single and multiple new digital technologies, we employ a Difference-in-Differences methodology with propensity score matching to evaluate how digitalization influenced firms’ ability to withstand the COVID-19 crisis. We isolate the effects of adopting 1) a single technology, 2) multiple technologies (the breadth of adoption), and 3) technologies that are complementary to one another. The findings provide novel insights into how firms can shape their investments in new digital technologies to increase the benefits of digitalization, and enhance their ability to navigate future crises.
Available at LEM Working paper series : link to PDF

Selected Work in progress

[1] The Macroeconomic Impact of US Tariffs on Euro Area Ouput and Prices
with Roberto A. De Santis (European Central Bank)
Description: Using a new monthly country–sector panel spanning 14 euro area countries and 231 manufacturing sectors from 2016 to 2025, this project examines the dynamic effects of U.S. tariffs on euro area output, prices, and trade flows, as well as the indirect third country spillovers onto the euro area from the U.S.–China trade war.
Stage: Drafting of the working paper

[2] Intangible Investment in the Euro Area in Times of Uncertainty
with Lorena Saiz (European Central Bank)
Description: Corporate investment in the euro area is increasingly driven by intangibles (software, R&D, branding, organizational capital and data) which differ from tangible assets in financing and economic properties. Since standard measures poorly capture intangible investment, this project uses a novel LLM-based framework to extract firm-level expenditure from corporate disclosures, testing how firms’ intensity of investments in intangible assets changes the response to uncertainty and monetary policy.
Stage: Data collection and analysis in progress

[3] Innovation Through Mobility: A Study of Employment Flows in Research Institutes and Firm Laboratories
with Hanna Hottenrott (ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research & TUM - Technical University of Munich ) and Andrea Mina (Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies)
Description: The project uses manually collected data from the European Regional Development Funds (ERDF) and European Social Funds (RSF) in Germany for the funding period 2014-2020 to identify the firms, and related plants and locations, that received funds for the construction of research labs. This data is then matched with the Mannheim Enteprise Panel (MUP) and the platform Xing for employment. The aim of the project is to study the innovation and mobility flows generated by the construction of a new research lab.
Stage: Data collection and cleaning