Abstract:

Using data from Italy’s largest network of anti-violence centers, this study investigates whether increased female representation in local politics affects the help-seeking behavior of women experiencing gender-based violence. Exploiting the implementation of gender quotas and the presence of staggered elections as a natural experiment, we adopt a shift-share instrumental variable strategy to address endogeneity concerns. We find that greater female political representation significantly increases the likelihood that women—particularly those who are younger or unemployed—seek support from anti-violence centers. This effect is more pronounced when considering municipalities with greater proximity to these centers and is observed exclusively among first-time users of these services, with no impact on recurrent cases. The results are not explained by rising levels of violence or changes in funds received by anti-violence centers.

Presentations:

• 6th World Labor Conference (SOLE - EALE - AASLE), Toronto (Canada) - June 29, 2025

• 100th Annual Conference of the  Western Economic Association International (WEAI), San Francisco (USA), 2025

• 52nd Annual Meeting of the European Public Choice Society (EPCS), Stockholm School of Economics in Riga  (Latvia), 2025

• 36th Annual Conference of the Italian Society for Public Economics (SIEP), University of Cagliari (Italy), 2024

Abstract:

We study how local governments adjust fiscal policy following extreme acts of gender-based violence, and whether these adjustments are shaped by migration-related concerns. Combining administrative data on femicides with municipal budgets for Italian municipalities, we exploit femicides as shocks to the local salience of violence in staggered difference-in-differences models. Femicides trigger a sizable and persistent increase in security expenditures, concentrated on local police, with little corresponding expansion of prevention-oriented or social services for women at risk. The magnitude and persistence of the security response depend strongly on the perpetrator's nationality: when the perpetrator is foreign-born, the increase in police spending is much larger and more persistent. These patterns are consistent with high-profile crimes involving foreigners being more likely to be politicized and framed as public-order threats, reallocating scarce local resources toward visible security measures and away from policies more directly targeted at reducing gender-based violence.

Presentations:

• 37th Annual Conference of the Italian Society for Public Economics (SIEP), University of Naples Federico II (Italy), 2025

• 40th Annual Meeting of the European Economic Association (EEA), Bordeaux School of Economics (France), 2025

Abstract:

We estimate how local femicides affect voting and turnout in subsequent Italian parliamentary elections. We merge a geocoded registry of femicides (2011–2022) with municipality-level results for the national elections (2013, 2018, 2022) and exploit staggered exposure to a municipality’s first femicide. Using difference-in-differences estimators designed for staggered adoption, we find an electoral backlash against the Center-Right coalition: its vote share falls by about 2.2 percentage points, with offsetting gains for the Five Star Movement (+1.0 pp) and the Center-Left (+0.5 pp). Femicides also reduce participation: turnout declines by about 0.8 percentage points, with larger declines among women than men. Heterogeneity by nationality suggests that backlash is concentrated in cases involving Italian victims or Italian perpetrators; when the perpetrator is foreign, the Center-Right effect is small and statistically indistinguishable from zero. The results are consistent with electoral sanctioning and demobilization following salient failures of protection, with attribution shaped by identity cues.

Abstract:

We merge original daily data on admissions to an Anti-Violence Center (AVC) in Southern Italy with the local soccer team’s match results from 2013–2018 to test whether sporting events influence violence against women. We find that home defeats lead to a significant increase in AVC admissions, with effects amplified when the team was favored to win according to betting odds. The impact is concentrated in cases involving partners or ex-partners and among Italian perpetrators. Overall, the results indicate that salient emotional events can exacerbate dynamics within abusive relationships. Importantly, our evidence suggests that women’s decisions to seek formal support and begin a pathway out of violence are often made immediately after a tipping point in ongoing abuse.

Presentations:

• 37th Annual Conference of the Italian Society for Public Economics (SIEP), University of Naples Federico II (Italy), 2025

Abstract:

This study analyzes whether and how the war between Russia and Ukraine has influenced referee behavior in UEFA football competitions. Exploiting the exogenous shock represented by the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022, we adopt a TWFE model using detailed match-level data for the period 2015–2025. The results show that Russian players are significantly more likely to receive red cards when officiated by referees from Ukraine or from countries strongly aligned with Ukraine. In contrast, players from countries with ambiguous geopolitical positions receive fewer foul calls when refereed by Ukrainian officials. We also document a reverse bias. These effects are not driven by nationality matching between referees and players, nor by a general increase in referee strictness, but rather reflect selective identity-based distortions linked to political alignment. The bias is particularly evident in high-discretion decisions and takes different forms, ranging from visible sanctions to more subtle omissions. Overall, the findings suggest that geopolitical conflicts can activate behavioral distortions even in regulated and formally neutral settings, such as international sports.