Research
Research
"Pandemic Shocks and Unintended Healthcare Disruptions: Chronic Patients During COVID-19" (with C. Lucifora & A. Russo), accepted for publication in Empirical Economics
This paper investigates the effects of pandemic shocks on outpatient care utilization among chronic patients aged 50 and older in Italy. We merge administrative data on outpatient services with information on excess deaths to proxy the severity of pandemic shocks during COVID-19. To account for confounding factors and individual-level unobserved heterogeneity, we implement an individual-level fixed-effects estimator. Our results indicate that excess deaths are associated with a decline in the probability of receiving at least one medical treatment per month. A heterogeneity analysis reveals that the reduction is more substantial for patients with comorbidities, who exhibit a larger prevalence-response elasticity, indicating that sicker patients are more sensitive to pandemic severity. These findings suggest that pandemic shocks influence healthcare-seeking behaviour even among patients previously thought to have inelastic demand.
"Gender Mix Prescription: Is it the Cure for Job Satisfaction and Retention?" (with M. Agnoletto), Labour Economics, page 102786, 2025. ISSN 0927-5371. Article Link
This paper investigates the effects of gender composition within general practices on overall job satisfaction, its associated lower-level domains, service quality and retention rates of general practitioners (GPs). Using data from the nationally representative Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL) panel, we estimate an individual fixed-effects model and address potential endogeneity in several ways. We show that an increase in the female share of GPs within a practice positively influences overall job satisfaction and various well-being components, with female GPs driving the effects. However, increasing the female share negatively affects several domains of job satisfaction if it reduces gender diversity, highlighting the importance of maintaining a balanced gender composition within practices. To obtain an equivalent effect on overall job satisfaction, gross annual earnings would need to increase by approximately AU$406,400. Additionally, our findings show positive effects on retention intentions. Potential mechanisms include a greater understanding of work-life balance among colleagues, stronger workplace support, and reduced job-related stress.
“Big Five Personality Traits and Retirement Decisions” (with Claudio Lucifora). Labour, 2021. Article Link
We estimate the effect of the Big Five personality traits on the retirement decisions of individuals aged between 50 and 80 years in fourteen European countries, using wave 7 from the SHARE data. We investigate the probability of retirement and a measure of the distance between actual retirement and ordinary retirement age. Overall, we find that personality affects retirement decisions, and the effects are similar across gender. Openness to experience, conscientiousness and extraversion are generally associated with a delay in retirement decisions, whereas neuroticism anticipates the exit from the labour market.
"When Dads Can't Get on the Beers: The Positive Impact of COVID-19 on Parental Drinking Behaviour}" (with S. Mendez, S. Sawyer & J. Moschion)
This study investigates the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on alcohol consumption among parents. We use data from the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS) with detailed information on alcohol consumption. Our empirical strategy follows a difference-in-difference design that relies on quasi-random variation in the timing of interviews. Our results show a significant decline in heavy drinking among parents, driven primarily by fathers. This reduction strengthens with prolonged lockdown exposure. Additionally, fathers exhibit a reduction in depressive symptoms and a decrease in cigarette use. Descriptive text analysis indicates that spending more time with family is the most frequently mentioned positive aspect of the lockdowns. This increased family engagement may have contributed to reduced drinking, as stronger family engagement may encourage healthier behaviours in the home environment or it can reduce opportunities for alcohol consumption.
"The Impact of Awareness: Evidence from Gender-Based Violence Campaigns in Italy" (with M. Agnoletto)
"Does the Gender of Physicians Affect Healthcare Utilisation?"
Pursuit Article on Women's Health Funding - here
Chapter 1.1, 1.2, 1.5 in I territori e gli obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile, Rapporto ASviS 2021, 2021
Contributions in I territori e gli obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile, Rapporto ASviS 2020, 2020
SDG4 and SDG8 in Rapporto Lombardia 2020, ISBN 978-88-6250-809-4, 113-129, 183-201, 2020
Contributions in Alla ricerca del benessere: desideri, timori, rappresentazioni della Milano che sar`a. Presentazione della ricerca Policy Delphi del laboratorio sul futuro milano2046, Comune di Milano, 2020