This thesis consists of three chapters on the political economy of development. The regional focus is on China, but the issues studied are widespread around the world. In Chapter 1, I study the manipulation of economic statistics by government officials. Leveraging a unique reform in China, I show that a combination of top-down monitoring and punishment could effectively reduce such manipulation; furthermore, reducing such manipulation could elicit officials’ effort in developing the economy,...
This thesis unravels some aspects the complex relationship between anthropogenic activities inducing environmental externalities and human health under an economic perspective.
The first chapter analyses the causal impact of manure spreading on fine particulate matter concentrations, as well as respiratory and cardiovascular hospitalisations, mortality rate at discharge, and treatment costs using air quality and hospital discharge data from the Lombardy region in Italy. Exogenous variation i...
This thesis delves into the realm of entrepreneurship, especially entrepreneurial decision-making, entrepreneurial performance, and innovation in China, a country that is experiencing vibrant entrepreneurial growth. Since the advent of its market transition in the late 1980s, China has witnessed a surge in vigorous private enterprise development. Recent years have seen a dedicated commitment from the Chinese government to nurture entrepreneurship and drive innovation. Notably, China embarked ...
In the first chapter of this PhD Thesis, we investigate why large cross-sections of long- short anomaly portfolios predict the market excess return. We develop an econometric model for the prices of the long and short legs of the anomalies. Using dimension reduction techniques, we show that their deviations from equilibrium predict the aggregate market return. This result holds at multiple horizons and is mostly driven by the long components of the anomaly portfolios. We interpret these findi...
Venture capital has emerged as an integral component within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. This dissertation seeks to understand how venture capital has influenced entrepreneurial activities in three different contexts concerning various sources of risk capital. The first study investigates how startups adjust their technological positioning after securing corporate venture capital, delineating a nuanced framework based on an interplay of learning synergies and competitive threats. The theory...
Quando si verificano situazioni di stallo, rompendosi l’ordinario processo decisionale dell’impresa, di frequente si generano conseguenze negative per la società coinvolta nell’impasse, per i suoi stakeholders, nonché per l’intero sistema economico. Questa condizione, che può investire tanto l’organo amministrativo che quello assembleare, si manifesta di consueto in società costituite al fine di dare seguito a joint ventures oppure nel caso, molto frequente in paesi come l’Italia, di imprese ...
Starting from the latest steps of the European legislator on the circular economy, this work moves in two directions. The first is to examine the challenges presented by intellectual property rights in the spare parts sector, specifically addressing issues related to trademarks and patents. The study then turns to the repair sector, assessing the constraints faced by the exhaustion doctrine when applied to IP-protected products undergoing repair. The analysis aims to propose solutions by reev...
In recent decades, the industrialized world has undergone transformative structural, technological, and cultural shifts, necessitating adaptation to a reshaped global landscape. This doctoral thesis explores the dynamics of societal adaptation to change, focusing on culture and demography. The first paper investigates the influence of long-standing cultural traits on cross-country differences in resilience. It employs an epidemiological approach to analyze the inherited component of trust val...
In the first chapter, I examine whether disclosures of rival collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) affect workforce treatment. I exploit U.S. CBAs, which specify terms and conditions resulting from labor renegotiations. Using an effectively staggered difference-in-differences design, I find that around the time of rival CBA disclosures, non-unionized firms operating in unionized industries improve their workforce treatment. Their behavior is transitory. My cross-sectional analyses show that...
This thesis consists of three chapters. In Chapter 1, I study the redistribution channels in heterogeneous-agent New Keynesian (HANK) models. Following a monetary policy shock, this paper analytically characterizes the redistribution channels triggered by the shock and quantitatively assesses each channel's effects. The redistribution effects amplify the responses of output and consumption and dampen the response of investment and real interest rates. On impact, redistribution effects account...