Research

Publications in Internationally Reviewed Journals

• Does the Winner Take It All? Redistributive Policies and Political Extremism (with Amedeo Piolatto & Gianmarco Daniele). Regional Science and Urban Economics, 105: 103986 (2024). [PDF] [WP] [VoxEU]
• The Causal Impact of Pandemic Distress on Anti-Immigration Sentiments (with Gianmarco Daniele, Andrea Martinangeli, Francesco Passarelli & Lisa Windsteiger). Economica, 91 (363), 1124-1155 (2024). [PDF] 
• Conditioning Public Pensions on Health: Effects on Capital Accumulation and Welfare (with Giorgio Fabbri, Paolo Melindi-Ghidi & Marie-Louise Leroux). Journal of Population Economics, 37 (2): 1-21 (2024).
• Starting From Scratch: A New Approach to Subnational Public Finance (with David Bell and John Houston). Regional Studies, 55 (4), 617-629 (2021). [PDF][Link]
• Networked Innovation and Coalition Formation: The Effect of Group-Based Social Preferences (with Tom Dedeurwaerdere and Paolo Melindi-Ghidi). Economics of Innovation and New Technology, 27 (7): 577-593 (2018). [Link]
• Can Fiscal Equalisation Mitigate Tax Competition? Ad Valorem, Residence-Based Taxation in a Federation.
  International Tax and Public Finance, 24 (5): 817–853 (2017). [Link]

Work in Progress

• Externalities and the Erosion of Trust (with Gianmarco Daniele, Andrea Martinangeli, Francesco Passarelli & Lisa Windsteiger). Submitted [PDF][WP]
• Can Scapegoating Backfire? The Socio-Political Effects of Blaming Migrants for a Crisis (Michela Boldrini, Pierluigi Conzo & Roberto Zotti). [PDF]
• Are Bad Institutions Always Bad for Society? Trust and Cooperation in Times of Crisis (with Pierluigi Conzo, Gianmarco Daniele & Andrea Martinangeli). [WP]
• Who Cares? Attitudes Towards Redistribution and Fiscal Austerity (with Sarah Brown, Alberto Montagnoli & Mirko Moro). Submitted [PDF][WP]
• Who Is to Blame (or Praise)? Perceived Service Quality and Responsibility in Multilevel Government (with Tommaso Capezzone, Pierluigi Conzo, Dmitriy Vorobyev & Roberto Zotti).
• The Evolution of Devolution: Socio-Economic Shocks & Attititudes Towards Devolution and Secession (with David Bell & Hector Gutiérrez-Rufrancos).
• Where There Is Smoke, There Is Water: Canals as Proxies of Industrial Past and urban income disparity (with Keiti Kondi and Vincent Vandenberghe)
• Institutions in the Fast Lane: Democratisation and Union Influence in Mexico (with Hector Gutiérrez-Rufrancos).
• No Taxation Without Decentralisation? Accountability, Transparency and Tax Autonomy (with Susana Peralta).
• Wind of Change? Experimental Survey Evidence on the COVID-19 Shock and Socio-Political Attitudes in Europe (with Gianmarco Daniele, Andrea Martinangeli, Francesco Passarelli & Lisa Windsteiger). [PDF] [WP] [CEPR][VoxEU][The Conversation]

New Projects

• Zero-sum Thinking and Group Identity (with Pierluigi Conzo & Seth Sanders).
• Restoring Social Trust and Cooperation: The Power of Narratives (with Tommaso Capezzone,  Pierluigi Conzo & Roberto Zotti).
• Complexity, Populism & Political Attitudes (with Francesco Passarelli).

Publications in Belgian Journals (Selected)

• Het Nut van Dotaties in Gelaagde Staatsvormen: een Vergelijking van Vereveningsmechanismen. (“The Aim of Federal Grants: a Cross-Country Analysis of Equalisation Mechanisms”, with André Decoster).
  Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Sociale Zekerheid, 57 (3), 561-595 (2015). [PDF]
• De Economische Theorie van het Federalisme: Was de 6de Staatshervorming een Schot in de Roos? (“Fiscal Federalism: Did the Belgian 6th Institutional Reform Hit the Mark?”, with André Decoster).
  Tijdschrift voor Bank- en Financiewezen (2), 151-157 (2015). [PDF]

Policy Reports (Selected)

• Interregionale financiële stromen in België: update 2000-2023 & prognoses 2024-2028 . (“Interregional Fiscal Flows in Belgium: update 2000-2023 & projections 2024-2028”, with Tom Truyts, 2024). [PDF]
• Interregionale financiële stromen in België van 2000 tot 2020. (“Interregional Fiscal Flows in Belgium from 2000 until 2020”, with André Decoster, 2017). [PDF] [Reflectienota]
• De Nieuwe Bijzondere Financieringswet van de 6de Staatshervorming: Werden de Beloften Ingelost? (“The New Financing Law of the Belgian 6th Institutional Reform: Were All Promises Kept?”, with André Decoster). Flemosi Discussion Paper Series (28), Department of Economics, KU Leuven (2013). [PDF]