Projects

Partners: University of Bologna, University of Milano Bicocca.

Start/End date: 2020-2024

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola, Giovanni Prarolo, Tommaso Sonno

Goal: Do multinational enterprises create local job opportunities in developing countries? This project addresses this question in the context of Sub-Saharan Africa by combining information on domestic and foreign multinationals’ affiliates over more than a decade with geolocalised individual-level data on labor supply. Having a multinational’s affiliate within walking distance correlates with an increase in employment of about +4% with respect to the sample mean. Multinationals’ activity is correlated with higher off–farm and lower on–farm employment (+13% and -7%, respectively), a result driven by affiliates of foreign companies. Female employment and “good jobs” increase around affiliates, but only when they are part of foreign groups. A battery of robustness checks and a retrospective analysis exploiting time variation in the individual labor market entry deliver qualitatively similar results, suggesting our findings do not suffer major identification issues.

Partners: University of Bologna, University of Milano Bicocca

Start/End date: 2023-2025

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola (coordinator), Alessandro Saia, Riccardo Ghidoni

Goal: The project develops a novel experimental design to explore how perceived ancestral origins (i.e., the alleged place of origin of their own ancestry) drive individual preferences about conflict and cooperation in a diverse society. Misperceptions about the lack of diversity in the ancestral origins are largely driven by historical ancestral narratives (ancestral myths) (Smith, 1984). The project goal is to carry out an experimental survey, combined with the use of Genetic Ancestry Tests (GATs), to investigate the following research questions: what is the role of ethnic identity and ancestral roots in explaining cooperation among individuals from different ethnic groups? How large is the gap between actual and perceived ancestral origins? Is it possible to foster between-group cooperation by reducing this gap?

Partner: University of Milano Bicocca

Start/End date: 2023-2024

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola (coordinator), Andrea Guariso.

Goal: The project investigates the role of Global Competencies in the current landscape of education and their increasing relevance in preparing individuals for a successful life in today’s rapidly changing, interconnected world. Traditionally, the assessment of educational quality and student success has focused on learning outcomes. Yet, this approach captures only a fraction of what it means to be ready to thrive in today’s diverse and dynamic environments. Skills like cultural awareness, effective communication, critical thinking, and the ability to engage with people from different backgrounds are increasingly recognized as essential for personal and societal success. These competencies enhance employability in the global economy and foster social responsibility, ethical engagement with global issues, and adaptability.

Funding Institution: UNDP-  Africa Borderland Center (ABC)

Partner: University of Milano Bicocca

Start/End date: 2021 – 2022

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola, Stefano Tarroni

Goals: The project’s aim is to shed light, through rigorous evidence, on the nature and magnitude of Strengths and vulnerabilities of borderland communities in Africa. Detailed consultancy to a recent UNDP report cats light on current challenges of rising forced displacement, intensified climate change, increased violence and conflicts among rural communities living in Africa’s borderland regions.

Partner: Université Paris-Sud, Paris School of Economics, University of Bern

Start/End date: 2019 – 2021

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola, Margherita Comola, Carla Inguaggiato

Goals: In this project, we study the role of social learning in the diffusion of cash crops in a resettled village economy in Northeast of Brazil. We combine geo-localized data on farming plots with dyadic first-hand data on social ties among settlers, and we leverage natural exogenous variation in the network formation induced by the land occupation movement and agrarian reform. By using longitudinal data on farming decisions over 16 years we find consistent evidence of learning through network lines in the adoption decision of new cash fruits (soursop, pineapple and passion fruit). Our results point to the innovative element of Brazilian agrarian reform, which does not only provide access to land but especially the mobilization of people with different background from different parts of the country and the links among them.

Official website: http://www.3ieimpact.org/en/evidence/impact-evaluations/details/5600/

Funding Institution: International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie)

Partner: IFAD (Rome), University of Makerere (Uganda), ILRI (Kenya), Oklahoma State University (US), Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda.

Start/End date: 2015 – 2020

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola, Jacopo Bonan, William Ekere, Federico Maggio, Harounan Kazianga, Alessio Romarri, Franklin Simtowe

Goals: The project’s aim is to shed light, through rigorous evidence, on the nature and magnitude of the frictions that slow down agricultural technology adoption in low-income contexts. For this purpose, the project is evaluating the impact of a large-scale IFAD-supported agricultural development project by employing an experimental design, which encompasses the randomization of the extension services provision across rural geographical districts in Eastern and Northern Uganda.

 

Official website: http://www.theigc.org/project/subjective-expectations-labour-market-choices-and-migration-among-university-students-in-mozambique/

Funding Institution: International Growth Centre (IGC)

Partner: Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Eduardo MondlaneUniversity (Maputo)

Start/End date: September 2016 – March 2018

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola (Principal Investigator), Luigi Minale (Co-PI), Ines Raimundo (Co-I, local partner), Alessio Romarri

Goals: This project aims at investigating the role of subjective expectations about employment and earnings in influencing occupational and migration choices of university students in Mozambique. To do so, the project includes an original and detailed survey data collection in two major universities in Mozambique, namely the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) and the Universidade Politecnica, both in Maputo. The final objective of this research is to shed new light on the determinants of the skill-mismatch in the youth labour market in Mozambique (similarly to other African countries) and the decision of many high-skilled young people to migrate abroad.

Funding Institution: Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Rome)

Partners: ICID-University of Tor Vergata (Rome), Coordinator

Start/End date: 2016-2017

LdA Researchers: Mariapia Mendola, Alessio Romarri

Goal: The Report, prepared by a team led by Furio C. Rosati (ICID), has been developed within the framework of the Migration Compact, the document of the Government of Italy that calls for systematic and scaled-up efforts in the management of international migration flows, in close partnership with countries of origin. The Report presents and discusses an array of policies that can be implemented in the countries of origin to help turn the challenge of migration into an opportunity for source and destination countries alike.