About me

I am an economist working on the socioeconomic determinants of violence, the spatial investigation of deprivation, and public policy to protect vulnerable groups.

I analyse the socioeconomic determinants of human behaviours, with a strong focus on micro-regional analysis. To this regard, I have designed various proxies for measuring behaviours that cannot be captured through administrative data, exploiting Big Data, figures collected by NGOs, observatories and investigative journalists. I have investigated health-related issues such as gender violence, hit-and-run accidents, school violence in several countries (UK, Italy, US).

I also spatially investigate deprivation of vulnerable groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, women, homeless people). This implies familiarity with the extra barriers that these groups encounter in their life and choices. It also implies a detailed knowledge of the methodology to properly account for them in quantitative population studies, both in the identification of the actual barriers that they encounter and in the design of indicators.

My research has a strong policy focus, applying quasi-experimental methods as well as field work.

I have served as principal investigator in a European Commission Joint Research Center project on cities and vulnerable groups. Also, I was project investigator in the H2020 DISCE “Developing Inclusive and Sustainable Creative Economies” and post-doctoral researcher at the London School of Economics, Department of Geography and the Environment.

My PhD dissertation was awarded the 2020 Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Best Dissertation Award.