Posts by Collection

Out of the Dark into the Light? Border Urban Municipalities and Eastern EU Enlargements (job market paper)

In this paper, I use the Eastern EU enlargements as a quasi-experiment to assess the impact of integration on the border areas. As such, I compare the growth of night-time light emissions in urban municipalities close to the treated borders to municipalities located in the interior of the same countries applying staggered differences-in-differences approach. I find a positive average treatment effect for urban municipalities that are part of the 2004 EU enlargement and bordering other countries of the 2004 expansion cohort. Moreover, my results indicate the importance of anticipation, as economic activity increased in the 2004 new member states near borders with EU15 before EU accession. The positive impact on the 2004 enlargement also shows the importance of market access. Smaller urban municipalities of the 2007 enlargement display an enhanced economic development in comparison to the hinterland. Also, it seems that proximity to borders made up of mountains or rivers might restrict the positive impact of EU accession for border areas.

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Growing in the Desert: A Comparative Analysis of Firms Located in Border Regions of the 2004 Enlargement

Borders can act as barriers to regional development, limiting the market potential of firms located there. Drawing on location theory Lösch (1944), which likens border regions to deserts attracting only smaller firms, this paper investigates the impact of the borders on firms in regions affected by the 2004 EU enlargement. Using firm-level data, we analyze both internalized borders and the external borders of New Member States (NMS) and their EU15 neighbors. Our results suggest lower growth of profitability for firms located in border areas between a NMS country and a EU15 country. We further find heterogeneity across firms sizes and sectors.

Who bought online during the COVID-19 pandemic? The Italian case study

The rise of digitalisation is closely linked to the expansion of B2C e-commerce, a trend significantly accelerated by the restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, movement limitations prompted a substantial shift toward online shopping, compelling quick adaptions from consumers and producers. This transformation has altered regions’ and cities’ spatial and territorial dynamics, highlighting the need for effective logistics optimisation. To address this, it is crucial to understand the profiles of e-commerce customers. The paper aims to analyse the socio-demographic and economic factors influencing the propensity to shop online in Italy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. To pursue this aim, data from the ISTAT Aspects of Everyday Life household survey are analyzed through a logit model. Results provide new insights into how the pandemic has reshaped the characteristics of online consumers, offering valuable information and recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders in the e-commerce sector.

Russia’s Wartime Economy : Measuring Regional Inequalities from Outer Space

This study examines the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 as a natural experiment to assess the impact of disrupted international market access on regional economic inequalities in Russia. Using nighttime lights data as a proxy for economic activity, we compare cities near the EU and Ukrainian borders, where market access was restricted, to cities in southern Russia, which benefited from reoriented trade networks. Our findings reveal that western border cities experienced economic decline due to reduced trade and industrial disruptions, while southern cities showed relative resilience, likely driven by increased trade with non-Western markets. These results highlight the uneven economic impact of the war, with some regions adapting while others stagnate. This study contributes to the understanding of how geopolitical shocks reshape economic geography, offering insights into the long-term consequences of trade disruptions, sanctions, and shifting supply chains on regional development.

Can money buy EU love?

Published in European Journal of Political Economy (60), 2019

We explore the role played by Cohesion Policy in the Brexit referendum and the subsequent 2017 general election. Although the UK has been a net contributor to the EU, some regions receive significant amounts of regional aid funds. We find that while Cohesion Policy is positively correlated with the remain vote, this relationship is weak. Most of the variation in the remain vote is explained by economic factors. In contrast, there is a robust negative correlation between Cohesion Policy and voter turnout. We estimate that had there not been this negative relationship, some 2 million more voters would have participated in the referendum, which is more than the winning margin between the remain and leave votes. Our analysis of the 2017 election suggests that Conservatives lost and Labour gained votes in the regions that benefited from Cohesion Policy, while remain-supporting regions showed gains for the Liberal Democrats.

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EU funds as a catalyst of change for the Slovak healthcare system?

Published in Region 9(1), 2022

In the programming period 2007-2013, the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) invested €237 million in Slovak hospitals. We investigate whether this injection of additional funds has improved the quality of healthcare in the targeted hospitals. As a measure of healthcare quality, we use the readmission rate (ratio of readmissions within 30 days over total hospitalizations) and the mortality rate. Our results show a statistically significant but small effect of ESIF on the readmission rate but not on the mortality rate. We argue that these results suggest that the main problem in Slovak healthcare is low productivity rather than a lack of funding.

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The long and winding road to find the impact of EU funds on regional growth: IV and spatial analyses

Published in Regional Studies 58(3), 2023

We contribute to the analysis of the impact of European Union funds on European regional development. We find that the European funds have a significantly positive effect on regional economic growth in the European Union. This result is obtained both with ordinary least squares (OLS), and with two-stage least squares (2SLS) using the presence of environmentally protected areas as an instrument. Furthermore, we find that interregional spillovers are important: a significant part of the favourable effect seems to take place in nearby regions rather than in the recipient region.

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Tutorials in Introduction to Macroeconomics (Travaux Dirigés Introduction à la Macroéconomie)

Tutorials, First year MIASH Bachelor Program of Université de Lille, 2024

Responsible professor: Quentin David