We examine the impact of natural disasters on economic growth by applying a synthetic control approach. In contrast to previous literature, we adopt a within-country perspective, which allows us to use richer and more comparable data and to better define the geographic area hit by the disaster....

The paper investigates the effect of local electoral rules on the political participation of the residents, as reflected in voter turnout. It focuses on Italy, where municipal voting schemes are differentiated by the size of the city: a single ballot system applies to municipalities with less...