The ongoing energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energies could have contrasting effects on African economies, particularly through increased extrac- tion of metals critical to this transition. This paper describes the opportunities and challenges posed by the development of...

Families often play a significant role in representative democracies. In this paper, we test the extent to which dynastic and non-dynastic leaders differ in their policy making. Our empirical analysis focuses on local politics in Italy, using a large sample of mayors and mayoral candidates in...

Global commodity prices spikes can have strong macroeconomic effects, particularly in developing countries. This paper estimates the global commodity prices pass-through to consumer price inflation in Africa. Our sample includes monthly data for 48 countries over the period 2002m02–2021m04. We...

Can a small scale inflow of migrants affect electoral outcomes? We study whether the relocation of migrants from the Calais “Jungle” to temporary migrant-centers (CAOs) in France affected the results of the 2017 presidential election. Using an instrumental variables approach that relies on...

Women are under-represented in politics. In this paper, we test one of the frequently given explanations for this puzzle: gender bias from voters. We use a natural experiment during the French Départementales elections of 2015: for the first time in this country, candidates had to run by pairs,...

Families often play a significant role in representative democracies. In this paper, we test the extent to which dynastic and non-dynastic leaders differ in their policy making. Our empirical analysis focuses on local politics in Italy, using a large sample of mayors and mayoral candidates in...

In this paper, we provide a wide set of results which point toward a better understanding of the role of political dynasties in representative democracies. Our empirical analysis focuses on local politics in Italy, using a large sample of mayors and mayoral candidates in the period 1998-2012. We...

The role of financial crises in boosting populism has been well documented. Yet the specific mechanisms through which this occurs remain elusive. This paper studies how populist candidacies were fueled by a public financial scandal, triggered by market volatility and financial deregulation....