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ELIANA LA FERRARA

ELIANA LA FERRARA
Full Professor
Department of Economics
Chair in Development Economics

20287 Development Economics

The course’s emphasis is placed on program evaluation, on the empirical analysis of education, health and microcredit policies, and on institutional constraints to development.


Biographical note

I am the Invernizzi Chair in Development Economics at Bocconi University, Milan, where I also direct the Laboratory for Effective Anti-poverty Policies (LEAP). I received a PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1999. I was president of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) in 2016-2019 and president of the European Economic Association in 2018. I am Foreign Honorary Member of the American Economic Association and a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I am also a Fellow of the Econometric Society and of CEPR, EUDN and IGIER, and a J-PAL Affiliate.


About

My research covers topics related to development and political economics, and has been published in leading academic journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the American Economic Review, the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics and the Journal of the European Economic Association. I am the recipient of various research grants from the European Research Council (ERC) and the European Commission.


Research interests

My research focuses on Development Economics and Political Economics, particularly on the role of social factors in economic development. I have studied ethnic diversity, kin structure and social norms, aspirations, and the effects of television on social outcomes. I have also investigated political constraints to development, with particular focus on violent conflict in Africa.

Selected Publications

Alberto Alesina; Benedetta Brioschi; Eliana La Ferrara
Violence against women: a cross-cultural analysis for Africa
ECONOMICA, 2021

Fernanda Brollo; Katja Kaufmann; Eliana La Ferrara
Learning spillovers in conditional welfare programs: evidence from Brazil
ECONOMIC JOURNAL, 2020

Brollo, Fernanda; Kaufmann, Katja; La Ferrara, Eliana
The political economy of program enforcement: evidence from Brazil
JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION, 2020

Eliana La Ferrara
The media as a tool for institutional change in development
The handbook of economic development and institutions, 2020

Abhijit Banerjee; Eliana La Ferrara; Victor Orozco
Entertainment, education and attitudes towards domestic violence
AEA PAPERS AND PROCEEDINGS, 2019

La Ferrara, Eliana
Presidential address: aspirations, social norms, and development
JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION, 2019

Harari, Mariaflavia; Ferrara, Eliana La
Conflict, climate, and cells: a disaggregated analysis
THE REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS, 2018