Research

Corruption concerns the abuse and misuse of public resources for private gains. Corruption has detrimental effects both on democracy, by eroding trust in government and undermining the social contract, and on economic growth, by impeding investment. Our expertise relates to the effects of corruption on the political arena and voters’ reaction to corrupt incumbents. We are also interested in evaluating the effects of anti-corruption policies.

Crime is inherently an economic phenomenon, as individuals decide whether to commit a crime or not by weighing its expected benefits against its expected costs. What is the effect of economic recessions on criminal activity? Does immigration cause crime? What is the effect of legalizations on immigrants’ propensity to commit crimes? These are some of the questions that we try to answer when studying crime through the lens of economics.

Money laundering is a crucial activity for criminals, which allows drug traffickers, smugglers, and other criminals to expand their operations. Among its negative effects, money laundering transfers economic power from the market, government, and citizens to criminals, representing a dynamic challenge for the world community. We are specifically interested in understanding the evolving dynamics of the money laundering market and in investigating policies that might help States to design better financial supervision.

Criminal organizations and transnational criminal groups pose a growing threat to national and international security, with substantial implications for public safety, democracy, and economic stability across the globe. Our expertise focuses on criminal organizations in Italy and Latin America. We are interested in studying the causes and the consequence of organized crime on our societies and in evaluating the effects of anti-organized crime policies.