conferences and awards

RESEARCH

working papers

Green or Greed? Unveiling the Environmental Impact of Market Consolidation on Carbon Emissions

Winner of the XII Giorgio Rota Best Paper Award

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between market concentration and environmental performance, with a particular focus on the aftermath of mergers. Drawing from foundational economic principles, I hypothesize that increased market power, typically associated with reduced output relative to competitive market conditions, could similarly influence a firm's emissions profile, potentially lowering GHG emissions. This hypothesis introduces a complex tension between two pivotal policy objectives: the reduction of emissions and the preservation of competitive market structures. Novel empirical findings suggest that mergers exhibit a comparable positive impact on environmental indicators. This insight paves the way for a broader discussion on the dual objectives of companies in merger scenarios — increasing their market power versus achieving environmental efficiency.

Greening the Red: the Relationship between Climate Risk and Corporate Financial Distress with Matilde Faralli (Imperial College London PhD student)

Abstract: This study investigates the intricate relationship between bankruptcy proceedings and climate risk. By constructing a unique dataset spanning business bankruptcies from 2000 to 2023 linked to companies' environmental indicators, we document that green and brown companies do not face different probabilities of experiencing distress and bankruptcy. However, bankrupted brown firms are more inclined to file for reorganization instead of liquidation and encounter lower bankruptcy costs. To mitigate endogeneity concerns in companies' bankruptcy decisions, we employ a randomized bankruptcy judge allocation approach to understand how bankruptcy affects firms' environmental performance. Using post-bankruptcy facility emission data, our findings show that firms undergoing reorganization tend to exhibit lower emissions when compared to their liquidated counterparts. This distinction highlights the significant but previously understudied impact that bankruptcy proceedings can have on a firm's environmental footprint, suggesting that reorganization efforts may worsen environmental performance.

Shockwaves in the Market: The Ripple Effect of Sudden Energy Spikes on Firms and Workers with Ralf Martin (ICL, IFC and CEPR) and Emilien Ravigne (Oxford University)

Abstract: This paper provides novel empirical findings on the repercussions of rising energy prices on the economy with a specific emphasis on employment, through the lens of the Cobb-Douglas production function model. In light of recent energy price surges following the 2021 energy crisis, we quantitatively assess the effects of energy price increases on job losses, examining the mitigating potential of different types of government subsidies. By using administrative UK firm level data, our analysis differentiates between scenarios with and without policy intervention, providing insights into the effectiveness of different types of subsidies in cushioning the economy and preserving employment. Preliminary results suggest that energy price hikes significantly impact labor demand, strategic government subsidies can alleviate some of these adverse effects, though not without costs. The impact seems to be more concentrated in the transport and accommodation sector and in metropolitan areas. The findings contribute to the current discussion on energy policy and resilience, providing valuable insights to the role of government in stabilizing the job market during periods of economic volatility.

work in progress

Decoding the Greenium: Heterogeneous Investor Responses to Carbon Shocks with Marina Emiris (National Bank of Belgium - NBB), Marco Valerio Geraci (NBB) and Mirabelle Muûls (Imperial College London and NBB)

policy publications

Government as Insurer of Last Resort

Download: Published version

The Balance Sheet Review Report

Download: Published version

Presented at the World Bank

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

2024: Interdisciplinary PhD Workshop in Sustainable Development (IPWSD) at Columbia University, Giorgio Rota Conference at Torino University (Planned), Comparative Analysis of Enterprise Data (CAED) at Penn State University (Planned), 6th JRC Summer School on Sustainable Finance (Planned), POID LSE Seminar (Planned), QMUL 6th PhD Conference (Planned), Paris Dauphine PhD conference (Planned), Essex Finance Centre (EFiC) 2024 Conference in Banking and Corporate Finance (Planned), EEA 2024 (Planned), EARIE 2024 (Planned)

2023: VII conference on Econometric Modelling of Climate Change, LSE/Imperial/King's Workshop in Environmental Economics

awards

2024: Winner of the Giorgio Rota award for Young Scholars in Economics

2021: Winner of the Imperial College President Scolarship

A competitive scheme for candidates showing excellent academic performance and promising research potential

teaching

Teaching Assistant to Professor Ralf Martin Imperial College London

MSc course - Business Economics, Climate Change and the Environment

Teaching Assistant to Professor Simon Quinn Imperial College London

Undergraduate course - Econometrics

refereeing

Nature and Journal of Industrial and Business Economics (ad hoc requests)

conference organising

Part of the organising committee of the Imperial PhD conference in economics and finance