Matteo Cervellati
Biographic Data
| ID | 5731392 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Matteo Cervellati |
| GIVEN NAMES | Matteo |
| FAMILY NAME | Cervellati |
| SIGNATURE | CERVELLATI M |
| AFFILIATIONS | IZA - Institute of Labor Economics |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0018-9005 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 20 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2005 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Health interventions do not cause Malthusian conflict dynamics: Evidence from the expansion of HIV treatment in Africa
Recent research concludes that health improvements in the 20th century caused a surge in social conflict by accelerating population growth. Rationalized by Malthusian population dynamics, this indicates a potential trade-off for world-wide health initiatives, especially in conflict-prone regions. Here, we re-investigate this question with fine-grained contemporary data. After conceptualizing the chain of mechanisms that links health-driven popula…
Income, Democracy, and Growth: Reconciling Evidence and Theory
The relation between income and democracy remains debated, empirically and theoretically. We propose a broader perspective that goes beyond a uni-directional and monocausal interpretation of the income-democracy nexus by focusing on the neglected role of the transition from economic stagnation to sustained growth. We illustrate our argument with an integrated model of long-run growth and democratisation that delivers two general insights. First, …
Medication against conflict
Adverse health conditions and social conflict constitute major impediments for developing countries. The potential for reducing social conflict by successful public health interventions is largely unknown. This paper closes this gap by evaluating the effect of a major health intervention—the successful expansion of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Combining exogenous time variation in access to ART with cro…
Epidemic Shocks and Civil Violence: Evidence from Malaria Outbreaks in Africa
This paper presents the first systematic investigation of the effect of epidemic shocks on civil violence. The identification exploits exogenous within cell × year variation in conditions that are suitable for malaria transmission using a panel database with month-by-month variation at a resolution of 1∘×1∘ latitude/longitude for Africa. Suitable conditions increase civil violence in areas with populations susceptible to epidemic outbreaks. The e…
Malaria and Chinese economic activities in Africa
We present novel evidence for the influence of malaria exposure on the geographic location of Chinese economic activities in Africa. The hypothesis is based on the observation that many Chinese aid projects and infrastructure contractors rely on Chinese personnel. High malaria exposure might constitute an important impediment to their employment and productivity. Combining data on Chinese aid and construction projects with geo-localized informati…
Demographic Change and Long-Run Development
Caste Systems and Technology in Premodern Societies
This chapter sheds new light on the effects of social institutions on long-run development. In particular, it explores the impact of caste systems during the early phases of economic and demographic development through how the systems influenced the possibilities for labor specialization. Based on data for precolonial social organization across different ethnicities, the chapter provides novel evidence that supports the hypothesis that caste syst…
Demographic Change and Long-Run Development
Pathogens, Weather Shocks and Civil Conflicts
This paper documents a statistically strong and quantitatively relevant effect of high exposure to infectious diseases on the risk of civil conflicts. The analysis exploits data on the presence and endemicity of multi-host vector-transmitted pathogens in a country, which is closely related to geo-climatic conditions due to the specific features of these pathogens. Exploiting withincountry variation over time shows that this effect of pathogen exp…
Demographic dynamics and long-run development: Insights for the secular stagnation debate
Life expectancy and economic growth: The role of the demographic transition
Work values, endogenous sentiments redistribution
Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions and Development
This article studies the endogenous evolution of economic and political institutions and the interdependencies with the process of economic development. Favourable economic institutions in the form of a state of law and absence of societal conflict arise in equilibrium. Democracies are neither necessary nor sufficient to implement a state of law, even if they may be instrumental. Efficient oligarchies can emerge and persist supported by the conse…
Human Capital Formation, Life Expectancy, and the Process of Development
We provide a unified theory of the transition in income, life expectancy, education, and population size from a nondeveloped environment to sustained growth. Individuals optimally trade off the time cost of education with its lifetime returns. Initially, low longevity implies a prohibitive cost for human capital formation for most individuals. A positive feedback loop between human capital and increasing longevity, triggered by endogenous skill-b…
Pathogens, Weather Shocks and Civil Conflicts
This paper documents a statistically strong and quantitatively relevant effect of high exposure to infectious diseases on the risk of civil conflicts. The analysis exploits data on the presence and endemicity of multi-host vector-transmitted pathogens in a country, which is closely related to geo-climatic conditions due to the specific features of these pathogens. Exploiting withincountry variation over time shows that this effect of pathogen exp…
Demographic dynamics and long-run development: Insights for the secular stagnation debate
Malaria and Chinese economic activities in Africa
We present novel evidence for the influence of malaria exposure on the geographic location of Chinese economic activities in Africa. The hypothesis is based on the observation that many Chinese aid projects and infrastructure contractors rely on Chinese personnel. High malaria exposure might constitute an important impediment to their employment and productivity. Combining data on Chinese aid and construction projects with geo-localized informati…
Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions and Development
This article studies the endogenous evolution of economic and political institutions and the interdependencies with the process of economic development. Favourable economic institutions in the form of a state of law and absence of societal conflict arise in equilibrium. Democracies are neither necessary nor sufficient to implement a state of law, even if they may be instrumental. Efficient oligarchies can emerge and persist supported by the conse…
Medication against conflict
Adverse health conditions and social conflict constitute major impediments for developing countries. The potential for reducing social conflict by successful public health interventions is largely unknown. This paper closes this gap by evaluating the effect of a major health intervention—the successful expansion of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Combining exogenous time variation in access to ART with cro…
Human Capital Formation, Life Expectancy, and the Process of Development
We provide a unified theory of the transition in income, life expectancy, education, and population size from a nondeveloped environment to sustained growth. Individuals optimally trade off the time cost of education with its lifetime returns. Initially, low longevity implies a prohibitive cost for human capital formation for most individuals. A positive feedback loop between human capital and increasing longevity, triggered by endogenous skill-b…
Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions and Development
This article studies the endogenous evolution of economic and political institutions and the interdependencies with the process of economic development. Favourable economic institutions in the form of a state of law and absence of societal conflict arise in equilibrium. Democracies are neither necessary nor sufficient to implement a state of law, even if they may be instrumental. Efficient oligarchies can emerge and persist supported by the conse…
Work values, endogenous sentiments redistribution
Life expectancy and economic growth: The role of the demographic transition
Demographic dynamics and long-run development: Insights for the secular stagnation debate
Demographic Change and Long-Run Development
Caste Systems and Technology in Premodern Societies
This chapter sheds new light on the effects of social institutions on long-run development. In particular, it explores the impact of caste systems during the early phases of economic and demographic development through how the systems influenced the possibilities for labor specialization. Based on data for precolonial social organization across different ethnicities, the chapter provides novel evidence that supports the hypothesis that caste syst…
Demographic Change and Long-Run Development
Pathogens, Weather Shocks and Civil Conflicts
This paper documents a statistically strong and quantitatively relevant effect of high exposure to infectious diseases on the risk of civil conflicts. The analysis exploits data on the presence and endemicity of multi-host vector-transmitted pathogens in a country, which is closely related to geo-climatic conditions due to the specific features of these pathogens. Exploiting withincountry variation over time shows that this effect of pathogen exp…
Malaria and Chinese economic activities in Africa
We present novel evidence for the influence of malaria exposure on the geographic location of Chinese economic activities in Africa. The hypothesis is based on the observation that many Chinese aid projects and infrastructure contractors rely on Chinese personnel. High malaria exposure might constitute an important impediment to their employment and productivity. Combining data on Chinese aid and construction projects with geo-localized informati…
Epidemic Shocks and Civil Violence: Evidence from Malaria Outbreaks in Africa
This paper presents the first systematic investigation of the effect of epidemic shocks on civil violence. The identification exploits exogenous within cell × year variation in conditions that are suitable for malaria transmission using a panel database with month-by-month variation at a resolution of 1∘×1∘ latitude/longitude for Africa. Suitable conditions increase civil violence in areas with populations susceptible to epidemic outbreaks. The e…
Medication against conflict
Adverse health conditions and social conflict constitute major impediments for developing countries. The potential for reducing social conflict by successful public health interventions is largely unknown. This paper closes this gap by evaluating the effect of a major health intervention—the successful expansion of anti-retroviral therapy (ART) to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa. Combining exogenous time variation in access to ART with cro…
Income, Democracy, and Growth: Reconciling Evidence and Theory
The relation between income and democracy remains debated, empirically and theoretically. We propose a broader perspective that goes beyond a uni-directional and monocausal interpretation of the income-democracy nexus by focusing on the neglected role of the transition from economic stagnation to sustained growth. We illustrate our argument with an integrated model of long-run growth and democratisation that delivers two general insights. First, …
Health interventions do not cause Malthusian conflict dynamics: Evidence from the expansion of HIV treatment in Africa
Recent research concludes that health improvements in the 20th century caused a surge in social conflict by accelerating population growth. Rationalized by Malthusian population dynamics, this indicates a potential trade-off for world-wide health initiatives, especially in conflict-prone regions. Here, we re-investigate this question with fine-grained contemporary data. After conceptualizing the chain of mechanisms that links health-driven popula…
Economics (10 works) · Development economics (7 works) · Political science (6 works) · Geography (5 works) · Population (5 works) · Demographic economics (4 works) · Economic growth (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Biology (3 works) · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies (3 works)