Maria Laura Di Tommaso
Biographic Data
| ID | 5805863 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maria Laura Di Tommaso |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maria Laura |
| FAMILY NAME | Di Tommaso |
| SIGNATURE | DI TOMMASO M L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Turin |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4626-0508 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 77 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
A lost generation? The impact of Covid-19 on high school students’ achievements
This paper estimates the effect of a full year of the Covid-19 pandemic on school performance in Italy, focusing on students at the end of upper secondary school who are about to enter the labour market or start university without having had the opportunity to recover. Using longitudinal data from standardised tests for the student population nationwide, we use difference-in-differences models to analyse the performance of two cohorts of students…
Tackling the gender gap in mathematics with active learning methodologies
Gender gaps in mathematics are at the root of gender differences in human capital accumulation, but the role of teaching practices on such gaps has been underinvestigated. We implement a teaching methodology to improve children's mathematical skills and evaluate the causal effect of the intervention on the gender gap in mathematics in Italy with a randomised controlled trial. The methodology, grounded in active and cooperative learning, focuses o…
Do Men Care? Estimating Men’s Preferences for Spending Time with Their Children
Is the time men use on childcare and household work the result of preferences or cultural, institutional and economic constraints? Can such constraints be measured when we only observe men's choices (functionings) but not their capabilities? Using a random utility model together with stochastic specifications of the probability of having different capabilities, this paper shows that it is possible to distinguish between preferences and capabiliti…
Going Beyond Test Scores
This paper investigates the relationship between gender, attitudes, and test scores in mathematics. The study argues that measures of children’s capability in mathematics must include some indicators of attitudes toward the subject. These are particularly important when analyzing gender gaps because attitudes toward mathematics differ by gender. To this end, the study first analyzes the gender gap in attitudes and test scores separately using sch…
The increase of the gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis
Sex Work and Trafficking
This contribution examines how feminist economists have conceptualized sex work and trafficking through the lens of agency and stigma. The ongoing debate about legalization has focused on sex workers’ agency and choice, and on the role of stigma in shaping the supply of and demand for sex work. Building on the analysis advanced by contributions to this special issue, this study contends that theoretical and policy debates about sex work are domin…
Men buying sex. Differences between urban and rural areas in the UK
We build on both our theoretical and empirical work on modelling the demand for paid sex (Della Giusta et al., 2009a, 2009b) and examine the demand for paid sex, considering the effects of risky behaviours and attitudes to relationships and to women on demand. We find that those who declare to have purchased sex have both different socio-demographics (older, with fewer children, more educated but with lower professional status), and different sex…
Stigma and Risky Behaviors among Male Clients of Sex Workers in the UK
Building on existing theoretical work on sex markets, this study uses data from the 2001 British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) to replicate the analysis of the demand for paid sex. It formally tests the effects of attitudes, risky behaviors, and personal characteristics of a sample of men on the demand for paid sex. Previous theoretical work argues that stigma plays a fundamental role in determining both demand and r…
Education Capability
The Impact of Gender Quotas on Votes for Women Candidates
To explore the impact of quotas on women's political representation, this study estimates a conditional multinomial logit for the probability of voting for men and women, utilizing data that includes all regional candidates in four Italian regions in 1995 and 2000. This regional electoral system allows voters to choose both the party and the specific candidate (open-list proportional system). The results show that the introduction of a 50 percent…
Gender Differences in Italian Children's Capabilities
This paper analyzes children's well-being using the capability approach, with a special focus on gender differences. The two areas analyzed are the capability of senses, imagination, and thought; and the capability of play. Using data from the 2008 Multipurpose Survey on Daily Life released by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, a structural equation model is estimated in which the capabilities are defined as latent variables that are i…
Sex Work, Mobility and Health in Europe
Sex Work, Mobility and Health in Europe, edited by Sophie Day and Helen Ward. London: Kegan Paul, 2004. 300 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-7103-0942-6, ISBN-10: 0-71030-942-2 (hbk.). US$127.50/UK£65.00. In the
Who is watching? The market for prostitution services
Home Grown or Imported? Initial Conditions, External Anchors and the Determinants of Institutional Reform in the Transition Economies
In this article we examine the determinants of institutional change using a panel dataset comprising 25 transition economies. A defining characteristic of our approach is that we treat institutional change as a multidimensional unobserved variable, accounting for the fact that each of our indicators represents a noisy signal. Our results suggest that institutional change is significantly path dependent. However, policy can to some extent break th…
Who is watching? The market for prostitution services
Sex Work and Trafficking
This contribution examines how feminist economists have conceptualized sex work and trafficking through the lens of agency and stigma. The ongoing debate about legalization has focused on sex workers’ agency and choice, and on the role of stigma in shaping the supply of and demand for sex work. Building on the analysis advanced by contributions to this special issue, this study contends that theoretical and policy debates about sex work are domin…
Gender Differences in Italian Children's Capabilities
This paper analyzes children's well-being using the capability approach, with a special focus on gender differences. The two areas analyzed are the capability of senses, imagination, and thought; and the capability of play. Using data from the 2008 Multipurpose Survey on Daily Life released by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, a structural equation model is estimated in which the capabilities are defined as latent variables that are i…
Home Grown or Imported? Initial Conditions, External Anchors and the Determinants of Institutional Reform in the Transition Economies
In this article we examine the determinants of institutional change using a panel dataset comprising 25 transition economies. A defining characteristic of our approach is that we treat institutional change as a multidimensional unobserved variable, accounting for the fact that each of our indicators represents a noisy signal. Our results suggest that institutional change is significantly path dependent. However, policy can to some extent break th…
The Impact of Gender Quotas on Votes for Women Candidates
To explore the impact of quotas on women's political representation, this study estimates a conditional multinomial logit for the probability of voting for men and women, utilizing data that includes all regional candidates in four Italian regions in 1995 and 2000. This regional electoral system allows voters to choose both the party and the specific candidate (open-list proportional system). The results show that the introduction of a 50 percent…
Going Beyond Test Scores
This paper investigates the relationship between gender, attitudes, and test scores in mathematics. The study argues that measures of children’s capability in mathematics must include some indicators of attitudes toward the subject. These are particularly important when analyzing gender gaps because attitudes toward mathematics differ by gender. To this end, the study first analyzes the gender gap in attitudes and test scores separately using sch…
Men buying sex. Differences between urban and rural areas in the UK
We build on both our theoretical and empirical work on modelling the demand for paid sex (Della Giusta et al., 2009a, 2009b) and examine the demand for paid sex, considering the effects of risky behaviours and attitudes to relationships and to women on demand. We find that those who declare to have purchased sex have both different socio-demographics (older, with fewer children, more educated but with lower professional status), and different sex…
Stigma and Risky Behaviors among Male Clients of Sex Workers in the UK
Building on existing theoretical work on sex markets, this study uses data from the 2001 British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) to replicate the analysis of the demand for paid sex. It formally tests the effects of attitudes, risky behaviors, and personal characteristics of a sample of men on the demand for paid sex. Previous theoretical work argues that stigma plays a fundamental role in determining both demand and r…
Education Capability
Sex Work, Mobility and Health in Europe
Sex Work, Mobility and Health in Europe, edited by Sophie Day and Helen Ward. London: Kegan Paul, 2004. 300 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-7103-0942-6, ISBN-10: 0-71030-942-2 (hbk.). US$127.50/UK£65.00. In the
Sex Work, Mobility and Health in Europe
Sex Work, Mobility and Health in Europe, edited by Sophie Day and Helen Ward. London: Kegan Paul, 2004. 300 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0-7103-0942-6, ISBN-10: 0-71030-942-2 (hbk.). US$127.50/UK£65.00. In the
Who is watching? The market for prostitution services
Home Grown or Imported? Initial Conditions, External Anchors and the Determinants of Institutional Reform in the Transition Economies
In this article we examine the determinants of institutional change using a panel dataset comprising 25 transition economies. A defining characteristic of our approach is that we treat institutional change as a multidimensional unobserved variable, accounting for the fact that each of our indicators represents a noisy signal. Our results suggest that institutional change is significantly path dependent. However, policy can to some extent break th…
The Impact of Gender Quotas on Votes for Women Candidates
To explore the impact of quotas on women's political representation, this study estimates a conditional multinomial logit for the probability of voting for men and women, utilizing data that includes all regional candidates in four Italian regions in 1995 and 2000. This regional electoral system allows voters to choose both the party and the specific candidate (open-list proportional system). The results show that the introduction of a 50 percent…
Gender Differences in Italian Children's Capabilities
This paper analyzes children's well-being using the capability approach, with a special focus on gender differences. The two areas analyzed are the capability of senses, imagination, and thought; and the capability of play. Using data from the 2008 Multipurpose Survey on Daily Life released by the Italian National Institute of Statistics, a structural equation model is estimated in which the capabilities are defined as latent variables that are i…
Education Capability
Stigma and Risky Behaviors among Male Clients of Sex Workers in the UK
Building on existing theoretical work on sex markets, this study uses data from the 2001 British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (Natsal) to replicate the analysis of the demand for paid sex. It formally tests the effects of attitudes, risky behaviors, and personal characteristics of a sample of men on the demand for paid sex. Previous theoretical work argues that stigma plays a fundamental role in determining both demand and r…
Sex Work and Trafficking
This contribution examines how feminist economists have conceptualized sex work and trafficking through the lens of agency and stigma. The ongoing debate about legalization has focused on sex workers’ agency and choice, and on the role of stigma in shaping the supply of and demand for sex work. Building on the analysis advanced by contributions to this special issue, this study contends that theoretical and policy debates about sex work are domin…
Men buying sex. Differences between urban and rural areas in the UK
We build on both our theoretical and empirical work on modelling the demand for paid sex (Della Giusta et al., 2009a, 2009b) and examine the demand for paid sex, considering the effects of risky behaviours and attitudes to relationships and to women on demand. We find that those who declare to have purchased sex have both different socio-demographics (older, with fewer children, more educated but with lower professional status), and different sex…
The increase of the gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis
Going Beyond Test Scores
This paper investigates the relationship between gender, attitudes, and test scores in mathematics. The study argues that measures of children’s capability in mathematics must include some indicators of attitudes toward the subject. These are particularly important when analyzing gender gaps because attitudes toward mathematics differ by gender. To this end, the study first analyzes the gender gap in attitudes and test scores separately using sch…
Do Men Care? Estimating Men’s Preferences for Spending Time with Their Children
Is the time men use on childcare and household work the result of preferences or cultural, institutional and economic constraints? Can such constraints be measured when we only observe men's choices (functionings) but not their capabilities? Using a random utility model together with stochastic specifications of the probability of having different capabilities, this paper shows that it is possible to distinguish between preferences and capabiliti…
Tackling the gender gap in mathematics with active learning methodologies
Gender gaps in mathematics are at the root of gender differences in human capital accumulation, but the role of teaching practices on such gaps has been underinvestigated. We implement a teaching methodology to improve children's mathematical skills and evaluate the causal effect of the intervention on the gender gap in mathematics in Italy with a randomised controlled trial. The methodology, grounded in active and cooperative learning, focuses o…
A lost generation? The impact of Covid-19 on high school students’ achievements
This paper estimates the effect of a full year of the Covid-19 pandemic on school performance in Italy, focusing on students at the end of upper secondary school who are about to enter the labour market or start university without having had the opportunity to recover. Using longitudinal data from standardised tests for the student population nationwide, we use difference-in-differences models to analyse the performance of two cohorts of students…
Psychology (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Demographic economics (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Sex work and related issues (5 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Demography (3 works) · Demography (3 works)