Ricerc@Sapienza

The project proposes to investigate two main topics of the applied macroeconomic research with the aim of shedding new light on the existing empirical evidence and of enhancing the econometrical procedures related to the subject matter.
The first topic that I intend to cover with this research project relates to nowcasting techniques and mixed frequency econometrics. In the current literature, these techniques are mainly used to exploit higher-frequency regional data to produce estimates, because the official data for many key macroeconomic regional variables are released with a significant delay and only at annual frequency. In this project, I intend to implement nowcasting and mixed-frequency techniques to improve nowcasts of climate data, which can be used to produce better estimates when we use these data to study the effect of climate shocks.
The second part of the analysis will be dedicated to the study of the macroeconomic effects of climate shock. Waves of excessive heat and excessive cold can interrupt crop growth and reduce yields. Climate change is expected to have an impact on food production, food and energy prices and, finally, on the inflation. Accordingly, weather shocks may drive significant variations in agricultural and energy prices and, hence, of the business cycles. The investigation is tailored to provide empirical evidence on the impact of weather anomalies on output, prices and inflation of the Euro-Area countries. Moreover, I will investigate whether central banks should deal with climate risks, since extreme climate event can threaten also financial stability.
This project proposes to explore the subject matter in two respects: (1) enhance the study of climate shocks by implementing different econometric models, to investigate the impact of numerous types of climate shocks (e.g. droughts, rainfall) and their identification on different sectors of the economy, and (2) to explore the policy implications of climate-related risks.