Paolo Falco
Paolo Falco is an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Copenhagen, affiliated with international research networks including J-PAL, IZA@LISER, and AGAIN (AI and Growth in African Nations), among others. He is a founding member and a current board member of the International Development Economics Association (IDEA). An applied microeconomist working mainly across Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, his research uses field and lab experiments to study human behaviour in a range of contexts. The core of his work focuses on the labour market, where he has worked extensively on job-search frictions, misperceptions, and discrimination against women. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Oxford.
Selected Publications:
Abebe, G., Caria, S., Fafchamps, M., Falco, P., Franklin, S., and Quinn, S. (2021). "Anonymity or Distance? Job Search and Labour Market Exclusion in a Growing African City." Review of Economic Studies, 88(3), 1279-1310. https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa057
Caselli, M., Falco, P., and Mattera, G. (2023). "When the Stadium Goes Silent: How Crowds Affect the Performance of Discriminated Groups." Journal of Labor Economics, 41(2), 431-451. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3943174
Agneman, G., Falco, P., Joel, E., and Selejio, O. (2023). "The Material Basis of Cooperation: How Scarcity Reduces Trusting Behaviour." The Economic Journal, 133(652), 1265-1285. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueac087
Caria, S., and Falco, P. (2024). "Skeptical Employers: Experimental Evidence on Biased Beliefs Constraining Firm Growth." Review of Economics and Statistics, 106(5), 1352-1368. https://doi.org/10.1162/rest_a_01219
Chegere, M. J., Falco, P., and Menzel, A. (2024). "Social Ties at Work and Effort Choice: Experimental Evidence from Tanzania." Journal of Development Economics, 171, 103354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2024.103354
Abebe, G., Caria, S., Fafchamps, M., Falco, P., Franklin, S., Quinn, S., and Shilpi, F. (2025). "Matching Frictions and Distorted Beliefs: Evidence from a Job Fair Experiment." The Economic Journal, 135(671), 2089-2121.