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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.