The effects of global warming are manifesting much in advance than previous forecasts. The formation of “climate extremes” such as drought, tornadoes, heavy precipitations and heat waves are the most concerning issue of global warming as their frequency, duration and intensity have dramatically increased over the last 5 years in a scenario that is becoming the ``new norm''. While there is an urgency for a policy response, a tighter environmental regulation is difficult to achieve, especially in advanced economies, where the marginal cost of additional regulation is higher and difficult to be accepted by firms and consumers who are not directly exposed to climate risks. Still, climate extremes are increasingly manifesting in several EU countries, with Italy being one of the most affected regions. As a consequence, policy makers are struggling to find an effective strategy to rapidly adapt to the “new abnormal” and strengthen resilience of the socio-economic systems. Yet, recent evidence shows that policy action against climate change increases when the local population is directly exposed to climate risks. More informed and aware individuals would thus induce policy makers to take a more effective action but little evidence exists on this issue.This project investigates the causal effect of extreme weather events in Italy on two relevant dimensions: the damages generated and the individual involvement in addressing climate challenges at a local level. For the first dimension, it considers several outcomes such as public expenditures for recovery, health data and different proxies of local economic activities to capture several aspects of the damages associated with climate extremes. The second dimension of the analysis relies on big data from social networks to examine how the local population responds to climate extremes, following the hypothesis that “climate awareness” and the population involvement increases as climate change manifests its effects. Especially in relatively less-exposed areas, individuals hit by climate extremes are expected to react on their social networks, disseminating information about risks and consequences of climate disasters, increasing the awareness and response of the local population and policy makers. This mechanism would increase the acceptability of new environmental regulation, reducing the gap between informed individuals and those with weaker beliefs, who represent a barrier to a more effective climate action. The project employs three main data sources. First, daily georeferenced data on extreme events are obtained from the European Severe Storms Laboratory. Second, data on local effects include damage estimates (Protezione Civile and ISPRA), health outcomes (e.G. ISTAT mortality data, hospital dismissions), proxies of economic outcomes (e.G. Electricity consumption). Third, for the analysis of individual response, the project employs big data from social networks (Twitter and Facebook). Empirical methods rely on state-of-the-art causal inference techniques for suitable identification strategies (e.G. Event study analyses, diff-in-diffs and regression discontinuity) by exploiting exogenous variation of the climate extremes in a setting characterized by a granular geographical level and a high time frequency.

The successful candidate should have a strong background of applied economic studies and public economics, including some introductory knowledge of environmental economics. In addition, the candidate should have an intermediate level of econometric skills and a strong attitude in data manipulation (including large geo-referenced micro-data databases). A a good command of common statistical softwares for data analysis would be a key asset (R or Stata).

The research will be carried out within the Social Sciences Area (SSA) of the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI), located in L’Aquila.The SSA team is made up of about 20 researchers actively involved in the GSSI mission of carrying out frontier research and high-level doctoral education in Regional Science and Economic Geography. The Area offers a 4-year International PhD Program, whose faculty includes international scholars and relevant courses for the research project at stake and for the National PhD Program in Sustainable Development and Climate Change (https://www.Gssi.It/education/regional-science-economic-geography).The SSA is engaged with five research tracks: i) Inner Areas and Peripheral Development; ii) Disasters and Regional Resilience; iii) Human Capital, Migration and Local Labour Markets; iii) Culture, Tourism and Regional Urban Development; iv) Regional Policy Evaluation and Local Urban Governance; v) Business, Innovation and Environmental Sustainability Within and Across Regions. The research project at stake will mainly refers to research track v) and to research tracks iv and ii) to a lesser extent.The candidate will have the opportunity to interact with PhD students of the house, and to get advised by top-scholars in climate change economics who will be involved as a part of the PhD program in a truly interdisciplinary environment along with the other GSSI areas (Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science). Additional advising and visiting opportunities may come from the following top-scholars: prof. Olivier Deschenes (UC Santa Barbara and IZA), prof. Claudia Persico (American University), prof. Joshua Graff Zivin (UC San Diego).