Fondazione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi Chair in Development Economics
Chair Holder: Eliana La Ferrara
Scientific Director of the Laboratory for Effective Anti-Poverty Policies (LEAP). She completed her PhD in Economics at Harvard University (1999). She was President of the Bureau for Research and Economic Analysis of Development (BREAD) in 2016-2019 and President of the European Economic Association for 2018. She is currently Program Director di Development Economics for the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). In 2020 she received the Birgit Grodal Award from the European Economic Association. She regularly collaborates with the World Bank and other international organizations to assess the effectiveness of development policies.
Joint Purpose
The Partnership that has connected the Invernizzi Foundation and Bocconi University for many years was at a crucial point in 2011, when, with great foresight, the Foundation decided to support the endowed Chair in Development Economics. It was assigned to Eliana La Ferrara, who was a Full Professor and considered an international authority in her research area, attracting a group of international researchers on the issues of development economics. The aim of the Chair – perfectly in line with the Invernizzi Foundation’s objectives and aims – is to understand the roots of poverty and allow the formulation of effective policies to oppose it. Particular focus is placed on education and social norms on family, gender and ethnicity, demonstrating how they can prove to be severe constraints on development. Important research projects related to these social issues have been conducted over the years as part of the Chair’s framework. They are often conducted alongside the Laboratory for Effective Anti-Poverty Policies (LEAP), which has been supported by the Invernizzi Foundation since its establishment, and where La Ferrara is Scientific Director.
Core Activities
Research
The Chair’s research focuses on different themes, with two areas of research from the past academic year deserving particular attention. The first concerns education in disadvantaged contexts, which was developed through TOP (Tutoring Online Project), online tutoring during the pandemic, and "Aspirations, health and ‘peer education’ in Brazil," where network analysis was used to identify the target of students to be trained as peer educators on health and sex education in schools. The second area of research concerns social norms that produce harmful effects on economic development. In recent years this has focused on female genital mutilation (FGM), a practice that is extremely harmful to women but very widespread in Africa. Of particular importance are the projects "Female Genital Cutting and the Slave Trade," which was created to investigate the historical origins of FGM, and "A stepping stone approach to understanding harmful norms," where Professor La Ferrara and her team researched whether it is preferable to encourage entirely dropping a harmful norm such as that of FGM or to propose a transition to a “moderately harmful” norm.
Communication and Dissemination
The Chair’s activities have been enriched over the years by the dissemination of Professor La Ferrara’s research results, thanks to her participation in seminars and conferences organized by prestigious academic and institutional entities.