The RFBerlin Applied Economics Seminar series brings leading researchers to Berlin to share their latest work and engage with our community. We are pleased to welcome Paolo Pinotti (Bocconi University) for this session, where he will share his work.

For this event, we are delighted to welcome Paolo Pinotti, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Economics in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at Bocconi University, where he also holds the Endowed Chair in the Economic Analysis of Crime. He is the founder and lead researcher of the CLEAN Unit on the Economic Analysis of Crime at the Baffi-Carefin Centre, and serves as an Associate Editor at the American Economic Journal: Economic Policy. Professor Pinotti is also a Research Fellow and Affiliate of RFBerlin and CEPR.

Event Topic:

Family connections, nepotism, and political bargaining

This paper studies nepotism as tool for rent-extraction and for the exchange of political favors. We do so in the context of Brazilian municipalities using detailed population data on family links, electoral candidates and employment. First, using a RD design based on close elections, we document that the election of mayors and councilors significantly improves their relatives’ employment outcomes. This effect is explained by the take up of public jobs and drives the selection of less skilled individuals into the public sector. Second, we provide evidence consistent with the idea that mayors allocate public jobs to the relatives of opposition councilors in exchange for their political support.

Event Details:

Date: 25 September 2025
Time: 14:00–15:15

Participation: the seminar is open to the public and targeted to an academic audience.

If you have any questions or need further information, feel free to contact us using the form or email us at [email protected]