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 Sabrina Di Addario (Bank of Italy) for this session.

Sabrina Di Addario is an Economist in the Economic History Division of the Department of Economics at the Bank of Italy. Her research spans economic history, labour economics, urban economics, and innovation, with particular attention to employment protection, agglomeration effects, job search, and the role of institutions in shaping labour market outcomes. Her work has been published in leading journals including the Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Urban Economics, and Labour Economics.

Event Topic:

Shedding Light on Inventors in Italy

I will present two papers using a novel dataset linking Social Security employment records in Italy to patent applications, following individuals and firms for more than 20 years (1987-2009). The first paper estimates individual returns to patenting and finds that inventors’ wages reach a peak around the time of submission to the European Patent Office and subsequently decline. It also obtains that the applications that will eventually lead to a granted patent receive a greater wage increase than those that will not. Finally, it uses an event study framework to distinguish among inventor-types and finds that the “star inventors” (the employees submitting at least three times in their life) receive a lasting wage premium, while the employees with one or two submissions stop receiving the premium after the application date, in line with the “unobserved ability” literature.

The second paper investigates firm heterogeneity in identifying inventor talent and rewarding inventors for patent applications. It finds substantial firm heterogeneity in the rate at which employees become inventors. Young workers are less likely to apply for their first patents at a lower-wage firm. The gap between firms disappears, however, for experienced inventors. Upon the initial patent application, young workers receive a 5-9 log-point wage increase.

Event Details:

Date: 28 April 2026
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]