Biography

Monica Langella is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Naples Federico II, a Research Fellow at the Center for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), and a Research Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance at the London School of Economics. Her work uses applied microeconometric methods and administrative data to study labour markets, spatial mobility, human capital, and the economic and social factors shaping individual opportunities.

Current areas of research include:

• Gender inequality and the labour market: Employment and earnings penalties associated with motherhood; Public?private sector differences in child penalties; Post-childbirth mobility across sectors; Parental leave and family-friendly employment; The role of information, institutions, and outside options in mothers? careers.
• Crime, human capital, and long-run inequality: Early-life exposure to organised and political violence; Long-term employment and earnings trajectories; Educational attainment as a mechanism linking violence to later outcomes; Intergenerational and spatial persistence of disadvantage; Administrative-data analysis of the economic consequences of crime.
• Labour market frictions and employer beliefs: Employer perceptions of worker productivity; Information frictions in recruitment and promotion; Screening, signalling, and statistical discrimination; Misallocation of workers across firms and jobs; The effects of imperfect information on hiring, wages, and career progression.
• Economics of education and mentoring: Information frictions in educational choices; Near-peer mentoring for secondary-school students; Socio-emotional skills, aspirations, and beliefs; Transitions to post-secondary education; Experimental evaluation of educational interventions.
• University access and student outcomes: Access to selective and high-ranked universities; University expansion policies; Academic performance, persistence, and course switching; Socio-economic inequalities in access to higher education; Heterogeneous effects across students and institutions.