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Marco Manacorda.

Marco Manacorda

Associate

Expertise: Political Economy, Labour Economics

Email:
m.manacorda@qmul.ac.uk
Connect:
Website
CV
Links:
CEP Labour
Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance

Biography

Marco Manacorda is a Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Queen Mary University of London. He is a Research Associate at CEP, a Research Fellow of CEPR, RFBerlin, IZA and CesIfo and a Founding Fellow of the Royal Economic Society. In the past, he has served as a Joint Managing Editor of The Economic Journal (2020-2024).

Current areas of research include:

  • Migration: economic and political consequences of outmigration
  • Labor and health: mental health effects of employment and unemployment, firm determinants of mental health
  • Place based policies: effect on local development

Publications

Journal article
Liberation technology: mobile phones and political mobilization in Africa

Can digital information and communication technology foster mass political mobilization? We use a novel georeferenced data set for the entire African continent between 1998 and 2012 on the coverage of mobile phone signal... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Andrea Tesei

20 March 2026

Journal article
Local labor demand and child work

This chapter uses micro data from the Brazilian Pesquisa Nacional Por Amostra de Domicilios (PNAD) between 1981 and 2002 to ascertain the role that local labor demand ? proxied by male adult employment in the area of res... Read more...

Furio Camillo Rosati and Marco Manacorda

01 December 2025

CEP discussion papers
Mobile internet and the rise of political tribalism in Europe

We study the political effects of the diffusion of mobile Internet between 2007 and 2017, using data on electoral outcomes and on mobile Internet signal across the 84,564 municipalities of 22 European countries. We find ... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Guido Tabellini and Andrea Tesei

14 October 2022

Journal article
Politics in the family: nepotism and the hiring decisions of Italian firms

This paper studies the effect of family connections to politicians on individuals' labor market outcomes. Using data for Italy spanning more than three decades on a sample of almost one million individuals plus data on t... Read more...

Stefano Gagliarducci and Marco Manacorda

01 April 2020

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Liberation technology: mobile phones and political mobilisation in Africa

Digital technologies have been widely used for political activism in recent years. In the first systematic test of their role as catalysts for political participation, Marco Manacorda and Andrea Tesei find that the growi... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Andrea Tesei

01 March 2017

Journal article
Pathways from school to work in the developing world

This paper uses novel micro data from the ILO-STWT surveys to provide evidence on the duration, endpoint, and determinants of the transition from school to work in a sample of 23 low- and middle-income countries around t... Read more...

Furio Camillo Rosati, Giuseppe Dachille, Marco Manacorda and Marco Ranzani

13 January 2017

Journal article
Pathways from school to work in the developing world

This paper uses novel micro data from the ILO-STWT surveys to provide evidence on the duration, endpoint, and determinants of the transition from school to work in a sample of 23 low- and middle-income countries around t... Read more...

Furio Camillo Rosati, Giuseppe Dachille, Marco Manacorda and Marco Razanzi

01 January 2017

Journal article
Do cash transfers improve birth outcomes? Evidence from matched vital statistics, and program and social security data

There is limited empirical evidence on whether cash transfers to poor pregnant women improve children's birth outcomes and potentially help weaken the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Using a unique array of program a... Read more...

Veronica Amarante, Marco Manacorda, Edward Miguel and Andrea Vigorito

01 May 2016

Journal article
Do cash transfers improve birth outcomes? Evidence from matched vital statistics, social security and program data

There is limited empirical evidence on whether cash transfers to poor pregnant women improve children's birth outcomes and potentially help weaken the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Using a unique array of program a... Read more...

Veronica Amarante, Marco Manacorda, Edward Miguel and Andrea Vigorito

01 May 2016

CEP discussion papers
Politics in the family: nepotism and the hiring decisions of Italian firms

In this paper we investigate the effect of family connections to politicians on individuals? labor market outcomes. We combine data for Italy over almost three decades from longitudinal social security records on a rando... Read more...

Stefano Gagliarducci and Marco Manacorda

11 April 2016

CEP discussion papers
Liberation technology: mobile phones and political mobilization in Africa

Can digital information and communication technology (ICT) foster mass political mobilization? We use a novel geo-referenced dataset for the entire African continent between 1998 and 2012 on the coverage of mobile phone ... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Andrea Tesei

18 March 2016

Journal article
Violence and birth outcomes: evidence from homicides in Brazil

This paper uses microdata from Brazilian vital statistics on births and deaths between 2000 and 2010 to estimate the impact of in-utero exposure to local violence - measured by homicide rates - on birth outcomes. The est... Read more...

Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner and Marco Manacorda

01 March 2016

CEP discussion papers
Violence and birth outcomes: evidence from homicides in Brazil

This paper uses microdata from Brazilian natality and mortality vital statistics between 2000 and 2010 to estimate the impact of in-utero exposure to local violence - measured by homicide rates - on birth outcomes. The e... Read more...

Martin Foureaux Koppensteiner and Marco Manacorda

07 January 2015

CEP occasional papers
Social policies and labor market outcomes in Latin America and the Caribbean: a review of the existing evidence

Latin America and the Caribbean have become in the last decade or so a formidable laboratory for the design and implementation of innovative social policies. In the face of an unprecedented surge in the number of non-con... Read more...

Mariano Bosch and Marco Manacorda

22 December 2012

Journal article
The cost of grade retention

This paper uses administrative longitudinal microdata on junior high school students in Uruguay to measure the effect of grade failure on students' subsequent school outcomes. Exploiting the discontinuity induced by a ru... Read more...

Marco Manacorda

01 May 2012

Journal article
School proximity and child labor: evidence from rural Tanzania

Is improved school accessibility an effective policy tool for reducing child labor in developing countries? We address this question using microdata from rural Tanzania and a regression strategy that attempts to control ... Read more...

Florence Kondylis and Marco Manacorda

09 January 2012

CEP discussion papers
Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Social Security and Program Data

There is limited empirical evidence on whether unrestricted cash social assistance to poor pregnant women improves children?s birth outcomes. Using program administrative micro-data matched to longitudinal vital statisti... Read more...

Veronica Amarante, Marco Manacorda, Edward Miguel and Andrea Vigorito

16 December 2011

Journal article
The impact of immigration on the structure of wages: theory and evidence from Britain

Immigration to the UK, particularly among more educated workers, has risen appreciably over the past 30 years and as such has raised labor supply. However studies of the impact of immigration have failed to find any sign... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth

03 October 2011

Journal article
Industrial structure and child labor evidence from the Brazilian population census

This paper uses micro data from the 1980, 1991, and 2000 population censuses to investigate the role of changes in the industry mix in accounting for the differential trends in the incidence of child work (ages 10?15) ac... Read more...

Furio Camillo Rosati and Marco Manacorda

01 July 2011

Journal article
Government transfers and political support

This paper estimates the impact of a large anti-poverty cash transfer program, the Uruguayan PANES, on political support for the government that implemented it. Using the discontinuity in program assignment based on a pr... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Edward Miguel and Andrea Vigorito

01 July 2011

Journal article
Why do most Italian youths live with their parents? Intergenerational transfers and household structure

More than 80% of Italian men aged 18?30 live with their parents. We argue that one contributing factor to this remarkably high rate of cohabitation is parents' tastes for coresidence. In order to investigate the role of ... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti

13 December 2010

CEP discussion papers
School Proximity and Child Labor Evidence from Rurul Tanzania

Is improved school accessibility an effective policy tool for reducing child labor in developing countries? We address this question using micro data from rural Tanzania and a regression strategy that attempts to control... Read more...

Florence Kondylis and Marco Manacorda

01 December 2010

CEP discussion papers
Industrial Structure and Child Labor: Evidence from the Brazilian Population Census

This paper uses micro data from the 1980, 1991 and 2000 population censuses to investigate the role of changes in the industry mix in accounting for the differential trends in the incidence of child work (ages 10-15) acr... Read more...

Furio Camillo Rosati and Marco Manacorda

01 October 2010

Journal article
Minimum wages and earnings inequality in urban Mexico

This paper analyzes the contribution of the minimum wage to the well documented rise in earnings inequality in Mexico between the late 1980s and the early 2000s. We find that a substantial part of the growth in inequalit... Read more...

Mariano Bosch and Marco Manacorda

01 October 2010

Journal article
Changes in returns to education in Latin America: the role of demand and supply of skills

Using micro data for the urban areas of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, the authors document trends in men's returns to education during the 1980s and the 1990s and estimate the role of supply and demand ... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Carolina Sanchez-Paramo and Norbert Schady

01 January 2010

CEP discussion papers
Government Transfers and Political Support

We estimate the impact of a large anti-poverty program ? the Uruguayan PANES ? on political support for the government that implemented it. The program mainly consisted of a monthly cash transfer for a period of roughly ... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Edward Miguel and Andrea Vigorito

01 March 2009

CEP discussion papers
The Cost of Grade Retention

This paper uses administrative longitudinal micro data on the universe of Junior High school students in Uruguay to measure the effect of grade failure on students' subsequent school outcomes. Exploiting the discontinuit... Read more...

Marco Manacorda

01 July 2008

CEP discussion papers
Minimum Wages and Earnings Inequality in Urban Mexico. Revisiting the Evidence

This paper explores the contribution of the minimum wage to the well documented rise in earnings inequality in Mexico between the late 1980 and the late 1990s. In contrast to the view that sees minimum wages as an ineffe... Read more...

Mariano Bosch and Marco Manacorda

01 July 2008

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
The Labour Market Effects of Immigration

What are the effects of increased immigration on the wages and employment of people who are already here, whether they are native-born or earlier immigrants? Research by Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadswor... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth

01 February 2008

Journal article
Child labor and the labor supply of other household members: evidence from 1920 America

This paper exploits the variation in the legal minimum working age across states in 1920 America in order to identify households' labor supply responses to exogenous changes in children's labor force participation. Using... Read more...

Marco Manacorda

01 December 2006

CEP discussion papers
The Impact of Immigration on the Structure of Male Wages: Theory and Evidence from Britain

Immigration to the UK has risen in the past 10 years and has had a measurable effect on the supply of different types of labour. But, existing studies of the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers in t... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Alan Manning and Jonathan Wadsworth

01 October 2006

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Child labour in 1920 urban America

When poor children are working rather than going to school, do their parents work less? And what happens to their siblings? Marco Manacorda looks for answers in the experience of child labour in urban America at the dawn... Read more...

Marco Manacorda

01 June 2006

CEP discussion papers
Changes in Returns to Education in Latin America: the Role of Demand and Supply of Skills

Changes in the relative wages of workers with different amounts of education have profound implications for developing countries, where initial levels of inequality are often very high. In this paper we use micro data fo... Read more...

Marco Manacorda, Carolina Sanchez-Paramo and Norbert Schady

01 December 2005

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Mamma's boys? Why most young Italian men live with their parents

It is a cliche that Italian children are particularly attached to their mothers, even when they're grown up. New research by Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti investigates why so many of them are still living with their... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti

01 December 2005

CEP discussion papers
Child labor and the labor supply of other household members: evidence from 1920 America

This paper analyses the effect of child labor on household labor supply using 1920 US Census micro data. The aim of the analysis is to understand who in the household benefits from child labor. In order to identify a sou... Read more...

Marco Manacorda

01 November 2003

CEP discussion papers
Intergenerational Transfers and Household Structure. Why Do Most Italian Youths Live With Their Parents?

85 percent of Italian men aged 18-33 live with their parents. We argue that Italian parents like to live with their children and a rise in their income makes it possible for them to offer their children higher consumptio... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Enrico Moretti

01 June 2002

CEP discussion papers
Just Can't Get Enough:More On Skill-Biassed Change and Labour Market Performance

It is common to hear the argument that poor labour market performance in OECD countries in recent years is the result of shifts in relative demand against less-skilled workers. But, there is much dispute about whether th... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Alan Manning

01 January 1999

CEP discussion papers
Regional Imbalances and Aggregate Performance in a Leading Sector Model of the Labour Market: An analysis of Italian data 1977-1991

This paper presents a model in which wages throughout the economy depend only on the labour market conditions in some low-unemployment sector. In equilibrium, a labour demand shift towards the primary sector tends to rai... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Barbara Petrongolo

01 September 1998

CEP discussion papers
European versus US Unemployment: Different Responses to Increased Demand for skill?

According to Paul Krugman, 'the European unemployment problem and the US inequality problem are two sides of the same coin'. In other words, both continents have had the same shift in demand towards skill; in the US rela... Read more...

Richard Jackman, Richard Layard, Marco Manacorda and Barbara Petrongolo

01 June 1997

CEP discussion papers
Qualifications and the Labour Market in Britain: 1984-1994 Skill Biased Change in the Demand for Labour or Credentialism?

The paper looks at the change in the occupational and educational structure of employment in Britain over the period 1984 94. It shows that changes in the occupational structure of employment can only explain a modest pa... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Peter Robinson

01 February 1997

CEP discussion papers
Skill Mismatch and Unemployment in OECD Countries

This paper uses evidence on employment, labour force, and wage differentials by skills from a number of OECD countries to investigate on the characteristics and the consequences of a skill-biased shift in the structure o... Read more...

Marco Manacorda and Barbara Petrongolo

01 September 1996

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