I am an applied economist and a PhD candidate in the Department of Economics at the University of Essex. My research focuses on labour economics and education. I often use structural econometric methods to test implications from economic theory and simulate policy counterfactuals.
Contact me at:
c.comunello[at]essex.ac.uk
You can find my CV here.
Working Papers
Learning from What: The informational Value of Grades and Wages. Draft coming soon.
Abstract: When individuals face uncertainty about their academic ability, their education and the labour market histories carry valuable information. I develop a model in which individuals choose to participate in education and the labour market sequentially and are consequently able to adjust their choice based on new information provided by their realization of grades and wages. Particularly for low-income, high-ability individuals, joining higher education after some labour market experience is welfare-improving because participating in the labour market provides information about ability at relatively low costs, removing uncertainty from the higher education choice with no significant crowd-out effects.
The Role of Financial Aid for Low-Income Low-Achievers. Draft coming soon.
Abstract: I use a series of discontinuities in policy eligibility to uncover the impact of different types of financial aid directed to low-income students, along their exam score distribution. Results show that low-interest loans are more effective than full and 50% grants in securing College completion but no significant effects on enrolment for students of similar low socioeconomic backgrounds. This is because loans act as a commitment device by introducing a penalty in case of dropout.
Sectoral Labour Flow Accounting: A Matching Function Approach (joint with Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, Alex Clymo, Ludo Visschers and David Zentler-Munro). Slides here. Draft coming soon.
Abstract: We develop a data-led structural framework for 1) measuring how workers direct their search effort towards different industries or occupations, and 2) providing measures of market tightness by industry and occupation. The novelty is to use realised worker flows to infer worker search effort and direction, when combined with vacancy data through the lens of a model of sector-specific matching functions.
Work in Progress
The Supply of Higher Education, Local Labour Markets Shocks and College Dropouts
Abstract: If students make enrolment decisions optimally, what changes so they wish to withdraw? I look at two main drivers of schooling decisions: local labour market conditions and the supply of tuition free higher education (either through places in public universities or financial aid in private ones). I develop a model of higher education choice, in which individuals choose to participate in education and the labour market sequentially, as they suffer information and labour market shocks. The model will be estimated using microdata from Brazil, where the educational environment allows me not only to have a large sample of heterogeneous local labour markets but also to estimate and simulate the impact of exogenous changes in the local supply of tuition-free education .
Assortative Matching and Income Inequality across Cohorts: Evidence from Brazil (joint with Ashley Burdett)
Abstract: Brazil is often ranked among the most unequal economies in the world. This is the first paper to document the effect of assortative matching on the persistence of household inequalities in such a setting. We use a model-based approach to quantify changes in sorting patterns in marriage, changes in the value of marriage for each possible match and the evolution of the education premia from 1980-2020, a period that saw the share of educated workers in the labour force nearly triplicate.
Publications
Search and Reallocation in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the UK (joint with Carlos Carrillo-Tudela, Alex Clymo, Annette Jäckle, Ludo Visschers and David Zentler-Munro) Labour Economics, 81 , 2023. Media Coverage: The Economist, The New Statesman, The Great Resignation (VoxEU, The Conversation , Reasons to be Cheerful podcast), The Silver Exodus (The Conversation). Cited by the UK Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee here.
Project Website
We keep a Snapshot of the UK Labour Market to inform the general public, media and policy-makers. We monitor labour force reallocation, labour shortages, and many other useful stats!
Wivenhoe Park CO4 3SQ, Colchester, UK
