Hi, I am Yannick; welcome to my website. 

I am a labor economist, working as a post-doctoral research fellow at Bocconi University's Dondena Center. I recently defended my PhD in Economics at the European University Institute, where my thesis advisors were  Andrea Ichino and Alex Monge-Naranjo. 

My research interests are mainly in labor economics and the economics of education, focusing on issues of economic inequality.

Find my CV here.

Working Papers

Labor Market Dynamics after Cost-of-Living Shocks (Draft)

Abstract: This paper presents empirical evidence on the importance of labor supply responses and subsequent earnings adjustments as a buffer against inflationary shocks. Using the case of energy price changes, I combine 20 years of German employer-employee data with a representative household expenditure survey and rely on regional differences in energy expenditure patterns to identify the pass-through of energy cost shocks into earnings. Changes in nominal earnings offset around 37% of county-specific costs within the same year and fully compensate workers over a five-year window. Job-to-job mobility is a key mechanism. Higher exposure to energy price changes both incentivizes workers to change jobs and, conditional on switching, makes transitions more profitable in terms of earnings gains. The empirical results suggest that endogenous labor supply responses are a significant factor in understanding the welfare consequences of price changes more broadly.

Grants vs. Loans: The Role of Financial Aid in College Major Choice  (Draft)
(w. Adriano De Falco), conditionally accepted by The Economic Journal

Abstract: Using administrative data from Chile, we analyze whether financing higher education through student loans or grants affects the college major choices of prospective university students. We exploit institutional arrangements that allocate either type of financing based on a standardized test to locally identify exogenous variation in access. Students who are marginally eligible for grants are more likely to enroll in STEM-related fields. We provide evidence that this effect is driven by grants acting as an insurance mechanism against uncertainty about degree completion. To do so, we rely on information from past graduates to characterize narrowly defined programs based on dropout rates, time to degree completion, and associated labor market outcomes and estimate a discrete choice model. Students with access to grants value characteristics related to uncertainty about degree completion less negatively than those with student loans.

Status, Control, and Risk: How Relative Wealth Perceptions Shape Risk-Taking (Draft)
(w. Dietmar Fehr), submitted

Abstract: We embed an experiment in a large-scale representative survey to investigate how relative wealth affects risk-taking and how this effect varies as a function of perceived control over life outcomes. Our results contest the common prediction of higher risk-taking in the middle of the distribution. Instead, we find that respondents who are induced to perceive their relative wealth as low display more tolerance towards risk in a subsequent incentivized risk-taking task. This effect is not uniform but is mainly driven by individuals who more firmly believe that life outcomes are beyond their control.

Work in Progress

Genetic Endowments and Automation: Evaluating Worker Vulnerability to Employment Shocks from Robotics
(w. Massimo Anelli, Pietro Biroli, Elisabetta De Cao, and Silvia Mendolia)