Welcome to Research Insights, where we put the focus on the Department of Economics' research output, events and conferences. Each month, we sit down with a member of our department to learn more about a published paper, or a recent event or conference they have attended.
This month, we spoke to Simone Arrigoni, fourth year PhD Candidate in Economics, about his research and the incredible achievement of having three papers published before defending his PhD.
Simone Arrigoni
His research interests lie in the area of macroeconomics with a focus on the interplay between international macroeconomic dynamics and inequality in wealth and income.
Congratulations on having three of your research papers accepted for publication! Could you briefly summarise what they are about?
Thank you! The first paper is called "Who gets the flow? Financial globalisation and wealth inequality" in the Journal of Macroeconomics, published in July 2024.
Starting in the 1970s/80s we have observed an increase in cross-border investments and within-country wealth inequality. This article examines whether the advent of financial globalisation has contributed to increasing wealth inequality in the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. I find that positive changes in the benchmark measure of financial globalisation are associated with a positive change in the top 1% and 10% wealth shares. This is mainly due to the concentration of ownership of portfolio equities and financial derivatives, the accumulation of new cross-border financial wealth over time, and differentials in recovery timings during financial crises. The paper contributes to the discussion around policies such as capital flows management and capital/wealth taxes.
The second paper is called "The long and the short of it: Inheritance and wealth in Ireland", co-written with Laura Boyd and Tara McIndoe-Calder. It is due to be published in the Journal of Economic Inequality but is available here for the moment. Here is a brief description:
Inheritances matter for wealth accumulation and are often central to policy debates on wealth taxes. This article evaluates the impact of intergenerational transfers on the wealth distribution in Ireland, using household level survey data from the ECB’s Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). We show that inheritances in Ireland contribute little to wealth inequality, and may even have reduced it over time, in line with existing findings for Britain and the United States. We suggest that this is due to inheritances being proportionally more important for the acquisition of property assets for middle-wealth households, the rise of asset prices, and income substation among inheritors.
The third paper is called "Measuring financial conditions using equal weights combination", co-written with Alina Bobasu and Fabrizio Venditti. It was published in IMF Economic Review in December 2022.
This article explores the effectiveness and comparative performance of different approaches to constructing Financial Conditions Indices (FCIs) for a broad range of countries. An econometric evaluation, conducted through quantile regressions and probit models, shows that FCIs constructed via equal weights combinations of financial variables have good statistical properties and often outperform more sophisticated methods such as factor models with time-varying parameters and principal component analysis. For a detailed non-technical summary of the paper you can have a look at this SUERF Policy Brief. We have recently updated the dataset, which is available here.
Can you talk about what drew you to Trinity for your PhD?
I developed a research interest in international macroeconomics while working at the European Central Bank after completing my MSc in Economics at Heidelberg University. When I decided to pursue a PhD, I was drawn to TCD due to the long-standing expertise of the Department in this field, including the establishment of the IM-TCD research unit.
Four years into my PhD, I feel it was the right choice. My supervisors, Prof. Agustín Bénétrix and Prof. Davide Romelli, have always been incredibly supportive, helping me navigate the PhD with their extensive knowledge while allowing me enough freedom to explore. I appreciate that all faculty members have always been engaging during my presentations and willing to discuss my research. Overall, a PhD at TCD offered me a stimulating, enthusiastic, and very collegial environment.
Could you give us a brief overview of your research?
My research interests lie in macroeconomics, focusing on the interplay between international macroeconomic dynamics and inequality in wealth and income.
In my PhD thesis, I explore how economic inequality, in terms of income and wealth, affects and is affected by the macroeconomy. On the one hand, my research aims to understand the drivers of wealth inequality, with a particular focus on international dynamics. On the other hand, I study how inequality influences the international transmission of macroeconomic and public policies, such as monetary policy. My research is mostly empirical in nature. I use aggregate macro data as well as more disaggregated data, such as household surveys and administrative data on security holdings.
If you want to know more about my research and new projects, you can visit my personal website at www.simone-arrigoni.com.