Seminar BEEG Seminar

1)

Speaker: Roberta Muri (University of Bologna)

Title: Firms Under Water: Floods, Adaptation, and Performance

Abstract: This paper examines whether public adaptation investments reduce firms’ vulnerability to extreme rainfall shocks. I focus on Emilia–Romagna (Italy), which experienced a severe flood in May 2023. I build a novel dataset that links administrative records on public investment projects (2003–2024) to river and canal geometries, geocoded firms and balance-sheet outcomes, high-frequency rainfall, and flood-extent maps. Using an LLM-based classification pipeline, I identify hydrological adaptation projects, distinguish ex-ante (preventive) interventions, and construct firm-level exposure to protection completed before the flood. I estimate the effects of adaptation in a difference-in-differences framework that compares firms with higher versus lower exposure to completed protection. Because investment location and completion are not random, I compare firms exposed to similar levels of planned protection but different realized amounts, and instrument completion using funding source. Identification exploits systematic differences in completion across funding pipelines (regional versus state) at the time of the flood. The results indicate that completed ex-ante adaptation significantly attenuates flood-related revenue losses, though it does not fully offset the negative impact of extreme rainfall, suggesting scope for additional adaptation.

2)

Speaker: Marco Baccicchetto (University of Bologna)

Title: Aircraft noise emissions and airport charges: greenwashing or real incentives for airlines?

Abstract: Aviation noise pollution affects one in five Europeans and is linked to serious health risks, underscoring the need for effective mitigation policies. This paper examines whether noise-related airport charges in the European Economic Area (2006–2024) incentivize airlines to deploy quieter aircraft, addressing a key gap in the literature with a novel dataset covering 84 airports. Using a staggered Difference-in-Differences design with the Callaway–Sant’Anna (2021) estimator, the study analyzes airline responses to noise charge schemes at 16 airports across 9 countries. The results indicate that current noise-related charges do not significantly affect airline behavior, with no measurable changes in the use of quieter, new-generation, or winglet-equipped aircraft, and estimated ATTs statistically indistinguishable from zero. Weak policy design—marked by low financial incentives and limited differentiation across aircraft types—helps explain these null effects. From a political economy perspective, noise charges may function more as greenwashing tools to placate community concerns while preserving airline interests than as effective environmental regulation. The findings highlight the need for stronger, better-calibrated noise charge frameworks to meaningfully reduce aviation noise and protect public health.