Key details
Dr Luca Tasciotti
Senior Lecturer in Economics
Luca holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Tor Vergata, Rome, a Master degree in Economics with a specialisation in Econometrics and a bachelor degree in Economics of the Financial Market.
He has previously worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of United Nations (Rome), for the International Institute of Social Studies (The Hague) and for the School of Oriental and African Studies (London).
He is a heterodox development applied economist with interests ranging from nutrition to health, from fertility to agricultural practices; he is mainly interested in the economics of sub-Saharan Africa and of other less developed areas. He uses rigorous econometric analysis -mainly at the household level- and combines it with a thorough description of the context he writes about.
He is currently teaching microeconomics at both undergraduate and post-graduate level; he previously taught applied econometrics, economic development of Africa and mathematics applied to economic phenomena.
Research / Scholarly interests
Luca's research interests are in between agriculture, nutrition, demography and health and with an expertise in sub-Saharan countries. He is a neo-classical economist by training with an open view on the heterodox theories.
He has extensively published on the effects of urban agriculture and livestock activities on measures of nutrition, on the impacts of energy related projects on the well-being of the recipients households. He is interested in the hidden spillover effects of economic development. His more recent studies look at the nexus between electricity and malaria occurrence in several sub-Saharan countries and at the impacts mass-media may have on fertility choices of women.
He has been the recipient of a Standard of Trade and Development Facility grant in 2015 which looked at the economic effects of implementing a standard for trade in Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya and Mozambique. The results of this work have been published in a paper and more recently in a book published by Springer.
Recent publications
Article
Sangwan, Navjot and , Tasciotti, Luca (2023), Time to remit: the effect of remittances on household consumption and dietary diversity in India. Sciendo. In: , , , . Sciendo, IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 14 (1) 2520-1786 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajodm-2023-0003).
Sangwan, Navjot and , Tasciotti, Luca (2023), Losing the plot: the impact of urban agriculture on household food expenditure and dietary diversity in sub-Saharan African countries. MDPI. In: , , , . MDPI, Agriculture, 13: 284 (2) . pp. 1-20 2077-0472 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13020284).
Patwardhan, Sharvari and , Tasciotti, Luca (2022), The effect of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act on the size of outstanding debts in rural India. Taylor & Francis - Routledge. In: , , , . Taylor & Francis - Routledge, Journal of Development Effectiveness . pp. 1-21 ISSN: 1943-9342 (Print), 1943-9407 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/19439342.2022.2103169).
Papyrakis, Elissaios , Pellegrini, Lorenzo, Tasciotti, Luca (2022), Impacts of the Brexit referendum on UK employment: a synthetic control method approach. Routledge - Taylor & Francis. In: , , , . Routledge - Taylor & Francis, Applied Economics Letters, 30 (11) . pp. 1407-1410 ISSN: 1350-4851 (Print), 1466-4291 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2022.2056567).
Tasciotti, Luca , Sulehria, Farooq, Wagner, Natascha (2022), Fertility, electricity and television: is there a link? Evidence from Pakistan, 1990–2018. Cambridge University Press. In: , , , . Cambridge University Press, Journal of Demographic Economics . pp. 1-28 ISSN: 2054-0892 (Print), 2054-0906 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/dem.2022.6).
Pellegrini, Lorenzo , Tasciotti, Luca, Spartaco, Andrea (2021), A regional resource curse? A synthetic-control approach to oil extraction in Basilicata, Italy. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Ecological Economics, 185: 107041 ISSN: 0921-8009 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107041).
Samuel, John , Papyrakis, Elissaios, Tasciotti, Luca (2020), Is there a resource curse in Timor-Leste? A critical review of recent evidence. Taylor & Francis. In: , , , . Taylor & Francis, Development Studies Research, 7 (1) . pp. 141-152 2166-5095 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/21665095.2020.1816189).
Tasciotti, Luca and , (2019), Harnessing oil to bring about prosperity. In: , , , . , African Business Magazine (doi: https://africanbusinessmagazine.com/advertorials/harnessing-oil-to-bring-about-prosperity/).
Papyrakis, Elissaios and , Tasciotti, Luca (2019), A policy study on the implementation challenges of phytosanitary standards: The case of ISPM 15 in Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, and Mozambique. SAGE Publications (UK and US). In: , , , . SAGE Publications (UK and US), The Journal of Environment & Development, 28 (2) . pp. 142-172 ISSN: 1070-4965 (Print), 1552-5465 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1070496519836146).
Pica-Ciamarra, Ugo and , Tasciotti, Luca (2018), Livestock and livelihoods in urban Niger. University Press of Florida. In: , , , . University Press of Florida, Journal of Global South Studies, 35 (1) . pp. 104-129 ISSN: 2476-1397 (Print), 2476-1419 (Online) (doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/gss.2018.0006).
Wagner, Natascha and , Tasciotti, Luca (2017), Urban agriculture, dietary diversity and child health in a sample of Tanzanian town folk. Taylor & Francis. In: , , , . Taylor & Francis, Canadian Journal of Development Studies / Revue canadienne d'études du développement, 39 (2) . pp. 234-251 ISSN: 0225-5189 (Print), 2158-9100 (Online) (doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2017.1375902).
Bedi, Arjun S. , Sparrow, Robert, Tasciotti, Luca (2017), The impact of a household biogas programme on energy use and expenditure in East Java. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Energy Economics, 68 . pp. 66-76 ISSN: 0140-9883 (Print), (doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2017.09.006).
Tasciotti, Luca and , Wagner, Natascha (2017), How much should we trust micro-data? A comparison of the socio-demographic profile of Malawian households using census, LSMS and DHS data. Palgrave Macmillan. In: , , , . Palgrave Macmillan, European Journal of Development Research, 30 (4) . pp. 588-612 ISSN: 0957-8811 (Print), 1743-9728 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-017-0083-6).
Romero, Andres , Tasciotti, Luca, Acosta, Fayber (2016), Means of transportation choice for the residents of Villavicencio, Colombia: a quantitative analysis. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 44 . pp. 134-144 ISSN: 1369-8478 (Print), (doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2016.11.001).
Tasciotti, Luca and , (2016), Use of electricity and malaria occurrence: is there a link? The case of Malawi. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Energy Policy, 101 . pp. 310-316 ISSN: 0301-4215 (Print), (doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2016.10.028).
Pellegrini, Lorenzo and , Tasciotti, Luca (2016), The electrification-malaria nexus: the case of rural Uganda. Palgrave Macmillan. In: , , , . Palgrave Macmillan, European Journal of Development Research, 28 (4) . pp. 521-535 ISSN: 0957-8811 (Print), 1743-9728 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2015.86).
Tasciotti, Luca and , (2016), The electrification malaria nexus. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease, 14 (3) . pp. 281-282 ISSN: 1477-8939 (Print), (doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tmaid.2016.04.002).
Book
Papyrakis, Elissaios and , Tasciotti, Luca (2021), The Economics and Policies of Environmental Standards. Springer. In: , , , . Springer, . ISBN: 9783030718589 (doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-71858-9).