Do strong states affect the culture and actions of their citizens in a persistent way? And if so, can the capacity to tax, by itself, drive this effect? I study how the historical capacity of a state to collect taxes affects the decision of citizens to evade the mandatory military draft. I look at Italy during World War I and identify quasi-exogenous variation in tax collection induced by the administrative structure of Piedmont during the 1814-1870 period. Using newly collected individual data on the universe of the 1899 cohort drafted in the province of Turin, I find that citizens born in towns with lower historical fiscal capacity are more likely to evade the military draft, and that the effect transmits through changes in culture. Placebo estimates confirm that the effect can be attributed to fiscal capacity and is not confounded by legal capacity. Additional results on voter turnout support the interpretation that higher fiscal capacity led citizens to perceive higher state capacity and, consequently, higher returns to participation. (R&R at Journal of the European Economic Association)

We study whether work practices adopted in recent history in agriculture influence the empowerment of women in a European country. Focusing on Italy, we study the case of female rice weeders and their successful history of unionisation and mobilisation for better working conditions. Relying on an instrumental variable strategy to predict quasi-exogenous variation in rice production, we test whether the historical presence of female rice weeders predicts differences in measures of women’s economic and political empowerment during the second half of the XX century. We find that towns where rice production was historically relevant have higher women labour force participation, stronger support for divorce in the 1974 referendum, more women in politics, and are more likely to have a nursery school. Our results suggest the importance of collective action of working women to achieve persistent female empowerment. (Draft available upon request)

(In progress)

(In progress)