Paola Sapienza is an American and Italian economist. She is the J.P. Conte Family Senior Fellow at Hoover Institution . She is also a research associate at the NBER[1] and CEPR.[2] Her fields of interest include financial economics, cultural economics, and political economy.

Education and career

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Sapienza received a bachelor's degree in economics from Bocconi University in Milan. In 1998 she earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University with the completion of her thesis, titled Three essays in Banking, under the supervision of Andrei Shleifer and Jeremy Stein. In the same year she joined the faculty of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She has been named Hoover Senior Fellow in 2024.

Research

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Her main research focuses on the impact of cultural norms on economic decisions and outcomes. In early 2000, together with Luigi Guiso and Luigi Zingales she was among the first economists exploring cultural economics in her work on social capital and financial development[3] and in her work on religion and economic attitudes.[4] In her most influential work, she examines the interactions between trust, social capital, and civic capital. She applied these concepts to financial development, financial institutions, behavioral economics and political economy. Her research is influential in finance where, with Luigi Guiso and Luigi Zingales, she draws the connection between trust and finance.[5] Her most cited paper,[6] with Luigi Guiso and Luigi Zingales, explores the role of culture in economics opening new perspectives for cultural economics.[7] In her paper "Culture, Math, and Gender"[8] she shows that girls' academic achievements are linked to societal cultural norms, debunking the genetic explanation for different math scores between boys and girls.[9] In subsequent research, she has shown that stereotypes about women abilities may affect hiring and promotion of women in STEM related fields.[10] In the field of the political economy of finance, her paper on the role of government ownership in financial institutions suggests that state-owned banks serve as a mechanism to supply political patronage.[11] In her most recent series of papers, she expanded on her earlier work "Culture, Math, and Gender" and explored whether vertical transmission of cultural attitudes may explain different educational attainments.[12]

Her research on education has contributes to understanding how cultural transmission affects educational outcomes.[13] In a series of papers with Paola Giuliano and various collaborators, she explores how vertical and horizontal cultural transmission of preferences shapes academic performance. This research stream connects to their earlier work on cultural economics. Their work with immigrant students in Florida public schools demonstrates how cultural attitudes (specifically long term orientation) transmitted from parents to children influences educational achievement, showing that students from cultures emphasizing delayed gratification perform better academically.[14] Their subsequent work on immigrant peer effects reveals that exposure to immigrant students positively impacts US-born students' academic performance, especially benefiting Black and low socioeconomic status students.[15] These findings contribute to the broader understanding of how cultural values and beliefs transmitted through families and peer groups shape educational outcomes, challenging previous negative assumptions about immigrant effects on native students' performance.

Her paper "Trusting the Stock Market"[16] has been awarded the Distinguished Paper Smith Breeden Prize at the American Financial Association's annual meeting in January 2010.[17] Her work have been cited more than 33000 times.[18] She has published papers in the American Economic Review,[19] the Quarterly Journal of Economics,[20][21] Science,[8] the Journal of Finance,[22][16][23] the Review of Financial Studies,[24][25] the Journal of Financial Economics.[11][26][27] Her research has been quoted in the Financial Times,[28] Washington Post,[29] Quartz,[30] NPR,[31] Forbes,[32] The Economist,[33][34][35] Science magazine,[36] El País,[37] The Telegraph,[38] The New York Times,[39] Bloomberg,[40] The Wall Street Journal.[41]

Other activities

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Awards and recognition

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She was an Associate Editor at the Journal of Finance from 2012 to 2015, an Associate Editor at Management of Science from 2009 to 2013 and an Associate Editor at the Journal of Economic Perspectives from 2005 to 2008.[44] She was elected on the board of directors of the American Finance Association from 2012 to 2014.[45] She is among the top 5% most quoted economist in the world[46] and among the top 20 most influential female economists.[47] She was included in the Thomson Reuters List of Most Influential Minds in 2014,[48] 2015[49] and Clarivate list of Highly Cited Researchers in 2016, and 2018.[50]

References

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  1. ^ "Paola Sapienza". www.nber.org. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  2. ^ "Researcher Contact Details". cepr.org. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  3. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (February 2000). "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development". doi:10.3386/w7563. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (September 2002). "People's Opium? Religion and Economic Attitudes". NBER Working Paper No. 9237. doi:10.3386/w9237.
  5. ^ "NBER Reporter 2011 Number 2: Research Summary". www.nber.org. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  6. ^ "Paola Sapienza - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  7. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2006). "Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?". Journal of Economic Perspectives. 20 (2): 23–48. doi:10.1257/jep.20.2.23. ISSN 0895-3309.
  8. ^ a b Guiso, Luigi; Monte, Ferdinando; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2008-05-30). "Culture, Gender, and Math". Science. 320 (5880): 1164–1165. doi:10.1126/science.1154094. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 18511674. S2CID 2296969.
  9. ^ "Vital statistics". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  10. ^ Reuben, Ernesto; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2014-03-25). "How stereotypes impair women's careers in science". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (12): 4403–4408. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.4403R. doi:10.1073/pnas.1314788111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 3970474. PMID 24616490.
  11. ^ a b Sapienza, Paola (2004-05-01). "The effects of government ownership on bank lending". Journal of Financial Economics. 72 (2): 357–384. doi:10.1016/j.jfineco.2002.10.002. ISSN 0304-405X.
  12. ^ "Cultural Transmission in Education". NBER. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  13. ^ "Cultural Transmission in Education". NBER. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  14. ^ canderson (2017-10-05). "Cultures That Delay Gratification: Their Immigrants to the U.S. Excel in School". UCLA Anderson Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  15. ^ kmenke (2021-04-14). "Presence of Immigrant Students Boosts Test Scores for All". UCLA Anderson Review. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  16. ^ a b Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2008). "Trusting the Stock Market". The Journal of Finance. 63 (6): 2557–2600. doi:10.1111/j.1540-6261.2008.01408.x. ISSN 1540-6261.
  17. ^ "Prizes - American Finance Association". membership.afajof.org. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  18. ^ "Paola Sapienza - Google Scholar Citations". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
  19. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2004). "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development". American Economic Review. 94 (3): 526–556. doi:10.1257/0002828041464498. ISSN 0002-8282.
  20. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2004-08-01). "Does Local Financial Development Matter?". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 119 (3): 929–969. doi:10.1162/0033553041502162. ISSN 0033-5533.
  21. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2009-08-01). "Cultural Biases in Economic Exchange?". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 124 (3): 1095–1131. doi:10.1162/qjec.2009.124.3.1095. hdl:1814/7496. ISSN 0033-5533.
  22. ^ Sapienza, Paola (2002). "The Effects of Banking Mergers on Loan Contracts". The Journal of Finance. 57 (1): 329–367. doi:10.1111/1540-6261.00424. ISSN 1540-6261.
  23. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2013). "The Determinants of Attitudes toward Strategic Default on Mortgages". The Journal of Finance. 68 (4): 1473–1515. doi:10.1111/jofi.12044. ISSN 1540-6261.
  24. ^ Polk, Christopher; Sapienza, Paola (2009-01-01). "The Stock Market and Corporate Investment: A Test of Catering Theory". The Review of Financial Studies. 22 (1): 187–217. doi:10.1093/rfs/hhn030. ISSN 0893-9454.
  25. ^ Ravina, Enrichetta; Sapienza, Paola (2010-03-01). "What Do Independent Directors Know? Evidence from Their Trading". The Review of Financial Studies. 23 (3): 962–1003. doi:10.1093/rfs/hhp027. ISSN 0893-9454.
  26. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2018-06-01). "Time varying risk aversion". Journal of Financial Economics. 128 (3): 403–421. doi:10.1016/j.jfineco.2018.02.007. ISSN 0304-405X.
  27. ^ Guiso, Luigi; Sapienza, Paola; Zingales, Luigi (2015-07-01). "The value of corporate culture". Journal of Financial Economics. NBER Conference on the Causes and Consequences of Corporate Culture. 117 (1): 60–76. doi:10.1016/j.jfineco.2014.05.010. ISSN 0304-405X.
  28. ^ Harford, Tim (March 13, 2020). "The pleasures and perils of precrastination". Financial Times. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  29. ^ Giuliano, Paola; Sapienza, Paola. "Perspective | Go ahead and eat that marshmallow. Patience can make you unhappy". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  30. ^ Pavlus, John (21 October 2019). "Girls' math scores suffer when they grow up in families biased towards sons". Quartz at Work. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  31. ^ Goldstein, Jacob (26 February 2013). "Real Economists Study Fake Candidate". NPR. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  32. ^ Sun, Winnie. "You Need To Invest In Work Culture For Your Company To Thrive". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  33. ^ "Mistrust in America could sink the economy". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  34. ^ "Room with a view". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  35. ^ "Vital statistics". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  36. ^ Bohannon, John (2014-03-10). "Both Genders Think Women Are Bad at Basic Math". Science | AAAS. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  37. ^ "Reportaje | Ellas también valen para ingenieras (pero huyen)". El País (in Spanish). 2008-07-31. ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  38. ^ Kate Devlin (2008-05-29). "Boys born better at maths than girls 'myth'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  39. ^ Shiller, Robert J. (2012-02-25). "What High-I.Q. Investors Do Differently". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  40. ^ Smith, Noah (July 14, 2017). "So Many Critics of Economics Miss What It Gets Right". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  41. ^ Timiraos, James R. Hagerty and Nick (2009-12-18). "Debtor's Dilemma: Pay the Mortgage or Walk Away". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  42. ^ Board of Directors Gruppo TIM.
  43. ^ Aston, Cara (2021-11-30). "Telecom Italia CEO and General Manager Resigns Over KKR Bid". Inside Towers. Retrieved 2022-12-10.
  44. ^ "Paola Sapienza - Faculty - Kellogg School of Management". www.kellogg.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  45. ^ "Professor Uppal appointed as a director of the American Finance Association". www.edhec.edu. 2011-10-17. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  46. ^ "Economist Rankings, Number of Citations | IDEAS/RePEc". ideas.repec.org. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  47. ^ "Top Female Economists Rankings | IDEAS/RePEc". ideas.repec.org. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  48. ^ Thomson Reuters. "THE WORLD'S MOST INFLUENTIAL SCIENTIFIC MINDS 2014" (PDF). Retrieved June 11, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  49. ^ Thomson Reuters. "Thomson Reuters Most Influential Minds 2015" (PDF). Retrieved June 11, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  50. ^ "Northwestern Faculty Among World's Most Cited – Office for RESEARCH". www.research.northwestern.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-11.