The milk addiction paradox refers to an empirical finding in which commodities that are typically considered to be non addictive, such as milk, appear instead to be addictive. This result seems more likely when there is persistence in consumption and when using aggregate data, and it suggests...

This paper investigates the role of biased health perceptions as driving forces of risky health behavior. We define absolute and relative health perception biases, illustrate their measurement in surveys and provide evidence on their relevance. Next, we decompose the theoretical effect into its...

We consider a broad class of intertemporal economic problems and we characterize the short and long-run response of the demand for a good to a permanent increase in its market price. Depending on the interplay between self-productivity and time discounting, we show that dynamic substitution...

Exploiting high-frequency data from the Italian anti-violence helpline and a unique geolocalized dataset on killings of women, we show that the news coverage of a femicide triggers an increase in calls to the helpline. The effect is detectable in the week following the news and in the province...

We propose a theoretical model to study individual lifestyle choices related to calorie intake and physical activity, depending on personal fitness level and body weight. The model builds on the rational eating literature and can generate a variety of behaviors that are consistent with the...

We propose a model of addictive consumption to study the demand for imperfect substitutes involving substances like alcohol, nicotine and opioids, as well as behavioral addictions like gambling and digital addiction. We study a 2017 Italian policy aimed at reducing gambling by limiting the...

Some harm reduction strategies encourage individuals to switch from a harmful addictive good to a less harmful addictive good. This approach is controversial, with advocates claiming it helps switching to a less harmful substance, and opponents claiming it may lead to new substance abuse. This...