Together with Acemoglu, De Luca has co-authored two major studies, the result of several years of work. The first, War, Socialism, and the Rise of Fascism: An Empirical Exploration (2022), was also co-authored by Giuseppe De Feo (University of Leicester, UK) and Gianluca Russo (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain). In this paper, published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, the authors show how strong support for the Socialist Party after World War I contributed to the rise of fascism in Italy. By examining local variations in the 1919 election results, they demonstrated that increased socialist support led to a surge in fascist activities, political violence, and votes for the Fascist Party, with lasting effects on deportations and political outcomes after the war. You can listen to an episode of the unibz insight podcast where De Luca explains his research.

The second study, Weak States: Causes and Consequences of the Sicilian Mafia, published in the Review of Economic Studies, investigates how the spread of the Mafia in Sicily in the late 19th century was partly driven by the growth of the Socialist Workers' Federation. In response, landowners turned to the Mafia to resist peasant demands. Acemoglu, De Luca, and De Feo emphasized the Mafia’s negative effects on literacy, public goods, and political competition over the medium to long term, with especially persistent impacts on political competition.

De Luca continues his collaboration with Acemoglu on research projects focused on money laundering and the relationship between mafia and politics.

Acemoglu's Foto: Wikipedia