Hi, I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) in the ‘Labour in the Low Carbon Transition’ (LILT) research group.
I am an applied environmental economist studying how climate change affects health and labor markets, exploring its unequal impacts, long-term consequences, and the potential of adaptation strategies.
I obtained my PhD in Science and Management of Climate Change from Ca’Foscari University in May 2025.
Curriculum Vitae (Updated Febraury 2025)
Email: giulia.valenti@feem.it, giulia.valenti@unive.it
Bluesky: @giuliavalenti.bsky.social; LinkedIn: giulia-valenti
Office: Corso Magenta, 63, 20123 Milano MI
Working Papers
(with Filippo Pavanello)
Abstract (click to expand): In 2004, Italy introduced a national program to address heat-related health risks through public awareness campaigns, heatwave warning systems, and hospital protocols. Leveraging administrative mortality data, temperature variations, and the plausibly exogenous timing of the policy’s rollout, this paper shows that the program mitigated the mortality impact of extreme heat (days at or above 30 °C) by more than 57%. Exploring the mechanisms, we find that the staggered implementation of the heat wave warning systems contributed to reducing excess mortality on days exceeding 30 °C in treated provinces. We further show that enhancing access to information is essential to achieving these mitigating effects. Our findings underscore the critical role of public adaptation policies that leverage information disclosure on the health risks associated with heat stress.
(with Francesco Vona)
Abstract (click to expand): This paper examines the impact of temperature shocks, measured by cold and heat waves, on labour market outcomes across 14 European countries. Using retrospective individual-level data from the Survey on Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and daily climate data from the E-OBS dataset, we analyze the effect on wages and occupational transition. By leveraging plausibly exogenous weather shocks, we find that heat waves significantly reduce individual income, with losses accumulating over time. Moreover, our analysis documents that older individuals, those with severe health conditions, and workers in heat-exposed occupations experience particularly large income reductions. Losses are also more pronounced in Mediterranean and Eastern European countries, as well as in regions with less regulated wage-setting mechanisms. Additionally, our findings suggest that heat waves increase the likelihood of changing jobs and in particular to transition from heat-exposed to non-heat-exposed occupations. These results underscore the need for targeted policy interventions to mitigate economic losses and protect vulnerable workers in the face of increasing climate variability.
Temperature and Health Capital: Long-Term Consequences of Exposure in Childhood
(with Catarina Midões, Francesco Vona and Enrica De Cian)
Abstract (click to expand): This paper investigates the impact of temperature shocks, measured by the duration of heat and cold waves, on a comprehensive health measure. The proposed metric encompasses a broad range of illnesses that can be triggered or exacerbated by temperature exposure. Within a human capital framework, we approximate health capital loss using the number of days lost due to disability, quantifying the severity of poor health across various life stages. Our results reveal that exposure to heat waves during childhood, particularly before the age of 10, has long-term effects on adult health. It increases the likelihood of developing illnesses and significantly affects both the severity (measured by days lost due to disability) and the duration (years impacted by illness) of morbidity in later life. The heightened sensitivity to high temperatures during childhood can be attributed to physiological factors in development that limit the ability to regulate body temperature effectively. Furthermore, children may have a restricted capacity to express discomfort caused by thermal stress and to adopt protective measures against extreme heat. Our findings show that the effect of exposure during childhood is persistent over time and that childhood exposure significantly shapes the subsequent accumulation of health capital, with potential compensatory behaviours appearing unable to fully mitigate the consequences. Our findings contribute to the assessment of climate change damages and their distributional implications by investigating long-term health consequences. Additionally, our study provides valuable insights into the literature on early childhood shocks, by considering the under-explored role of temperature shocks.
Work in Progress
The (long-term) consequences of austerity policy on mortality and temperature relationship: Evidence from Italy
(with Filippo Pavanello)
Presentations
2025: EAERE Annual Conference, AERE Summer Conference, IZA Workshop on Climate and Environmental Economics (scheduled), ifo Workshop on the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change, Workshop IdEP in Sustainable Economics, IAERE Annual Conference
2024: EAERE Annual Conference, Early Career Workshop on the Environment, Climate Change and Diasters: Socio-Economic Impacts and Adaptations (GSSI), Maastricht Workshop on Applied Economics of the Environment, IAERE Annual Conference, 4th Italian Workshop of Econometrics and Empirical Economics: Climate and Energy Econometrics, Inequality and the Environment Symposium for Early-career Reaserchers (Sciences Po’s Center for Research on Social InequalitieS, World Inequality Lab)
2023: SISC 11th Annual Conference
2022: XIV ESPAnet Italian Conference, ETUI Conference - The nexus of climate change and welfare: towards a new concept of the welfare state
Teaching
Spring 2025: TA in Economics and Policy of Climate Change (22h), BA in Environmental Science and Policy (University of Milan)
Fall 2024: TA in Global and Climate Change Economics (20h), MSc in Environmental and Food Economics (University of Milan)
Fall 2021: TA in Mathematics (30h), BA in Economics, Markets and Finance (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
Fall 2020: TA in Statistics (30h), BA in Physical Engineering (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice); TA in Calculus (45h), BA in Physical Engineering (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)
Blogs
L’infanzia sotto attacco climatico, Equilibri Magazine, 2025
Diseguaglianza economica e emissioni nocive: quale relazione?, Il Menabò di Etica e Economia, 2020
Additional Info
Website: Thanks to Gautam Rao for making his GitHub repository available.
