Media organizations increasingly adopt editorial standards to govern coverage of sensitive topics, yet their effectiveness as policy instruments remains unexamined. This paper evaluates newsroom guidelines designed to improve reporting on gender-based violence in France. Between 2018 and 2025, I document the staggered adoption of editorial guidelines across 42 local newspapers, which simultaneously discourage euphemistic terminology, mandate legally precise language, and often require provision of emergency resources. Combining exhaustive femicide event records with article-level text analysis and departmental helpline and petition data, I estimate effects on both coverage patterns and victim help-seeking behavior. Event-study estimates reveal that guideline adoption reduces passion-framed articles by 79% and increases legally precise terminology by 87%, with no reduction in coverage volume. These reporting shifts translate into measurable behavioral responses: departments with greater circulation of compliant coverage are associated with higher calls to the national domestic violence helpline. These findings suggest that editorial guidelines are a scalable and low-cost policy instrument through which media organizations can reshape narratives around gender-based violence.

Young Researchers Conference in Economics – HEC Liège; Internal seminar – ENS de Lyon; NICEP 2026 Conference – University of Nottingham; Workshop on media, identity and norms – ENS de Lyon; 2nd PhD Workshop – Department of Economics – European University Institute; Journées Doctorales du Développement – Job Market – Bordeaux School of Economics; Economics Job Market Bootcamp in Tuscany

Public speeches by leaders can serve as a cost-effective tool for fostering peace, yet their effectiveness remains uncertain, particularly in divided societies experiencing violent conflict. This paper examines the impact of the Catholic Pope's peace-promoting speeches on conflict dynamics in Africa. To investigate this, we construct a novel dataset covering all papal speeches explicitly addressing violent conflict events in Africa between 1997 and 2022. Using event-study methods, we find that papal speeches reduce overall conflict by 23% on average. However, these effects vary significantly depending on the Pope delivering the speech. While Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis's speeches are associated with substantial reductions in conflict, Pope Benedict XVI's speeches show no significant overall effect but are linked to increased battles and religious violence. We further explore four mechanisms driving these heterogeneous effects. First, the impact of papal speeches is significantly stronger in areas with a Catholic presence, where violence drops by up to 69%. Second, the effectiveness of a speech depends on the bishops' ideological alignment with the Pope's vision, with speeches delivered by a Pope who appointed the current bishop being 17% more effective. Third, political leaders play a crucial role in amplifying the Pope's message, as violence significantly declines in birth regions of national leaders. Finally, the response of armed groups varies depending on their religious affiliation and prior history of violence.

5th International Conference on Development Economics – ICDE – University Paris-Nanterre; PhD Economics Virtual Seminar; Facultad de Economía y Negocios (FEN) – Universidad de Chile; Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne (CES); Centre d'études et de recherches sur le développement international (CERDI)

Groundwater plays a crucial role in supporting livelihoods and economic activities in Africa, particularly in regions affected by climate-induced water scarcity. This study explores the economic implications of groundwater resources during periods of climate shocks and their relationship to conflict dynamics in affected regions. It employs a comprehensive dataset covering the period from 1997 to 2021, encompassing information on conflict events and groundwater depth. The relationship between groundwater depth, climate shocks, and conflict occurrences is analyzed through both cross-sectional and temporal analyses across 10,310 cells (each 0.5×0.5◦, or ≈ 55×55 km). We define two measures of local climate shocks: a temporary shock based on yearly variation, and a persistent shock using a moving average of temperature over multiple years. The findings suggest that areas with a higher proportion of shallow water, i.e. more accessible groundwater, have become increasingly prone to violence over time, particularly in the presence of persistent local climate shocks. Moreover, these persistent shocks have a greater impact on low-intensity and localized conflict events in regions with more shallow groundwater. Further, within-cell inequalities in water access emerge as significant conflict drivers. Lastly, secondary analyses examining the respective contributions of pastoralist activities and state capacity to the observed effects provide insights into the mechanisms. Overall, the findings underscore the need for equitable water management strategies to mitigate conflict and promote sustainable development in Africa.

ENS Lyon–UniBo Junior PhD Workshop – University of Bologna; 2023 1st Research Conference on the Economics of Sustainable Development (World Bank)