Marina Rizzi (University of Turin) and Alessandro Lavia (Boston College)

Postdocs/RTD Seminars

Marina Rizzi (University of Turin)

“Self-Regulation of Social Media and the Evolution of Content: a Cross-Platform Analysis”

Abstract: This paper investigates the effectiveness of Twitter’s policy against racist hate speech, introduced in December 2020, in reducing abusive content. Using a dataset of 8 million tweets from users discussing race-related topics, and machine learning techniques to identify instances of hate speech and racist hate speech, I find a significant reduction in abusive content in Twitter, especially from racist users, after the policy’s implementation. Additionally, using a dataset of users with accounts on both Twitter and Parler, a less regulated social media platform, I examine whether abusive behavior shifted to Parler following the policy change. Findings suggest an overall increase in hate speech on Parler post-policy, in particular for users that were active in Twitter in those months. Text analysis methods indicate a possible shift in topics between the two platforms. These results highlight the complexity of online content regulation and the potential for spillover effects to alternative platforms.

Alessandro Lavia (Boston College)

“The Role of Supply Chain in the Import-Pass-Through of Prices”

Abstract: In this paper we study the role of supply chain in determining the intensive margin of the pass-through of import price changes into domestic ones. In particular, by using granular firm-product level data of Swedish firms, we are able to provide evidence of a stronger pass-through when considering industry-specific import price changes and of a determinant role played by intermediate goods in explaining this effect, as opposed to the already studied channels of trade openness and market concentration.

Joint work with Mathias Klein (Sveriges Riksbank)