People
Ornella Darova
Ornella is a PhD student in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania.
She has a master’s degree cum Laude in Economic and Social Sciences at Bocconi University, a bachelor’s degree cum Laude in Economics and Statistics at Turin University and she successfully completed Collegio Carlo Alberto’s Honors Program.
Ornella has worked as a research assistant at Bocconi University, Collegio Carlo Alberto, LUISS University, Istituto Bruno Leoni, and Stockholm University.
She also worked as a field coordinator on Randomized Controlled Trials in Uganda and Sierra Leone as well as was a consultant for the World Bank in Albania.
Her main fields of research are development economics, public economics, and policy evaluation. She is also very interested in economic journalism.
Selected Publications
(2023): “Capacity building as a route to export market expansion: A six-country experiment in the Western Balkans.” Journal of International Economics : 144 103794. ISSN 0022-1996
The limited market size of many small emerging economies is a key constraint to the growth of innovative small and medium enterprises. Exporting offers a potential solution, but firms may struggle to locate and appeal to foreign buyers. We conducted a six-country randomized experiment with 225 firms in the Western Balkans to test the effectiveness of 30 h of live group-based training and 5 h of one-on-one remote consulting in overcoming these constraints. Treated firms used techniques such as search engine optimization and improved Facebook content to increase their digital presence and better reach foreign customers. A year later, we find positive and significant impacts on the number of customers, and a significant intensive margin increase in export sales. Qualitative interviews suggest this improvement came from a combination of sector-specific advice on market expansion, and through an encouragement effect which gave entrepreneurs the confidence to try new sales strategies.
“Capacity building as a route to export market expansion: A six-country experiment in the Western Balkans.” Journal of International Economics 144 (2023): 103794. ISSN 0022-1996
The limited market size of many small emerging economies is a key constraint to the growth of innovative small and medium enterprises. Exporting offers a potential solution, but firms may struggle to locate and appeal to foreign buyers. We conducted a six-country randomized experiment with 225 firms in the Western Balkans to test the effectiveness of 30 h of live group-based training and 5 h of one-on-one remote consulting in overcoming these constraints. Treated firms used techniques such as search engine optimization and improved Facebook content to increase their digital presence and better reach foreign customers. A year later, we find positive and significant impacts on the number of customers, and a significant intensive margin increase in export sales. Qualitative interviews suggest this improvement came from a combination of sector-specific advice on market expansion, and through an encouragement effect which gave entrepreneurs the confidence to try new sales strategies.