## Chiara Maggi

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Chiara Maggi](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/cv/pdfs/maggi-chiara.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/cv/pdfs/maggi-chiara.pdf.md)
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### Contact and profile
- Last updated 5th March, 2026
- Contact: cmaggi@imf.org
- Personal site: https://sites.google.com/cmaggi
- Citizenship: Italian

### Education
- Ph.D., Economics, Northwestern University, 2019
- M.Sc., Economics, Bocconi University, 2013, Summa cum Laude
- M.Res., Economics, Catholic University of Louvain, 2013 (Joint Degree w/ Bocconi), Great Distinction
- B.A., Economics, Bocconi University, 2010, Summa cum Laude

### Employment
- Economist, International Monetary Fund, Research Department, World Economic Outlook Division (from September 2022)
- Economist (Economist Program), International Monetary Fund, Middle East and Central Asia Department, Morocco desk (March 2021 - August 2022)
- Economist (Economist Program), International Monetary Fund, Research Department, Structural Reforms Division (September 2019 - March 2021)
- Fund Internship Program, International Monetary Fund, Research Department, Open Economies Division (June - August 2016)

### Selected publications — empirical findings and policy-relevant conclusions
- "Geoeconomic Fragmentation and Commodity Markets", with Jorge Alvarez, Mehdi Benatiya Andaloussi, Alexandre Sollaci, Martin Stuermer and Petia Topalova (all IMF). Accepted for publication at the Journal of International Money and Finance.
  - Uses a novel dataset of production and trade of 48 key commodities.
  - Calibrates a partial equilibrium model for each commodity market to compare integrated vs fragmented trade regimes.
  - Finds fragmentation can trigger sizable price changes, particularly for minerals critical to the clean energy transition such as lithium, cobalt, and copper, and for key agricultural commodities like soybeans.
  - Measures economic relevance by changes in consumer and producer surplus; effects vary across countries and can be substantial for some, while offsetting effects across commodity exporters and importers imply modest surplus losses for the world as a whole.
- "Supporting SMEs during COVID-19: The Case for Targeted Equity Injections", with Federico J. Diéz (IMF) and Romain Duval (IMF). Economic Letters.
  - Builds on firm-level balance sheet projections for a sample of European economies.
  - Simulates policy interventions to address insolvency risks among SMEs after the COVID-19 crisis.
  - Finds equity injections are effective at dampening the rise in insolvencies.
  - Highlights cost effectiveness requires careful targeting: under one illustrative scenario, and leaving aside costs from imperfect information and implementation, the cost of a program targeting only those SMEs worth saving is just a tenth of the cost of an untargeted approach directed to all insolvent firms.
- "The Rise in Corporate Savings and Cash Holdings in Advanced Economies: Aggregate and Firm-Level Trends", with Mai Chi Dao (IMF). IMF Working Paper No. 18/262.
  - Documents a rise in gross savings and net lending of non-financial corporates across major industrialized countries over the last two decades.
  - Shows the rise is mostly driven by rising profitability and falling financing costs.
  - Finds higher corporate savings have not supported a commensurate increase in fixed capital investment and have instead led to a build-up of liquid financial assets (cash) on corporate balance sheets.

### Working papers and key empirical results
- "What is the Impact of Increased Business Competition?", with Sónia Félix (Banco de Portugal) and Lidia Smitkova (Oxford University). R&R Journal of Political Economy: Macroeconomics.
  - Studies macroeconomic effects and firm-level transmission channels of a reduction in business entry costs using a reform in Portugal that reduced entry time and costs as a natural experiment.
  - Uses staggered implementation across Portuguese municipalities and finds the reform increased local entry and employment by, respectively, 25% and 4.8% per year in the first four years.
  - Finds around 60% of the increase in employment came from incumbent firms expanding their size, with most of the rise occurring among the most productive firms.
  - Shows standard models assuming constant elasticity of substitution are inconsistent with the evidence; a model with heterogeneous firms and markups that vary endogenously with firm market share and the mass of operating firms accounts for the evidence.
  - Calibrated model indicates changes in the level and distribution of markups account for around 40% of the increase in employment and output.

### Research work in progress
- "Commodities Trade Fragmentation and Market Power", with David Shin (University of Tennessee) and Alexandre Sollaci (IMF).
- "Dissecting the Decline in Investment Rates: Shocks vs Responsiveness", with Alberto Ferreira (EUI) and Diaa Noureldin (IMF).

### World Economic Outlook (WEO) contributions
- "Industrial Policy: Managing Trade-Offs to Promote Growth and Resilience", with Shekhar Aiyar, Hippolyte Balima, Mehdi Benatiya Andaloussi, Thomas Kroen, Shrihari Ramachandra, Yu Shi, Simon Voigts, Sebastian Wende, Yarou Xu, and Jiaqi Zhao (all IMF). Chapter 3 in the October 2025 World Economic Outlook. IMF 2025.
- "Slowdown in Medium-Term Growth: What Will it Take to Turn the Tide?", with Nan Li, Diaa Noureldin, Cedric Okou, Alexandre Sollaci, and Robert Zymek (all IMF). Chapter 3 in the April 2024 World Economic Outlook. IMF 2024.
- "Fragmentation and Commodity Markets: Vulnerabilities and Risks", with Jorge Alvarez, Mehdi Benatiya Andaloussi, Christopher Evans, Marika Santoro, Alexandre Sollaci, Martin Stuermer and Petia Topalova (all IMF). Chapter 3 in the October 2023 World Economic Outlook. IMF 2023.
- "A Rocky Recovery", Mehdi Benatiya Andaloussi, John Christopher Bluedorn and Daniel Leigh (all IMF). Chapter 1 in the April 2023 World Economic Outlook. IMF 2023.
- "Inflation Peaking Amid Low Growth", with Mehdi Benatiya Andaloussi, Niels-Jakob Harbo Hansen and Daniel Leigh (all IMF). January 2023 World Economic Outlook Update. IMF 2023.

### Other IMF work (select)
- "Informality, Development and the Business Cycle in North Africa", with Azhin Abdulkarim, Adrian Alter, Shant Arzoumanian, Karim Badr, Hippolyte Balima, Aymen Belgacem, Olivier Bizimana, Roberto Cardarelli, Matt Gaertner, Mahmoud Harb, Mariam El Hamiani Khatat, Priscilla Muthoora, and Jerome Vacher (all IMF). MCD Departmental Paper. DP/2022/011. IMF 2022.
- "Inclusiveness, Growth and Stability", with Xin Tang (IMF). In "Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Middle East and North Africa", Chapter 2. IMF 2022.
- "Insolvency Prospects Among Small and Medium Enterprises in Advanced Economies: Assessment and Policy Options", with Federico J. Diéz (IMF), Romain Duval (IMF), Jose Carrido (IMF), Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan (U. Maryland), Maria Soledad Martinez Peria (IMF), and Nicola Pierri (IMF). IMF Staff Discussion Note 21/02.
- "Rising Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Bankruptcy and Insolvency Risks: Assessment and Policy Options", with Federico J. Diéz (IMF). October 2020 WEO Box 1.3.
- "Rising Corporate Market Power: Emerging Policy Issues", with Ufuk Akcigit (U. Chicago), Wenjie Chen (IMF), Federico J. Diéz (IMF), Romain Duval (IMF), Philipp Engler (IMF), Jiayue Fan (IMF), Marina M. Tavares (IMF), Daniel Schwarz (IMF), Ippei Shibata (IMF), and Carolina Villegas-Sánchez (ESADE). IMF Staff Discussion Note 21/01.

### Fellowships & awards
- 2021 National Productivity Board/ Banco BPI Prize "Productivity in the Portuguese Economy", for the paper "What is the Impact of Increased Business Competition?"
- 2018 Buffett Institute Dissertation Research Travel Award, Northwestern University, for the paper "What is the Impact of Increased Business Competition?"
- 2017-2018 Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, for the paper "What is the Impact of Increased Business Competition?"
- 2013-2018 Graduate Fellowship, Northwestern University
- 2014-2015 & 2015-2016 Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award, Northwestern University

### Refereeing, software, and languages
- Refereeing: The Review of Economic Studies, Journal of European Economic Association, European Economic Review.
- Software: Stata, Matlab, Dynare.
- Languages: Italian (native), English (proficient), French (professional).

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/cv/pdfs/maggi-chiara.pdf_