This projects uses a mixed (qualitative and quantitative) research strategy to investigate what makes a succesfull peace accord. Fontana and Masiero (2022) is the first output of this project.

Language pervades social life. Therefore, it is often the case that policies which are not aimed at affecting the linguistic domain do nonetheless have a language dimension. This implies that there are some variables within the policymaker toolkit which appear unrelated to language issues but may in fact affect the context in which language policy is implemented and exert an influence on the effects of language policy. This paper uses data from a large survey on language use in Switzerland to investigate the link between individuals’ language practices and variables that can be influenced by the policymaker.

One example of such “policy-actionable” variables is the set of rules for applying for and obtaining Swiss citizenship. Becoming a Swiss citizen is a long, complex, and costly process. As a consequence, many immigrant residents end up keeping their foreigner status. This implies that, at least at the legal level, the link with the country of origin remains intact and relevant. We hypothesize that strict citizenship rules generate a hidden incentive for immigrants to keep “more connected” to their country of origin, in particular through the frequent use of their origin language. We use data on about 3,000 immigrants in Switzerland and analyze immigrants’ likelihood of using their language of origin on a daily basis. The independent variable of interest is whether the individual has a Swiss citizenship. We also include a wide array of controls, such as age, sex, years of migration, etc. Results show that having a Swiss passport leads to a significant decrease in the predicted probability of using the origin language daily. The dependent variable is also negatively and significantly correlated with having a Swiss partner and with the years of migration.

While the results of our empirical analysis cannot be interpreted in a causal fashion, we argue that the significant associations we find call for further investigation into the hidden language-use incentives of non-language policies. For example, while there is a clear positive side to maintaining a strong link with the country of origin (a goal endorsed by Switzerland's official discourse about migration policy after the country explicitly moved away from assimilationist policies), the patterns of language use associated with the maintenance of skills in one's "heritage language" may complexify other social processes, such as the development of a sense of belonging and connection with the country where one resides.

This paper investigates the impact of broadband diffusion on the evolution of crime and empirically tests the prediction in Routine Activity Theory that routine-changing technologies affect delinquency patterns. I employ state-level data on high-speed Internet penetration and criminal activity in the United States from 2000 to 2012. To tackle the endogeneity of broadband diffusion, I rely on a novel set of technologically motivated instrumental variables. The outcomes confirm the Routine Activity Theory’s prediction. The impact of high-speed Internet diffusion on crime is negative, it is only significant for property offenses, and it is stronger on younger age cohorts. Concerning the underlying mechanism, the results provide support to the idea that a time use effect is at play, whereby the change in leisure time routines brought about by the Internet may have reduced the availability of criminal opportunities – and thus crime levels.