He earned a Laurea Specialistica in Applied Economics at the University of Calabria (2007), a Master in Economics and Finance at the University of Naples Federico II (2008), a Research Doctorate in Economics at the University of Naples Parthenope (2012) and a PhD in Economics at the University of Essex (2014). He is a Fellow of the Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF) in Naples, and a Research Affiliate of the IZA Institute of Labor Economics in Bonn, the CESifo Network in Munich, the Health Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) at the University of York, and the Household in Conflict Network (HiCN) in Berlin. 

His research spans the fields of development, labor and political economics. Roberto’s work appeared in several international economic journals, including, among others: Journal of Public Economics, Journal of Development Economics, The Journal of Law and Economics, The Journal of Law, Economics, & Organization, Economic Policy, Demography. 

Roberto is the Principal Investigator of projects that have been funded by the European Economic Association (EEA), the Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance (EIEF), the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR), the UniCredit Foundation, UNU-WIDER, among others. He is recipient of the 2017 Etta Chiuri Prize, awarded by the Italian Association of Public Economics (SIEP) for the best paper written by an author under the age of forty, and of the 2020 VISITINPS Fellowship. He has also been a consultant for JA Europe, the Office of the Chief Economist, Europe and Central Asia (ECA) at The World Bank, and the Poverty Global Practice Group at The World Bank.