Francesco Cecchi

Francesco Cecchi is an Associate Professor in the Development Economics Group at Wageningen University & Research. His research focuses on development economics with a particular emphasis on behavioral and experimental approaches applied to microfinance, insurance, and risk mitigation in contexts of rural poverty. He has conducted fieldwork in Bolivia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Brazil, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, and Uganda.

His expertise spans agricultural economics, development economics, behavioral economics, and experimental methods. Current projects address topics like cooperative roles in climate adaptation, microcredit effectiveness, and social capital's role in disaster risk reduction. Cecchi employs randomized controlled trials and lab-in-the-field experiments to evaluate interventions such as crop insurance innovations and digital financial tools in Kenya.

Key research themes include understanding how contextual factors influence financial inclusion, insurance adoption, and gender disparities in earnings and resource allocation. His work bridges theoretical insights from behavioral economics with practical applications to enhance resilience among smallholder farmers and marginalized communities in developing regions.