In the aftermath of the euro-area sovereign debt crisis, several commentators have questioned the favourable treatment of banks' sovereign exposures allowed by the current prudential rules. In this paper, we assess the overall desirability of reforming these rules. We conclude that the...

This paper traces the evolution of the Italian industrial structure from the second postwar period up to today, which is mainly characterized by small-sized firms. Over time small businesses have been organized first, polyarchically in industrial districts then, hierarchically in business...