The paper reviews studies analysing the relationship between infrastructures and economic performance. Four different approaches are separately considered along an ideal path from theory-based to data-oriented models: the production function approach, the cost function approach, growth-models,...

This paper uses data contained in the Regional Public Accounts database to investigate the heterogeneity of the impact of public infrastructure across Italian regions basing the analysis also on institutional and political ground. The issue is here addressed linking the analysis of the impact of...

Beginning from the end of the 1980s many studies analysing the relation between infrastructures endowment and economic development have been realised. A general consensus is achieved around the idea that basic infrastructure facilities are important features related to economic performance,...

Interprovincial trade barriers are a drag on Canadian productivity and send an embarrassing message to international investors.Despite some past progress in reducing them, they remain an irritant to our economic union. Trade liberalization as pursued by Alberta and British Columbia in the TILMA...

The concept of resilience has attracted increasing interest in regional economics. In the flourishing literature, however, results are far from being conclusive, even when referring to the same case study. Undoubtedly, this mixed evidence potentially stems also from different operationalization...

This paper provides an interpretive synopsis of the results of a conference on inflation-induced distortions in financial reporting and taxation held in October 1981 at the height of the post-war inflation. It provides analysis of the magnitudes of the likely distortions in reporting and...

In this paper I present an empirical analysis of redistributive policies with particular attention to transfers. Theoretical considerations are compared with some empirical observations at three levels of analysis: supranational, national and sub-national. The main conclusion of my work is that,...

The paper presents an analysis of (Italian region) Sicilia’s financial flows using data from Regional Public Accounts. The paper is divided into two main parts. The first part of the work considers financial flows as a whole. The second part considers more in detail expenditure and revenue...

This paper reviews the issues that would arise if Quebec were to separate from Canada. It also presents quantitative estimates of the likely orders of magnitude of their economic impact both on Quebec and the Rest of Canada. Its overall conclusion is that Quebec would be much harder hit than the...

This paper argues that the two-percentage point cut in the GST to 5 per cent proposed by the Conservatives in the January 2006 Canadian federal election and implemented in the 2007 budget was not “stupid” as suggested by many economists. To the contrary, it fortuitously turned out to provide...