This paper analyzes the evolution of the natural gas distribution sector in Italy from the 2000 reform with the aim of evaluating the regulatory framework, its implementation and its effects on firms and consumers. Market fragmentation has diminished significantly over the years; however, the...

Social choice theory is concerned with the evaluation of alternative methods of collective decision-making, as well as with the logical foundations of welfare economics. In turn, welfare economics is concerned with the critical scrutiny of the performance of actual and/or imaginary economic...

This paper exploits the results of a survey conducted by the Bank of Italy in 2012 on a sample of 1,200 Italian manufacturers in order to analyse logistics costs, outsourcing and the features potentially impacting on the efficiency of the Italian supply chain. We also compare manufacturers'...

Using data from a Bank of Italy survey, this paper analyzes the Italian taxi market and its recent changes. Local regulations are rather homogeneous, while there is a widespread disproportion, within municipal advisory committees, between the number of representatives of taxi drivers and that of...

This paper studies the effects on local public transport of the reform begun in the late nineties, using data from a recent Bank of Italy survey. There are still substantial differences across Italy’s regions, and the level of efficiency is far from the original aims of the reform. Although...

Between 2003 and 2007 the volume of container traffic handled by the national port system increased only slightly despite the strong growth of maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea. This was due both to national economic stagnation and to the inability of the ports to extend their...

This paper presents a quantitative and analytical documentation to the debate on taxi service liberalization. The results of a survey of the Bank of Italy on the main Italian cities show that the supply of taxi is much lower than that of other foreign cities. The paper gives also some...

The banking industry is consolidating at an accelerating pace, yet not conclusive results have emerged on the benefits of mergers and acquisitions. We analyze the Italian market, which is similar to other main European countries.

This essay focuses on the nexus between economic theory and social legislation, as dealt with by Luigi Einaudi in his Lezioni di politica sociale (1942). For this purpose, the conceptual and analytical model used in Einaudi's book is identified, which is based on three main premises 1) the...