The paper examines the development of Italy�s public finances after the consolidation period 1992-97, which secured participation in the European Monetary Union from the outset. The �structural� developments in the main budgetary components are assessed, excluding the effects of...

We examine the role of information networks in job-search outcomes of displaced individuals. We draw on longitudinal Social Security records covering the universe of worker-firm matches in a tight labor market in Northern Italy. Unlike previous research, we focus on workplace networks whose...

A large literature investigates the role of frictions in explaining labour market dynamics. Their presence is often summarized by an aggregate matching function relating the number of job matches to total unemployment and total vacancies. Most empirical specifications, however, are only reduced...

The labour market status of many non-working persons is at the boundary between unemployment and inactivity. Like the unemployed, they seek and are available for work; unlike them, their last search action was not recent enough to meet the ILO definition of unemployment. In this paper we examine...

I analyze empirically the effects of both urban and industrial agglomeration on men�s and women�s search behavior and on the efficiency of matching. The analysis is based on a unique panel data set from the Italian Labor Force Survey micro-data, which covers 520 randomly drawn Local...

One of the most widely cited labour market indicators, the unemployment rate, is based on a conventional definition of unemployment. In Italy, following the ILO recommendations, the �unemployed� category comprises all persons who state to look for a job, to be immediately available for...

We propose a structural model of two-sided matching and a semi-parametric procedure for its estimation that allow to analyze determinants of managers’ compensation such as firm’s and manager’s quality, production technology, bargaining power and inter-temporal preferences. We use the...

We document the effects of a change in the Italian Ordinary Unemployment Benefits Scheme on the job search process. As of January 2001, the replacement rate was raised from 30% to 40% and benefits� duration extended from 6 to 9 months for workers aged 50 or more. Our results show that (a)...

We suggest the use of an index of Internet job-search intensity (the Google Index, GI) as the best leading indicator to predict the US monthly unemployment rate. We perform a deep out-of-sample forecasting comparison analyzing many models that adopt our preferred leading indicator (GI), the more...

We use the Italian Labour Force Survey and the European Household Panel Survey to analyse the distribution of the reservation wages reported by jobseekers. In Italy, reservation wages appear to be higher in the South - the low income and high unemployment area of the country - than in the North...