In this paper we investigate the existence and the size of geographical differences in Italian students’ mathematical competencies. We analyze a novel data set that combines the 2003 wave of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with information about local economic...

Private school enrolment may lead to worse subsequent performance in further education or in the labour market. If students differ in their ability not only to pay but to take advantage of educational opportunities (“talent” for short), private schools attract a worse pool of students when...

School vouchers introduced recently in some Italian regions have lowered the cost of private schools. On the one hand, we provide evidence that Italian private schools may be selected for different reasons other than quality considerations. On the other hand, by exploiting individual data on...

This paper presents a case study of the national academic competition for associate professorship which took place in Italy during the academic year 1997-98. The two-stage selection procedure led to the appointment of 44 associate professors of Economics (discipline code P01A – Economia...

The paper introduces mobility costs and non-competitive wage setting into the spatial equilibrium model to analyse regional differences in rents, wages, unemployment and populations. It also considers the impact of policies, such as transfer payments to households and subsidies to firms, and...