We study if the combined significant reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio and increase in parental education observed in Italy between the end of IIWW and the end of 1980s had a significant impact on the educational attainment and labor market returns of a representative sample of Italians born...

The purpose of this paper is to provide an update of the empirical evidence on the private returns to education in Italy. First, we show that, whilst returns to education in Italy (based on gross wages) are in line with the European average, educational attainment is generally much lower...

We model the decisions of young individuals to stay in school or drop-out and engage in criminal activities. We build on the literature on human capital and crime engagement and use the framework of Banerjee (1993) that assumes that the information needed to engage in crime arrives in the form...

This paper summarizes new scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that among the many factors contributing to international development, the combination of education and health stands out as a root cause on which other dimensions of development depend. Much of this recent analysis is based...

The aim of this paper is describing a new methodology for mapping and measuring linguistic diversity in a territory. The three methods that have been created by the Centro di eccellenza della ricerca Osservatorio linguistico permanente dell'italiano diffuso fra stranieri e delle lingue immigrate...

In this study we analyze the effects of corruption on income inequality and poverty. Our analysis advances the existing literature in four ways. First, instead of using corruption indices assembled by various investment risk services, we use an objective measure of corruption: the number of...

How does future income uncertainty affect child labour and human capital accumulation? Using a unique panel dataset, we examine the effect of changes in climate variability on the allocation of time among child labour activities (the intensive margin) as well as participation in education and...

This paper considers the estimation of binary choice panel data models with discrete endogenous regressors. We present a switching probit model which accounts for selectivity bias as well as for other forms of time invariant unobserved heterogeneity. Individual effects are allowed to be...

This paper analyses the issue of money superneutrality through an intertemporal optimising model of capital accumulation and inflation with endogenous fertility, i.e. endogenous population growth. The model establishes an inverse relation between capital-labour ratio and population growth, which...

This paper carries out an investigation into the socio-economic determinants of couples' childbearing decisions in Italy. Since having children is in most cases a 'couple matter', the analysis accounts for the characteristics of both the possible parents. Our results do not support established...