This paper analyzes the results of two surveys conducted by the Bank of Italy in 2003, respectively among 1,900 and 500 Italian firms, on ownership structures, control and control transfers of non-listed firms, building upon similar surveys carried on in 1993. The aim of the research is to...

In this paper we investigate the relationship between the number of lawyers and civil litigation across Italian provinces over the period 2000-2005. First, we document the existence of a positive correlation between the number of lawyers and litigation. We then employ a 2SLS approach to verify...

We investigate the causal relationship between judicial efficiency and firm size across Italian municipalities exploiting spatial discontinuities in court jurisdictions for identification. The estimated coefficients suggest that the reduction of the length of civil proceedings could exert, all...

We estimate the contemporaneous effect of education on adolescent crime by exploiting the variation in crime rates between different cohorts and at different ages that followed a reform that raised the school-leaving age in Italy. A 1 percentage-point increase of the enrollment rate reduces...

We examine the impact of immigration on the residential market within urban areas. We develop a spatial equilibrium model that shows how the effect of an immigrant inflow in a district affects local housing prices through changes in how natives perceive the quality of their local amenities and...

We study an inflow of buyers who are less elastic because they lack both time and information. Theory predicts that sellers increase prices to expand surplus appropriation, even if marginal costs are non-increasing, but this effect weakens as market competition intensifies. Data from Italian...