This paper addresses the problem of the dualism of the Italian economy, particularly of its labor market. Although the Italian labor market is considered to be the most highly regulated among OECD countries, the unemployment rate in the North, which represents two thirds of the whole economy, is...

Central banks often use certain concentration indices in their official reports to determine the degree of intensity of competition, of which the most common are the concentration ratio and the Herfindahl-Hirschman index. It is important to emphasize that when calculating the value of these...

This paper explores the impact of technological change on industry concentration and the underlying firm dynamics. In the agent-based model EURACE@Unibi I implement a paradigm shift in the technological frontier - a shift from a slow to a fast growing regime. The analysis shows that the...

This paper offers a portrait of Italian firms that trade goods. Combining data on firms' structural characteristics and economic performance with data on their exporting and importing activity, we uncover evidence supporting recent theories on firm heterogeneity and international trade, together...

Anticompetitive mergers benefit competitors more than the merging firms. We show that such externalities reduce firms' incentives to merge (a holdup mechanism). Firms delay merger proposals, thereby foregoing valuable profits and hoping other firms will merge instead - a war of attrition. The...

The purpose of this report is to contribute to the analysis of two questions. Should a merger control system take into account efficiency gains from horizontal mergers, and balance these gains against the anti-competitive effects of mergers? If so, how should a system be designed to account for...