During the early modern age, shaping the mechanisms and guarantees of financial and commercial transactions was the basis for the expansion of commercial markets: the beginning of market globalization was due not only to the discovery of a new continent and new trade routes, but also to the...

"We study the returns on education in Europe in a comparative perspective. We extend the model of de la Fuente [(2003). Human Capital in a Global and Knowledgebased Economy. part II: Assessment at the EU Country Level. Report for the European Commission], by estimating the values of the relevant...

"Disability insurance - the insurance against the loss of the ability to work - is a substantial part of social security expenditures in many countries. The benefit recipiency rates in disability insurance vary strikingly across European countries and the US. This paper investigates the extent...