We discuss the role of key regions in spatial development. Local productivity shocks can affect the entire economy as they expand via tight connections in the domestic production network and in uence the geographical allocation of labor. In particular, we identify the set of key regions with the...

The business performance of firms in the creative high-tech sector shows much variation. This paper examines whether the geographical location of such business firms influences the performance of these firms. The overarching analysis framework of this paper emerges from the recently developed...

A cross-sectional relationship between price dispersion among Russian regions and per capita income dispersion is used to measure the degree of integration between regional commodity markets. The sequence of cross-sectional estimations for each month of the period spanning 1992 through 2000...

In this work, we evaluate the exposure of Italian regions to the risk associated with the spread of COVID-19 through a two-step value chain approach. First, we estimate the degree of participation of Italian regions in a plurality of value chains linked to consumption, investment and exports. We...

Imagine an impoverished region that becomes eligible for a generous transfer programme (the treatment). Imagine difference-in-differences analysis (DiD)-a before-and-after comparison of the income-level handicap-shows that the handicap has risen. Most observers would conclude to the policy's...

We analyze investment decisions when information is costly, with and without delegation to an agent. We use a rational-inattention model and compare it with a canonical signal-extraction model. We identify three "investment conditions". In "sour" conditions, no information is acquired and no...

We explore the long run socio-economic impact of a medieval urban governance setting , the king-owned towns (KOTs). For a town the KOT status implies special fiscal, commercial and administrative prerogatives between the community and the Crown, where such as status could be renovated, modified...

Urban governance has been considered a key feature in the political and economic development in Europe in the medieval and early modern times. This paper aims to explore the different institutional settings that characterized the community organization in the Kingdom of Naples, with a particular...

According to the literature, historical episodes of local self-governing institutions can explain why differences in socio-economic performances among different territories can persist over centuries. Such assumption has been tested comparing free city-states (Communes) and feudal towns in...

This paper proposes a sectoral extension to STREAM, the Bank's main macroeconometric model. The extension documented in this paper borrows heavily from linking integration strategies prevalent in literature. The approach utilised here however, differs in two main ways when compared to existing...