An input is inferior if and only if an increase in its price raises all marginal productivities. A sufficient condition for input inferiority under quasi-concavity of the production function is then that there are increasing marginal returns with respect to the other input and a non-positive...

Using a long-run series of I-O tables, some simple facts are explored with respect to the Italian trade balance in the period 1960-2000. The analysis confirms that the Italian economy underwent a de-specialisation process before the euro era. This phenomenon weakened our export capacity, and in...

It is argued that, differently from a diffuse practice among modern economists, one needs reading more than the first couple of pages of the Wealth of Nations in order to fully appreciate Smith’s contribution to the economics of exchange, innovation and economic evolution. In particular, by...

Using a long-run series of I-O tables, some simple facts are explored with respect to the Italian trade balance in the period 1960-2000. The analysis confirms that the Italian economy underwent a de-specialisation process before the Euro era. This phenomenon weakened our export capacity, and in...

A necessary and sufficient condition for an input to be inferior is that, taking into account the input adjustment, an increase of its price raises the marginal productivity of all inputs. Contrary to a widespread opinion, it is not necessary that (some) inputs are “rivals” (i.e., that some...