The paper estimates the effects of organized crime on FDI inflows in 103 Italian provinces in the period 2004-06. The presence of organized crime at a provincial level is quantified through several indicators, based on data for different kinds of crimes: extortion; association for criminal...

The paper estimates the effects of organized crime on FDI inflows in 103 Italian provinces in the period 2004-06. The presence of organized crime at a provincial level is quantified through several indicators, based on data for different kinds of crimes: extortion; association for criminal...

This paper examines the relationship between public spending and regional growth in Italy in the period 1996-2007. The main results suggest that, in the period examined, a phase of RO and beta-convergence in productivity took place. Despite the profound regional disparities existing in Italy,...

Tra le molte conseguenze dell'emigrazione italiana, rilevate dalla vasta letteratura esistente, non sono mai state sottolineate quelle sulle esportazioni dei prodotti italiani. Il presente articolo si concentra, per la prima volta in quest'ottica, su emigrazione e diffusione dei modelli di...

The recent work by E. Felice, "Perché il Sud è rimasto indietro", Bologna, Il Mulino, 2013, is rather a pamphlet than a book of economic history. In the present article, we discuss both the statistical series of regional GDP from 1871 until 2001 worked out by Felice (section 1), and the...

The debate on the «curse of natural resources» is a topical issue in empirical research on economic development. This paper examines the relationship between natural resources and growth rates in a cross-section of countries, by separately analyzing abundance of resources and dependence on...

Several recent papers argue that contracts provide reference points that affect ex post behavior. We test this hypothesis in a canonical buyer-seller relationship with renegotiation. Our paper provides causal experimental evidence that an initial contract has a highly significant and...

We present an international trade model with multiproduct firms. Firms are heterogeneously endowed with two types of capabilities that jointly determine the trade-off within firms between managing a large portfolio of products and producing at low marginal cost. The model can explain many of the...

This paper reports data from a laboratory experiment on two-period moral hazard problems. The findings corroborate the contract-theoretic insight that even though the periods are technologically unrelated, due to incentive considerations principals can benefit from offering long-term contracts...