By means of a literature review this paper aims at shedding more light on the potentialities of unhealthy food/drink taxation in changing eating patterns and life styles and hence combating the obesity epidemic. One remarkable point that emerges when assessing the set of selected papers is the...

It is generally accepted that fiscal decentralization increases citizen control over politicians, fostering accountability and increasing efficiency. We identify the socioeconomic characteristics of citizens that increase their control over local policy makers and thus generate greater...

We examine the effects of a comprehensive school-based health education programme (introducing healthy habits in the curriculum) to combat childhood obesity in the mid-size urban city of Granollers (Catalonia, Spain). The intervention was carried out between 2006 and 2008. New anthropometric...

Elasticities are estimated for long-run solutions of Markov chains of income distribution for the European regions. The results indicate that there will be no major changes in these long-run solutions for lower income states in the Markov chain and that effects on higher income states will be...

Using Labour Force Survey individual-level data recently released by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) where information is for the first time at available at provincial level, this paper looks at the short-term effects of the L’Aquila earthquake on labour market outcomes. Our...

This paper analyses the extent to which peer influence on adolescent weight differs in a typical southern European country and in the United States, two geographical areas characterised by different economic, socio-cultural and environmental patterns. Our study is based on a survey of secondary...

It is generally accepted that fiscal decentralization increases citizens control over politicians, fostering accountability and increasing efficiency. This article identifies the socioeconomic characteristics of citizens (potential voters) that increase their control over local policy-makers and...

Neoclassic economic growth studies should considerate differentiation of economies taking into account structural parameters for different groups of regions. The estimation of Verdoorn law conditioning by means of initial levels of some structural parameters allows confirming the idea to...