The picture on disparities in productivity growth and in unemployment across European regions reveals the existence of a slow and not very systematic convergence of labor productivity toward a common level, and of an even more uncertain convergence of unemployment rates. This paper uses a...

This paper analyses the conditions under which a group of firms is incentivised to sign a voluntary agreement (VA) to control polluting emissions even in the presence of free-riding by other firms in the industry. We consider a policy framework in which firms in a given industry decide whether...

A vast body of literature has addressed in the last decade the influence of local externalities on industry location and growth. This literature has, however, paid not too much attention to the wider scenario where such phenomena are rooted, that of an ongoing process of structural change which...

This paper studies gender wage differentials in Italy using first-order predictions of monopsony-search models. It compares empirical predictions of these models against other competing ones of wage determination in non-competitive settings. The paper looks at the empirical relevance of the...

In models with heterogeneous …rms trade integration has a positive impact on aggregate productivity through the selection of the best …rms as import competition drives the least productive ones out of the market. To quantify the impact of …rm selection on productivity, we calibrate and...

This paper analyses the growth effects of high levels of human capital at the industry level. By favouring technology adoption, human-capital-intensive industries grow faster compared to less human-capital-intensive industries in economies that have higher levels of human capital. Using data for...

In recent years crossing the Alps has become a central issue in transport policy. The constant increase in global transport flow has contributed to bringing two distinct objectives to the centre of attention - making transalpine transportation of goods easier and reducing the negative impact of...

This paper offers an empirical analysis of the impact of reforms in the natural gas industry on consumer prices across the EU-15 area. After briefly reviewing the most recent reforms, we study the relationship between regulatory indicators and price dynamics by means of panel data econometrics....

This paper looks at the issue of border effects in the enlarged European Union. We have considered accession countries of different size and other characteristics, i.e. Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Latvia and Cyprus. We have measured the extent to which internal trade exceeds...

This paper develops a non-linear theoretical relationship between public spending and economic growth. The model identifies the “optimal” size of government and the “optimal” composition of government spending. Given the size of the government, different allocations of public resources...