We discuss and compare the variable population axioms of Critical Level (CL) and Population Replication Invariance (PRI) introduced in the economic and philosophical literature for evaluating distributions with different population size. We provide a common framework for analyzing these...

In this paper we test the existence of rational habit formation in a multivariate model for alcohol and tobacco consumption. The theoretical framework, based on a dynamic adjustment cost model with forward-looking behaviour, is enhanced to include the intertemporal interactions between the two...

Prof. G. Menegazzi was a Known Italian economist working in the mid of the twentieth century. His works are focused on the complex functioning of the economic systems and underline the importance of the aim of the actions of the economic agents and the consistency between aim and tools. The...

Because of its importance in understanding and explaining growth, the topic of innovation has received a huge attention in the economic literature. However, our knowledge of the factors that inuence in- novation and its related activities is not as exhaustive as it could be. The present study...

We start considering an optimal matching of opaque (transparent) borrowing firrms with relational (transactional) lending main banks. Next we contemplate the possibility that firm-bank "odd couples" materialize where opaque (transparent) firrms end up matched with transactional (re- lational)...

Monetary unions generally boost financial markets. But European private capital markets have progressed at an unsatisfactory pace even with the euro. What accounts for this? We focus on an increasingly key financial infrastructure: Rating Agencies (RAs). Taking an international perspective, we...

Parametric forecasts of future mortality improvements can be based on models with a small number of factors which summarise both the improvement in mortality and changes in the relationship between mortality and age. I extend the analysis of the two‐factor model of Cairns, Blake and Dowd...

Disaggregation arises when broad categories like households budget units are divided into elementary units as individual income recipients. We study the preservation of stochastic dominance for every order beyond two after disaggregation: If we observe a dominance relation among household income...

Being the G-7 country with the largest shadow-economy share, we posit that Italy's manufacturing firms - to counter emerging economies' competition - could alternatively offshore or enter the shadow economy. Within this context, we investigate, in a sample of Italian firms, whether...