One of the things taught by Sebastiano Brusco is that the firm taken as a unit of analysis may turn out to be too large or too small. Too large when we address the problem of the minimum efficient size, which must refer, not to the firm as a whole, but to each single stage of the production...

The theoretical literature on business cycles predicts a positive investment response to productivity improvements. In this work we question this prediction from theoretical and empirical standpoints. We fiÂ…rst show that a negative short-term response of investment to a positive technology...

The paper analyzes the VAT frauds issues in the European Union after the abolition of the internal customs.All the suggested solutions based on the origin principle create distortions in the “one market†and have a doubtful efficiency. The reverse-charge regime for all business to...

In this paper we focus on the intertemporal aspects of technological adoption. We consider a simplified model: firms produce an homogeneous good and adoption decisions concern a cost reducing technology. We focus on the issue of industrial leadership reversal. Imagine an industry facing a...

Issues of policy effectiveness and neutrality are widespread in the economic literature. They have been increasingly raised in specific contexts within the class of LQ (linear-quadratic) policy games in the last 20 years, notably with reference to monetary policy. The more general conditions...

Changes in social patterns and in social policies have profoundly transformed the Italian family and society. New technological and economic conditions have challenged the old pattern of production, employment and labour standards. Italy’s response has been a “limping...

European countries have progressively integrated from the point of view of trade and investment and have a common currency now. However, labour market and fiscal institutions have largely retained their national status. The aim of this paper is to examine: a) the possibility for trade unions of...

In this paper I consider the issue of indeterminacy of equilibrium in a general equilibrium model with incomplete markets and nominal assets. First, I present some classic results on nominal and real indeterminacy in those models. I then proceed to analyse a more recent literature that focused...

The paper accounts for the veto player system that dominates the decisions on the medium-term expenditure ceilings (the Financial Perspectives) and on the revenues (the Own Resources Decision) and for the joint decision-making mode that has been gradually introduced for the European...

The paper focuses on Federico Caffè’s outlook towards the problem of inflation. His attention for the claims of full employment didn’t prevent him from considering rigorously the negative impact of inflation on the economic system. His analysis stresses the incidence of «administrated...