Italian university system was reformed in 2001. This paper tests the screening role of degree scores for 2004-Italian graduates. We find support of the strong screening hypothesis for prereform type degrees, while we do not find any evidence of signalling effects for post-reform 3-years degrees....

The paper explores the relationship between per capita income and three air pollutants, CO, NMVOCs and SOx, using a novel dataset based on the Italian regions. Given the central role of technological progress in long-term environmental problems, we empirically investigate the influence of...

Conventional RBC models have been heavily criticized for their inability to generate the estimated negative correlations of hours and productivity in response to technology shocks ('productivity-hours puzzle'). In this paper we show that by just enhancing the standard frame- work with investment...

In this paper I consider 28 developed and developing countries, in the period 1980- 1995, and I employ the Within Group and the Generalized Method of Moments estimators to test, respectively, for Total Factor Productivity determinants and labor productivity convergence driving forces...

I adopt the distribution dynamics framework to study labor productivity convergence, in the period 1980-1995, among 28 developed and developing countries, in different manufacturing sub-sectors, identified, as according their technological content into Resource Based, Low Technology, Medium...

Successful disinflation episodes have been shown to involve a sustained period of output contraction. We revisit the largely debated issue on the costs of different speed and timing of disinflations when monetary policy is implemented either via a money supply rule (MSR) or an interest rate rule...

Directed Acyclic Graphical (DAG) models are increasingly employed in the study of physical and biological systems, where directed edges between vertices are used to model direct influences between variables. Identifying the graph from data is a challenging endeavor, which can be more reasonably...

We study monetary policy in a New Keynesian (NK) model with endogenous growth and knowledge spillovers external to each firm. We find the following results: (i) technology and government spending shocks have different effects on growth; (ii) disinflationary monetary policies entail positive...

Using a long-run series of I-O tables, some simple facts are explored with respect to the Italian trade balance in the period 1960-2000. The analysis confirms that the Italian economy underwent a de-specialisation process before the Euro era. This phenomenon weakened our export capacity, and in...

We study Ramsey policies and optimal monetary policy rules in a model with sticky prices and unionized labour markets. Collective wage bargaining and unions monopoly power dampen wage fluctuations and amplify employment fluctuations relatively to a DNK model. The optimal monetary policy must...