The empirical literature on the cost structure of multiproduct firms (e.g., public utilities providing in combination gas, water, and electricity) traditionally assumes a common technology across different products and stages of production, letting the issue of poolability unexplored. The...

<i> Liberalizzazione e integrazione verticale delle utilities elettriche: evidenza empirica da un campione italiano di imprese pubbliche locali </i> (di Emma Beccio, Massimiliano Piacenza) - ABSTRACT: In recent years changes of regulation in European electricity industry have been oriented towards a...

<i> Il trasporto pubblico locale in Italia: variabili esplicative dei divari di costo tra le imprese </i> (di Giovanni Fraquelli, Massimiliano Piacenza, Graziano Abrate) - ABSTRACT: The aim of the present study is to provide fresh evidence about the characteristics of cost structure of public transit...

Within the recent debate on liberalization of local public services, the paper investigates the cost properties of a sample of Italian public utilities providing in combination gas, water and electricity. The estimates from a Composite Cost Function econometric model (Pulley and Braunstein,...

The aim of this article is to provide new evidence on the factors affecting wine prices on both methodological and factual grounds. On the methodological ground, this study is the first to apply a general Box-Cox transformation within the context of hedonic models which exploit all the variables...

In a career-concern model of politics with endogenous candidacy and different types of politicians, following a decentralization reform, politicians with different skills are elected in municipalities characterized by different levels of autonomous resources. As an effect, consumer welfare...

We examine whether and to what extent political institutions explain different performances in income redistribution across countries. In particular, we first review available sources of data and measures of income redistribution, discussing the pros and cons of each one. Second, we outline a...

We exploit Italian law DPR 81/2009, which determines class composition, as an instrument to identify the causal effect of grouping students of different grades into a single class (multigrading) on children cognitive achievement. This article focuses on 7-year-old students - those at the...