The aim of this paper is to discuss the state-of-the art and the directions for research on the make-orbuy problem. After thirty years of research efforts, we now have numerous contributions explaining different aspects of the nature and existence of the firm. The search for a unified theory,...

Many time series are of short duration because data acquisition has, of necessity, proceeded for but a brief term. Such data have previously often been analyzed by methods that either do not explicitly take into account time related changes or that are designed for long time series. In this...

L’obiettivo di questo lavoro è di analizzare, utilizzando dati di impresa, il rallentamento della produttività osservato in Italia a partire dagli anni ‘90. L’idea è di verificare se nel periodo 1996-2005 l’andamento della produttività aggregata è imputabile a un rallentamento...

We investigate whether Italian regions have converged in terms of output per worker because of physical capital accumulation, human capital accumulation or thanks to technological catch-up. In order to identify channels of convergence we adopt the methodology recently proposed by Wong (2007) and...

In questo lavoro si analizza l’efficacia dei corsi a livello pre-universitari diretti a colmare eventuali lacune nelle competenze di base degli studenti. La nostra analisi riguarda gli effetti prodotti da un progetto che all’inizio dell’anno accademico 2008-09 ha offerto agli studenti...

This paper assesses the impact of R&D efforts on production in the North and Centre-South of Italy by using a panel of 1203 manufacturing firms over the period 1998-2003. The estimations are based on a nonlinear translog production function augmented by a measure of R&D spillovers. This measure...

The relationship between firms and environment is complex. The impact that firms have on the environment include the use of primary resources to make products and the production of wastes and emissions. The impact of firms’ products on the environment, moreover, is not negligible....

Liquorice root has been dug up and traded for centuries in a Euro-Asiatic belt stretching from the Iberic Peninsula to Eastern China. In this area it was possible to distinguish three different cultural traditions and markets: the Mediterranean and Middle East one, the Indian and the Chinese,...

In this paper we carry out an evaluation of the effectiveness of monetary incentives in enhancing student performance using a randomized experiment involving undergraduate students enrolled at a Southern Italian University. Students participating at the experiment were assigned to three...

In this paper we propose a new method of single imputation, reconstruction, and estimation of non-reported, incorrect or excluded values both in the target and in the auxiliary variables where the first is on ratio or interval scale and the last are heterogeneous in measurement scale. Our...