This paper sets out the results of econometric analysis carried out on a closed sample of 519 Italian manufacturing firms in order to determine which variables affected the probability of a firm investing in ICT in the period 2001-03, and which variables have an impact on the level of ICT...

During the first half of the 1990s a pool of Italian judges carried out an investigation, named Mani Pulite (literally clean hands), that led many public officials to be prosecuted and convicted because of corruption. We show that Mani Pulite broke down the perverselinkage between corruption and...

In concurrence with the recent credit crisis, the Italian government tried to stimulate R&D expenditures through tax credit. We rely on this policy to identify the firm response to an exogenous countercyclical fiscal shock. Large heterogeneity by the size of cash is observed for firms in...

During the first half of the 1990s a pool of Italian judges carried out an investigation, named Mani Pulite (literally clean hands), that led many public officials to be prosecuted and convicted because of bribery and embezzlement. The impact of Mani Pulite was so much influential that since...

We use a unique and unexplored dataset to investigate the determinants and effects of mafia firms in Italy. Mafia may use several tools to expand its firms. However, in this paper, we show that they prefer political corruption to violence to expand mafia firms. In particular, they use the latter...

This work contributes to empirical studies on decentralization and corruption by trying to resolve the uncertainty that the literature so far has shown. It also gives reasons supporting the ‘best’ decentralization structure which a country can adopt to discourage corrupt behaviour, and...