We investigate the empirical relationship between product market competition and prices in the retail grocery sector in the euro area. The study uses micro-data from ACNielsen on chain stores' census characteristics and price levels for a broad variety of products. We construct...

This paper deals with instability in regression coefficients. We propose a Bayesian regression model with time-varying coefficients (TVC) that allows to jointly estimate the degree of instability and the time-path of the coefficients. Thanks to the computational tractability of the model and to...

This article analyzes the practice of opportunistic poaching of consultants by clients with particular reference to the business consulting industry. The strategic interaction of consulting groups, client firms and consultants gives rise to a market equilibrium in a mixed economy. Under very...

In this collection of papers we first analyze the evolution of the Italian food industry and the retail trade sector during the past decade (Chapters 1 and 2). Chapter 3 describes the structure of large retailers and buying groups in Italy. Chapter 4 proposes alternative measures of the degree...

We conduct a regional analysis of the relationship between market concentration and price dynamics in the grocery retail sector, focusing on a sample of five categories of goods belonging to the 12 COICOP aggregation and on a panel of countries that includes Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy,...

Productivity is the main factor holding back long-term economic growth in Italy. Since the second half of the 1990s, productivity growth has been feeble both by historical standards and compared with the other main euro area countries. Understanding the reasons for such a performance and finding...