Governance: A Soft Revolution with hard Political and Legal Effects

El supuesto básico de este artículo es que la gobernanza señala un alejamiento de los dos pilares del proyecto moderno: la democracia representativa y las instituciones legislativas. La gobernanza, como fenómeno institucional complejo, que va mucho mas allá de la participación, ha desestructurado sensiblemente los dos principales puntos de referencia de la democracia moderna: pueblo y territorio. Su trato inclusivo y abierto no ha impedido el surgimiento de un lado oscuro, hecho de modos exclusivos: un teatro sin publicidad. Desde la perspectiva de las transformaciones este artículo pone en evidencia la emergencia de una normatividad cambiante y fluida, capaz de adaptarse a las especificidades y a la variabilidad de situaciones y procesos, ofuscando inevitablemente la misma primacía de la legislación.The basic assumption of this article is that governance marks a departure from the two pillars of the project of modernity: representative democracy and legislative institutions. Governance, as a complex institutional phenomenon that goes far beyond participation, has significantly deconstructed the two main points of reference of modern democracy, that is, people and territory. Furthermore, its inclusive and open nature has not prevented the emergence of a dark side, made of exclusive modes: a theater without publicity. From the perspective of transformations, this article highlights the emergence of a changing and fluid normativity, one capable of adapting to the specificity and the variability of situations and processes, inevitably eclipsing the primacy of the legislation itself

The risk of bleeding and encephalopathy in surgical patients with liver cirrhosis

Liver cirrhosis is a disease with an increasing incidence. Surgical procedures in patients with cirrhosis are also increasing, due to a longer life expectancy in these patients and also to the improvement of therapeutic and diagnostic resources. Digestive hemorrhage in the cirrhotic patient requires emergency medical intervention (intensive therapy, endoscopic or even surgical approaches), being at the same time a factor that precipitates episodes of encephalopathy, i.e. the conventional complication of cirrhosis. Hepatic encephalopathy represents one of the most severe clinical events of cirrhosis, being associated with high morbidity and mortality. The causes of hepatic encephalopathy are briefly presented in this paper. Therapeutic approaches currently available consist in the administration of non-absorbable disaccharides such as lactulose and non-absorbable antibiotics such as rifaximin. New therapeutic perspectives are under evaluation, e.g. ammonia scavengers and the modulation of gut microbiota. Clotting disorders in patients with liver cirrhosis are more severe as the disease progresses and involves complex mechanisms, as presented in this review. The correction of possible disorders of hemostasis should be promptly made as a sine qua non condition prior to surgery

Social Preferences and the Third Sector: Looking for a Microeconomic Foundation of the Local Development Path

The aim of the paper is to endorse the principle, recurrent in non-profit literature, that the third sector is an institution that supports the development process of economic systems. The third sector is considered as an institution that âÃÂÃÂfavors, transmits and cementsâÃÂàthe role of social preferences in a given economy and, in this way, it contributes to development. The paper thus considers two stances taken up in economic theory: (i) the theory of social preferences; (ii) the modern theory of development. These two stances do not exclusively and specifically refer to the third sector, and they generally follow parallel paths, rarely being aware of each other: in the paper, the third sector is assumed to form a bridge between them in that social preferences are supposed to be one of the driving forces in the change process of an economy.endogenous social preferences; third sector; local development

Health, Lifestyle and Growth

In this paper I will try to explain why lifestyle may have a positive impact on economic growth. First of all, I consider health affecting consumer’s utility and then define a Health Production Function where health is the output and consumer good the input. In this approach a parameter named Lifestyle Return to Scale (LRS) is defined. The first result is that an increase of consumer’s personal income may have a positive or a negative effect on health. In other words health may be a normal or an inferior good. It depends on Lifestyle Return to Scale- According to this result, I compute a health multiplier and then modify the Solow Growth Model in which health is labour-augmenting. The result is a model in which the Lifestyle Return to Scale positively affects the income per capita and the income per capita growth.health; lifestyles; growth

Methods of analysis of local tourist systems

The phenomenon of tourism, due to the variables involved and their instability, is a highly complex and dynamic sector. Faced with an increasingly competitive market, characterized by political, economic and social megatrends which affect local performance, the role of the setting becomes significant. In fact, territorial properties, through tangible and intangible elements, can trigger the development process or,conversely, affect the evolution when the local context does not allow for growth conditions and management of competition. The variety of configurations, structures and phenomena within the territory make it a highly structured knowledge process, with the enhancing and upgrading of the local characteristics. However, one of the main problems is that legislation does not clarify the operational aspect of a definite boundary between Local Touristic System within the territorial context, deferring the need to identify approaches to the districts themselves. The choice of variables to investigate and the systemic reading that they should be given, determine the responsibility of creating a functional knowledge framework to the adoption of decision trajectories in line with territorial inclinations. The proposal that has inspired and supported the research presented in this paper can also be included within this context, with scientific applications and knowledge requirements needed by policy makers engaged in the drawing up and implementation of local development policiestourism; local systems; methodology of analysis; districts.

Identification in Structural Vector Autoregressions Through Graphical Modelling and Monetary Policy: A Cross-Country Analysis

There is an ongoing debate on how to identify monetary policy shocks in SVAR models. Graphical modelling exploits statistical properties of data for identification and offers a data based tool to shed light on the issue. We conduct a cross-country analysis, considering European Monetary Union (EMU), Japan and US. We obtain some important results. The information set of the monetary authorities, which is essential for the identification of the monetary shock seems to depend on availability of data in terms of higher frequency with respect to the policy instrument (US and Japan). Moreover, there is not yet a widespread consensus on whether or not the European Monetary Union should be considered as a closed economy. Our results indicate that EMU official interest rate depends on the US federal funds rate.monetary policy; SVAR; graphical modelling

The activation of KSHV lytic cycle blocks autophagy in PEL cells

This study confirms that autophagy is activated concomitantly with KSHV lytic cycle induction, and that autophagy inhibition by BECN1 knockdown reduces viral lytic gene expression. In addition, we extend previous observations and show that autophagy is blocked at late steps, during viral replication. This is indicated by the lack of colocalization of autophagosomes and lysosomes and by the LC3-II level that does not increase in the presence of bafilomycin A1 in primary effusion lymphoma (PEL) cells induced to enter the lytic cycle, either by TPA/sodium butyrate (BC3 and BCBL1) or by doxycycline (TRExBCBL1-Rta). The autophagic block correlates with the downregulation of RAB7, whose silencing with specific siRNA results in an autophagic block in the same cells. Finally, by electron microscopy analysis, we observed viral particles inside autophagic vesicles in the cytoplasm of PEL cells undergoing viral replication, suggesting that they may be involved in viral transpor

Preference Heterogeneity in Relation to Museum Services

The prevailing trends in the management of European museums underline the importance of additional museum services in fostering and encouraging the optimisation of cultural assets, while facilitating the collection of the necessary resources for conservation. The paper considers the case of the archaeological site of Paestum (Salerno) and presents an analysis of individual preferences in relation to specific policies of cultural heritage management, each characterised by the supply of different museum services. Since the diversity of these services can prompt different individual preferences, the analysis allows for heterogeneity of parameters among individuals.cultural goods; heterogeneous preferences; stated preference data; conjoint analysis; mixed logit;

Why without Pay? The Intrinsic Motivation between Investment and Consumption in Unpaid Labour Supply

This paper provides a theoretical model and an empirical investigation on unpaid labour regularly supplied in non profit organisations. The contribution is threefold. First, intrinsic motivation in unpaid labour supply is considered, taking into account simultaneity between investment and consumption motives. Second, we study the impact of family care responsibilities on the determination of unpaid labour supply. Third, the specific activity a person is engaged in is shown to have a significant relevance. Empirical analysis, on data from Indagine Multiscopo sulle Famiglie, Aspetti della Vita Quotidiana, 1997, shows that frequently supplied unpaid labour depends on intrinsic motivation, income, age, family responsibilities and the specific task carried out in non profit organisations. The analytical framework suggests that these determinants support the hypothesis that both investment and consumption motives interact in shaping unpaid labour supply, with a stronger impact of consumption purposes.unpaid labour; non profit organisations;

The Effect of Parental Background on Youth Duration of Unemployment

This paper analyses the relationship between unemployment among young Italians and their parents’ economic and cultural background. A search theory model was used to identify the direct and indirect effects of household financial situation and parental cultural and educational status on their employment prospects. The empirical specification of the model featured Lancaster’s (1985a) simultaneous estimate of two variables: duration of unemployment and accepted starting wage in a new job. The data was sampled from the European Community Household Panel for an eight-year period (1994-2001) with a specific focus on unemployed Italians below the age of thirty-six years who were living with their parents while looking for work. The study revealed that young people from disadvantaged social backgrounds experienced greater difficulties in finding a job than their more privileged peers. This trend was particularly marked in southern regions of Italy where, paradoxically, the discrepancy was more pronounced at higher levels of educational qualifications. In Northern Italy, on the other hand, young male graduates who finished their degree courses without a delay were unemployed for shorter periods. Finally, work experience was an influential factor to finding employment for all young Italians, irrespective of their residential area and educational experience.Simultaneous equation models; unemployment duration; job search; intergenerational mobility