Hub Premium, Airport Dominance and Market Power in the European Airline Industry.

Using evidence from an original dataset of more than 12 million fares, this study sheds light on two issues relating to the pricing behaviour of the main European airlines: 1) the extent to which an airline’s dominant position at the origin airport, at the route and the city-pair level affects the airlines’ market power; 2) whether fares follow a monotonic time path consistent with the pursuing of an inter-temporal price discrimination strategy. Our estimates reveal that enjoying a dominant position within a route is conducive to higher fares, possibly because of the limited size of many “natural monopoly” routes that facilitate the incumbent’s engagement in a limit pricing strategy. On the contrary, a larger share within a city-pair does not seem to facilitate the exercise of market power, thereby suggesting the existence of a large degree of substitutability between the routes in a city-pair.on-line pricing; price discrimination; dispersion; yield management.

Pricing strategies by European traditional and low cost airlines. Or, when is it the best time to book on line?

It is often assumed that the airlines’ fares increase monotonically over time, peaking a few days before the departure. Using fares for about 650 thousand flights operated by both Low-Cost and Full Service Carriers, we show several instances in which the monotonic property does not hold. We also show that the volatility of fares increase in the last four weeks before departure, which is the period when the airlines can formulate a better prediction for a flight’s load factor. Finally, especially within the last two weeks, Full Service Carriers may offer lower fares than those posted by Low Cost Carriers.on-line pricing; price discrimination; dispersion; yield management.

Pricing strategies by European Low Cost Carriers.

We introduce an on-line pricing tactic where airlines post, at the same time and for the same flight, fares in different currencies that violate the law of One Price. Unexpectedly for an on-line market, we find that price discrimination may be accompanied by arbitrage opportunities and that both tend to persist before a flight’s departure. We find discrimination to be of a competitive type, although arbitrage opportunities are more likely in concentrated routes. Finally, the evidence suggests that discrimination may be used to manage stochastic demand.on-line pricing; price discrimination; Law of One Price; sample selection; dispersion; airlines, exchange rate.

Pricing strategies by European traditional and low cost airlines: or, when is it the best time to book on line?

It is often assumed that the airlines’ fares increase monotonically over time, peaking a few days before the departure. Using fares for about 650 thousand flights operated by both Low-Cost and Full Service Carriers, we show several instances in which the monotonic property does not hold. We also show that the volatility of fares increase in the last four weeks before departure, which is the period when the airlines can formulate a better prediction for a flight’s load factor. Finally, especially within the last two weeks, Full Service Carriers may offer lower fares than those posted by Low Cost Carriers

Hub premium, airport dominance and market power in the European airline industry

Using evidence from an original dataset of more than 12 million fares, this study sheds light on two issues relating to the pricing behaviour of the main European airlines: 1) the extent to which an airline’s dominant position at the origin airport, at the route and the city-pair level affects the airlines’ market power; 2) whether fares follow a monotonic time path consistent with the pursuing of an inter-temporal price discrimination strategy. Our estimates reveal that enjoying a dominant position within a route is conducive to higher fares, possibly because of the limited size of many “natural monopoly” routes that facilitate the incumbent’s engagement in a limit pricing strategy. On the contrary, a larger share within a city-pair does not seem to facilitate the exercise of market power, thereby suggesting the existence of a large degree of substitutability between the routes in a city-pair

Pricing strategies by European low cost carriers

We introduce an on-line pricing tactic where airlines post, at the same time and for the same flight, fares in different currencies that violate the law of One Price. Unexpectedly for an on-line market, we find that price discrimination may be accompanied by arbitrage opportunities and that both tend to persist before a flight’s departure. We find discrimination to be of a competitive type, although arbitrage opportunities are more likely in concentrated routes. Finally, the evidence suggests that discrimination may be used to manage stochastic demand

LA DIDATTICA DELL’ITALIANO TRA LINGUA E LETTERATURA NELLE GRAMMATICHE POSTUNITARIE

Il contributo analizza con quali modalità gli autori di grammatiche scolastiche postunitarie abbiano messo in pratica il ruolo di modello educativo, patriottico e linguistico della letteratura. Per farlo, l’autrice si avvale di un piccolo campione di dieci testi editi dopo l’Unità e prima della Riforma Gentile. Il punto di vista privilegiato per l’analisi è quello delle esercitazioni, in quanto gli autori attingono alla lingua letteraria per esercizi ed esempi. Il lavoro prende in esame la struttura delle grammatiche e il canone letterario proposto in esse; poi si concentra sul tipo di operazione che si richiede di fare negli esercizi utilizzando il testo letterario e infine fa riferimento agli altri tipi di testo presenti negli stessi esercizi. Dall’analisi così effettuata emerge che nelle grammatiche postunitarie brani tratti da opere letterarie (testi in prosa e in versi, appartenenti a diversi registri e prodotti nell’arco di cinque secoli) si mescolano a materiale linguistico inventato, in un composito panorama. Chiude l’intervento una breve riflessione sull’utilizzo dei testi letterari nell’insegnamento attuale della lingua italiana. Teaching italian language and literature using post-unitarian grammar books This paper analyzes how the post-unification authors of school grammar books put the role of an educational, patriotic and linguistic model of literature into practice. To do so, the author uses a small sample of ten texts published after the Unification and before the “Gentile” Reform. The analysis focuses on the exercises, since the authors drew on literary language for exercises and examples. The structure of grammars and the literary language proposed in them is examined; then it focuses on the types of operations required in the exercises based on the literary texts and finally considers the other types of texts present in the same exercises. The analysis shows that in the grammar books, extracts from literary works (texts in prose and verse, belonging to different registers spanning over five centuries) are mixed with invented linguistic material, in a composite panorama. Finally, there is a short reflection on the use of literary texts in current Italian language teaching

Appartenenze virali. Nuovi italiani e italianità su TikTok = Viral Belongings. New Italians and Italianità on TikTok

In recent years, TikTok has been the fastest-growing social network among younger generations. However, it has also been the least ethnographically investigated. In Italy, some new Italians have achieved celebrity primarily (but not exclusively) through videos centered on irony and humor on racism and overturning identity and cultural diversity stereotypes. They have produced complex and contradictory subaltern voices that transcend the boundaries of various hegemonic national identities. Their videos seem to position themselves outside and against the “contested narratives” of migrant literature and second-generation associations, two phenomena that have represented both the most structured attempt to acquire a voice in the public space and one of the objects of scientific interest concerning the presence of migrant children in Italy. Although aware of the centrality of migration in the construction of identity in Italy, the contribution examines the production of some Tiktokers coming from migration around the theme of Italianità (“Italianness”) from a perspective that aims to overcome a strictly migration-oriented approach in the study of social processes related to New Italians. On the one hand, the ironic strategies used by TikTokers challenge their subaltern social positioning (expressing the ambition to become viral and successful), and on the other hand, their supposed cultural belonging (being necessarily connected to their origins). The irony used by TikTokers towards some central themes in the construction of Italianness (language and “race”) contributes to a redefinition of the concept of Italianità itself, thanks to the success of these content creators

La lingua delle grammatiche scolastiche italiane edite dal 1919 ai giorni nostri

La tesi di ricerca, oltre a proporsi di continuare il lavoro di Maria Catricalà (L'italiano tra grammaticalità e testualizzazione. Il dibattito linguistico-pedagogico del primo sessantennio postunitario, Firenze, Accademia della Crusca, 1995), si inserisce nel contesto del dibattito sempre vivo in merito all'educazione linguistica in Italia e si rende necessaria alla luce delle recenti e meno recenti messe in discussione della qualità dei testi grammaticali più adottati nelle nostre scuole. Il lavoro svolto si può suddividere in tre fasi: la delimitazione dell'ambito della ricerca, sulla base della ricca letteratura sull'argomento e dei precedenti dell'indagine (scelta della tipologia e cronologia dei testi, definizione dei criteri di analisi); il recupero della bibliografia primaria, ovvero il censimento di poco meno di un migliaio di grammatiche scolastiche edite in Italia dal 1919 ai giorni nostri; l'analisi di una serie di "punti critici" dell'italiano così come è trattata nelle grammatiche descrittive e normative di ieri e di oggi, nella prospettiva di osservare l'evoluzione dell'atteggiamento normativo nel corso del Novecento attraverso i testi scolastici

Foraminiferal biotopes in a shallow continental shelf environment: Esperance Bay (southwestern Australia)

The Great Australian Bight is a large carbonate cold water environment located on the central and western portions of the southern Australia. Seagrasses (Posidonia sp.) and macroalgae benthic habitats are widely distributed in the shallow water environment of southern Australia, contributing to the carbonate factory. This study investigated the distribution of modern benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the microtidal wave-dominated inner-shelf of Esperance Bay (southwestern Australia), that lies on the western margin of the Great Australian Bight. Benthic foraminifera were taxonomically identified and biotic parameters (species richness, density, Fisher-α index, Shannon–Weaver index, dominance) were calculated. Multivariate analyses (Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Principal Component Analysis) were performed to understand foraminiferal distribution in the context of environmental conditions. Four main Foraminiferal assemblages have been recognized: (I) a nearshore assemblage of dense seagrass meadow, dominated by Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus, Elphidium craticulatum, Elphidium crispum, Cibicidoides lobatulus, II) a second assemblage associated with unvegetated seabed (approximately 30 m depth) with Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus, Elphidium crispum, Quinqueloculina disparilis, III) a third assemblage in the central sector of the bay, characterized by a discontinuous and mixed seagrass-algae coverage with Lamellodiscorbis dimidiatus, Elphidium crispum, Elphidium macellum, Cibicides refulgens, and Quinqueloculina poeyana, and IV) an epiphytic assemblage of transitional zone from the coastline to the upper limit of a mixed seagrass-algae meadow, dominated by Elphidium crispum, Chrysalidinella dimorpha, Planulinoides biconcava, Planoglabratella opercularis, Rugobolivinella elegans. The spatial distribution of the four assemblages appears closely related to sediment texture, seagrass cover and depth, but it is also influenced by the shoreface morphology and the hydrodynamic energy. The understanding of the ecological parameters that influence benthic foraminiferal distribution, composition and assemblage structure within seagrass meadows is useful for paleoecological and paleoenvironmental interpretations