Dropping the books and working off the books

irregular employment, underground economy, dual informal sector, occupational choice, education, school drop-out, North and South divide Abstract: The paper empirically tests the relationship between underground labour and schooling achievement for Italy, a country ranking badly in both respects when compared to other high-income economies, with a marked duality between North and South. In order to identify underground workers, we exploit the information on individualsÂ’ social security positions available from the Bank of ItalyÂ’s Survey on Household Income and Wealth. After controlling for a wide range of socio-demographic and economic variables and addressing potential endogeneity and selection issues, we show that a low level of education sizeably and significantly increases the probability of working underground. Switching from completing compulsory school to graduating at college more than halves this probability for both men and women. The gain is slightly higher for individuals completing the compulsory track with respect to those having no formal education at all. The different probabilities found for self-employed and dependent workers support the view of a dual informal sector, in which necessity and desirability coexist.

Vertical specialisation in Europe: Evidence from the import content of exports

We use input-output tables to estimate the import content (IC) of exports for several European countries, interpreting this as a measure of internationalisation. Between 1995 and 2000 the IC grew everywhere but in France; the transport equipment sector emerged as the most internationalised one. The change we detect for a set of EMU countries is remarkable when compared with previous estimates over the 20-year period between 1970 and 1990. Italy and Germany showed very different patterns, although both started from a very low level of IC. Italy experienced the weakest growth and Germany the most sizeable rise. We argue that Italian firms might have felt less pressured to transform their organisation due to the delayed effects of the 1992 and 1995 Lira crises.external trade, outsourcing, import content, input-output analysis

FDI and Corporate Geography in the Home Country

This paper contributes to the empirical literature on the home-country effects of FDI. Instead of comparing FDI firms to non-FDI firms, we look at what happens within multi-plant FDI firms and we compare headquarters to onheadquarter plants belonging to the same firm. Using survey data on Italian industrial firms, we find that in FDI firms non-headquarter plants show a significantly worse performance in terms of employment and investment than headquarter plants. This suggests that the home-country effects of FDI tend to be biased in favour of headquarters.foreign direct investment, multi-plant firms, employment, Italy

Economic and Financial Statistics Department Balance of Payments Division Domestic value added content of exports: a cross-country comparison for the major European economies

Abstract By matching data from foreign trade statistics, National Accounts and input-output tables the analysis aims to evaluate the stimulus to growth supplied by exports. It does so taking apart the impact of the international outsourcing between 2000 and 2007 for the major European economies, i.e. Germany, Italy and France. In place of the simple value of gross exports, two indicators, direct value added content and domestic value added, try to measure the domestic effects generated by exports. In the same vein, the paper proposes a proxy to measure labour share in the three countries' exports

Domestic value added content of exports: a cross-country comparison for the major European economies

Abstract By matching data from foreign trade statistics, National Accounts and input-output tables the analysis aims to evaluate the stimulus to growth supplied by exports. It does so taking apart the impact of the international outsourcing between 2000 and 2007 for the major European economies, i.e. Germany, Italy and France. In place of the simple value of gross exports, two indicators, direct value added content and domestic value added, try to measure the domestic effects generated by exports. In the same vein, the paper proposes a proxy to measure labour share in the three countries' exports

Rising protectionism and global value chains: quantifying the general equilibrium effects

Quantifying the effects of trade policy in the age of ’global value chains’ (GVCs) requires an enhanced analytical framework that takes the observed international input-output relations in due account. However, existing quantitative general equilibrium models generally assume that industrylevel bilateral final and intermediate trade shares are identical, and that the allocation of imported inputs across sectors is the same as the allocation of domestic inputs. This amounts to applying two proportionality assumptions, one at the border to split final goods and inputs, and another behind the border to allocate inputs across industries. In practice, neither assumption holds in available inputoutput data sets. To overcome this limitation of existing models, we consider a richer input-output structure across countries and sectors that we can match with the actual structure reported in inputoutput tables. This allows us to investigate the relation between the effects of changes in trade policies and GVCs. When we apply the enhanced quantitative general equilibrium model to the assessment of the effects of Brexit, we find trade and welfare losses that are substantially larger than those obtained by previous models. This is due to the close integration of UK-EU production networks and implies that denser GVCs amplify the adverse effects of protectionist trade policies

OSTEOBLAST-DERIVED EXTRACELLULAR VESICLES AND BONE

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are newly appreciated regulators of tissue homeostasis and a means of intercellular communication. Reports investigated the role of EVs and their cargoes in cellular regulation and have tried to fine-tune their biotechnological use, but to date very little is known on their function in bone biology. To investigate the relevance of EV-mediated communication between bone cells, we isolated EVs from primary mouse osteoblasts and assessed membrane integrity, size and structure by transmission electron microscopy and fluorescence-activated cell sorting. EVs actively shuttled loaded fluorochromes to osteoblasts, monocytes and endothelial cells. Moreover, osteoblast EVs contained mRNAs shared with donor cells. Osteoblasts are known to regulate osteoclastogenesis, osteoclast survival and function by the pro-osteoclastic cytokine, Rankl. Osteoblast EVs were enriched in Rankl, which increased after PTH treatment. These EVs were biologically active, supporting osteoclast survival. EVs isolated from rankl-/- osteoblasts lost this pro-osteoclastic function, indicating its Rankl-dependence. They integrated ex-vivo into murine calvariae, and EV-shuttled fluorochromes were quickly uptaken by the bone upon in vivo EV systemic administration. Rankl-/- mice lack the osteoclast lineage and are negative for its specific marker TRAcP. Treatment of rankl-/- mice with wildtype osteoblast EVs induced the appearance of TRAcP-positive cells in an EV density-dependent manner. Finally, osteoblast EVs internalized and shuttled anti-osteoclast drugs (zoledronate and dasatinib), inhibiting osteoclast activity in vitro and in vivo. We conclude that osteoblast EVs are involved in intercellular communication between bone cells, contribute to the Rankl pro-osteoclastic effect and shuttle anti-osteoclast drugs, representing a potential means of targeted therapeutic delivery. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserve

c-Src and IL-6 inhibit osteoblast differentiation and integrate IGFBP5 signalling

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and c-Src impair osteoblast maturation in vitro and in vivo. Given the similar effects of these factors, they are likely to establish a functional loop to maintain osteoblasts in a less mature status. Here we describe a pathway whereby c-Src stimulates IL-6 expression through the STAT3 factor, which, in response to IL-6 induces insulin-like growth factor 5 (IGFBP5), a c-Src activating factor that amplifies this loop only in immature osteoblasts. In contrast, in mature osteoblasts, IGFBP5 is enhanced by Runx2, but is no longer able to stimulate c-Src activation, as this tyrosine kinase at this stage is downregulated. We find that the IGFBP5 produced by osteoblasts stimulates osteoclastogenesis and bone resorption, acting as an osteoblast-osteoclast coupling factor. Finally, we demonstrate that the integrated actions of c-Src, IL-6 and IGFBP5 also have a role in vivo. We conclude that this pathway is relevant for bone metabolism, both in physiological and in pathological conditions

The antiinflammatory and antifibrotic effect of olive phenols and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513 in dextran sodium sulfate–induced chronic colitis

After a chronic intestinal injury, several intestinal cells switch their phenotype to activated myofi- broblasts, which in turn release an abnormal amount of extracellular matrix proteins, leading to the onset of the fibrotic process. To date, no resolutive pharmacological treatments are available, and the identification of new therapeutic approaches represents a crucial goal to achieve. The onset, maintenance, and progression of inflammatory bowel disease are related to abnormal intestinal immune responses to environmental factors, including diet and intestinal microflora components. This study aimed to evaluate the potential antiinflam- matory and antifibrotic effect of a biologically debittered olive cream and its probiotic oral administration in an experimental model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)induced chronic colitis. Methods: Chronic colitis was induced in mice by three cycles of oral administration of 2.5% DSS (5 d of DSS followed by 7 d of tap water). Mice were randomly divided into five groups: 10 control mice fed with stan- dard diet (SD), 20 mice receiving SD and DSS (SD+DSS), 20 mice receiving an enriched diet (ED) with olive cream and DSS (ED+DSS), 20 mice receiving SD plus probiotics (PB; Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513) and DSS (SD+PB+DSS), and 20 mice receiving ED plus PB and DSS (ED+ PB+DSS). Clinical features and large bowel macroscopic, histologic, and immunohistochemical findings were evaluated. Results: The simultaneous administration of ED and PB induced a significant reduction in macroscopic and microscopic colitis scores compared with the other DSS-treated groups. In addition, ED and PB led to a signif- icant decrease in the expression of inflammatory cytokines and profibrotic molecules. Conclusions: The concomitant oral administration of a diet enriched with biologically debittered olive cream and a specific probiotic strain (Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513) can exert synergistic antiinflammatory and antifibrotic action in DSS-induced chronic colitis. Further studies are needed to define the cellular and molecular mechanisms modulated by olive cream compounds and by Lactiplantibacillus plantarum IMC513

The role of osteoclasts in breast cancer bone metastasis

Breast cancer frequently metastasises to the skeleton, interfering with the normal bone remodelling process and inducing bone degradation. Bone degradation is caused by osteoclasts, the normal bone-resorbing cells. Osteoclast-mediated bone degradation subsequently leads to the release of bone-derived factors that promote skeletal tumour growth. Osteoclasts themselves stimulate tumour growth. This Review describes the molecular mechanisms through which osteoclasts and breast cancer cells collaborate with each other, triggering the formation of osteolytic bone metastasis