The role of screening and cross-selling in bank-firm relationships

This paper presents a monopolistic competition model of a bank choosing the optimal level of the screening effort in the presence of cross-selling activities. We demonstrate that, in absence of informational synergies, the larger is the range of services that the bank produces, the lower is the optimal screening effort. The paper also analyses the impact of competition in the lending market on cross-selling activities and finds that, for sufficiently low levels of transportation costs, an increase in competition in the lending market increases the expected profitability of services, thus increasing banks’ incentives to engage in cross-selling activities.Policy games, policy effectiveness, controllability, Nash equilibrium existence, rational expectations

CHE COS'E' LA VITA? LA RIFLESSIONE CHE EMERGE DAL FARE SCIENZA IN EDOARDO BONCINELLI

Nel raccontare a scopo divulgativo l'evoluzionismo neo-darwiniano e le più recenti acquisizioni della genetica e della neurologia, Boncinelli colleziona una lunga serie di concetti-chiave che servono a descrivere tale processo e dunque la vita (che per lui si identifica con l'evoluzione). Ne emerge un discorso, suo malgrado, schiettamente filosofico - per quanto sempre collegato ai risultati della scienza e della tecnologia - che parte dall'origine del cosmo per poi avvicinarsi sempre più al centro del suo interesse, che è l'uomo e la sua mente. Nel leggerlo, impariamo moltissime cose, che sembrano avvicinarci all'essenza della vita. Ripercorrendo l'evoluzione culturale, che per lui deriva da quella biologica, egli arriva ad affrontare la mente e la coscienza, che rappresentano l'apice dell'intera storia. Proprio il fenomeno della coscienza apre però dei problemi all'interno della sua visione fin qui monista e riduzionista, che egli – con la sua consueta onestà intellettuale – non fa certo finta di non vedere, ma a cui forse non trova risposta

In which sense is Intellective Knowledge said to be "more true" than Scientific Knowledge? – A problematic comparison in Aristotle, An. Post. II 19.

At the very end of Posterior Analytics, Aristotle writes that “nothing apart from intel- lective knowledge (noûs) can be truer than scientific knowledge (epistēmē)”. This claim may sound problematic in consideration of the Aristotelian Principle of Exluded-Mid- dle, which states that there are no intermediate degrees between truth and falsity. In fact, Aristotle's logic leaves no room for incremental truths, so that a more circumstan- tial understanding of such alleged superior truth is needed. After a critical discussion of some literature on the topic, the meaning of Aristotle’s alēthésteron (‘more true’) shall be understood here as meaning: (1) more exact because of its unitary object, (2) more certain and convincing, (3) more orientative and guiding, (4) conceptually antecedent, and, finally, (5) more causative of truth. Intellective knowledge will emerge as a non-in- ferential way of understanding, whose positive truth-value will always be the same as the one guaranteed by scientific knowledge

Vancini, Macchi and the Voices for the (Hi)story of Bronte

none1The name of Egisto Macchi is inseparably linked to the documentary genre, which served as a testing ground throughout his career during the 1960s. For the majority of these non-fiction films he has recourse to original soundtracks that have no clear connection with the musical culture captured on the screen. What happens then when Macchi approaches feature films that deal with Italy’s historical and ethnic heritage? Is it possible to include sounds extraneous to the reality represented without drastically altering the narrative horizon? In order to answer these questions, in this paper I will examine the case of Bronte: cronaca di un massacro che i libri di storia non hanno mai raccontato, a film by Florestano Vancini (1972), which stands out in the production of Macchi precisely because of the use of musical elements of an ethnic matrix in the soundtrack. On the basis of archival sources, I will discuss his compositional strategies with particular regard to the Sicilian-style songs used in Bronte. Macchi’s music exploits the folk repertoire as an agent of historical and ethnic authentication, but at the same time problematizes this status, putting it into dialogue with the timbric expansion of the Synket synthesizer.openCosci, MarcoCosci, Marc

Analisi di impurita solide nei mieli della Lucchesia mediante Filth test: evoluzione della qualita negli ultimi 15 anni

Il miele, prodotto naturale per eccellenza, è conosciuto fin dall’antichità per le sue caratteristiche nutrizionali e salutistiche. Secondo la normativa vigente, il miele immesso sul mercato deve essere privo di sostanze organiche ed inorganiche estranee alla sua composizione. Nonostante ciò, sottoponendo il miele a Filth test è possibile ritrovare delle impurità appartenenti a diverse classi: impurità di origine animale, di origine carboniosa, impurità varie. In questa tesi, sono stati sottoposti a Filth test 24 campioni di miele, 19 provenienti da produttori toscani della Lucchesia e 5 dalla grande distribuzione; le impurità ritrovate sono state determinate, suddivise in classi quantitative e i risultati ottenuti sono stati messi a confronto con quelli derivanti da una precedente indagine condotta presso il DiSAAA-a dell'Università di Pisa nel periodo 1996-1999, sempre relativa a Filth test su 55 campioni di miele provenienti dalla Lucchesia. Dal confronto è emerso un complessivo miglioramento della qualità del miele in termini di impurità solide individuabili dovuto a diversi fattori, di cui i principali sono rappresentati da importanti cambiamenti nel quadro normativo in riferimento all'igiene dei prodotti primari, oltre che da miglioramenti del grado di conoscenza da parte del produttore in virtù dell'aumentato livello di formazione specifica. A questo contribuisce anche il ricambio generazionale in atto presso le aziende apistiche nazionali

Introduction. History of Modern Logic in a New Key

"We like to think of the aim of the book as doing for modern logic what John Corcoran did for the work of George Boole, namely to make sense of and do justice to the idea that Aristotelian syllogistic logic contributed to its creation. More specifically, the chapters show that the period between the nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a parallel development of modern logicians reshaping syllogism and reflections on syllogism shaping modern logic. This might sound odd as it stands in striking contrast to the standard narrative about the history of modern logic, which says that its creation and development happened in spite of, or in direct opposition to, the old logic. W. V. Quine, for one, wrote that Aristotelian logic is to modern logic what the ‘arithmetic of primitive tribes’ is to modern mathematics: not even a scientific predecessor but a ‘pre-scientific fragment’.", p. 1

The role of banks as producers of information: can it survive competition and cross-selling incentives

This paper studies the impact of competition on lending behaviour and cross-selling incentives of banks in a spatial competition model of the banking sector where positively evaluated loan applicants are more likely to buy other services from their lending bank. Overall our model suggests that the more competition increases in the loan market, the more the banking system is encouraged to move towards non-traditional activities and the less credit is information-based. This undesired effect of competition in the loan market may have contributed in the past to the excessive risk-taking behaviour of European banks and could hamper the stability of the financial system in the future

The moderating role of stigma in the relationship between depression and resilience: results of a cross-sectional study in university students

Background/objective: Depression is a growing concern in university students and resilience has shown to play a protective role. The impact of stigma is still under-explored, with reference to its moderating role between depression and resilience. The present study investigate such a relationship among Italian university students. Methods: A cross-sectional design was applied in a simple of 1,912 students to examine the interrelationships between depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), resilience (Nicholson McBride Resilience questionnaire), and stigma (Stigma-9). Correlation, predictor, and moderation analyses were applied in RStudio. Results: A negative correlation was found between depressive symptoms and resilience (r = −0.455, p < 0.001). A positive correlation was found between depressive symptoms and stigma (r = 0.207, p < 0.001). Lower levels of resilience and higher levels of stigma were significant predictors of depressive symptoms [F(df, n) = 190.8(3, 1884), p < 0.001, R2 = 0.236]. The moderation analysis showed a weakening of resilience protective effect against depression as stigma levels increase [F(df,n) = 186.7(3,1908), p < 0.001, R2 = 0.226]. Conclusion: Stigma influences the relationship between depression and resilience. Anti-stigma interventions and programs empowering resilience, should be implemented in university settings to protect students from depression