Interaction between economic and financial development

This paper presents a possible explanation of the interactive nature of the relationship between economic and financial development based on absorption of resources by the financial sector, and constant returns to physical capital accumulation in the production sector. Financial intermediaries operating in a credit market characterised by monopolistic competition emerge along with the process of economic development. This could initially have a detrimental effect on growth, so that the economy might be trapped in a low development region. If not, subsequent economic development stimulates competition among financial intermediaries which results in more efficient financial transactions, and therefore higher growth. While higher efficiency is always associated with higher growth, the laissez faire economy can still be characterised by sub-optimal levels of financial development

Financial institutions' expertise and growth effects of financial liberalisation

This paper analyses the real effects of financial development subsequent to financial liberalisation in an economy with risk averse savers and learning by lending. Transition from full financial repression to full financial liberalisation might initially slow down the growth process or even induce a recession, whenever the initial level of valuable investments known by the financial instutions (informed capital ) is suficiently scanty. However, lending activity leads to accumulation of information (learning by lending) regarding valuable investments. This way, as intermediaries become experts, the allocative efficiency they are able to guarantee ameliorates so that, in the long run, the effects of financial liberalisation are eventually positive

Concentration in the banking industry and economic growth

We present an OLG endogenous growth model in which a reduction in the level of concentration in the banking industry exterts two opposite effects on economic growth. On the one hand, it induces economies of specialisation which enhances intermediation efficiency and thereby eco- nomic growth. On the other hand, it results in duplication of fixed costs which is detrimental for efficiency and growth. The trade off between the two opposing effects is ambiguous and can vary along with the dynamic process of financial and economic development. Using cross country industry data we find that banking concentration is negatively associated with industrial growth only in low income countries while there is no such asssociation in high income countries. These empirical findings support the model's prediction that there exist a different relationship between banking concentration and growth depending on the level of economic development

Do we need more time for leisure?

”We need more time: more time for leisure” Linton Kwesi Jonhson used to dub. Indeed, the analysis of an OLG economy with endogenous labor supply gives some rational to the dub poet’s claims. In our setting, the golden rule is defined as the pair of capital-labour ratio and individual labour supply which maximises the steady state utility of each generation. When, other things equal, agents are motivated to work more the higher the level of wages, individual labor supply will be increasing (decreasing) in capital labor ratio according to whether the elasticity of wages per unit of labour is bigger (smaller) than the relative change of the value of the fraction of labour income saved. Hence, if the economy is dynamically efficient, agents tend to work more than in the Golden Age if the propensity to save evaluated at the golden rule is, other things equal, relatively high. Conversely, under dynamic inefficiency, they work too much if and only if the propensity to save is relatively low. For given values of the parameters determining the propensity to save, individuals in dynamic efficient (inefficient) economies work more than in the Golden Age as long as the labour share of income is sufficiently high (low). These findings appear to be of some interest with reference to the 35 hours working-week debate in Europe

Banks, financial markets and growth

We analyze the interaction between bank and market finance in a model where bankers gather information through monitoring and screening.We show that,if a market is established characterized by a disclosure law such that entrepreneurs wishing to raise market finance can credibly disclose their sources of financing,this might undermine bankers'incentive to screen,even when screening is effcient.Correspondingly,other things being equal,the change from a bank-based system to one in which market-finance and bank-finance coexist might have an adverse affect on economic growth.Consistent with this result,our empirical findings suggest that,althoug both bank and stock market development have a positive effect on growth, the growth impact of bank development is reduced by the development of the stock market

Few bad apples or plenty of lemons: which makes it harder to market plums?

We analyse a competitive commodity market with a large number of buyers and sellers where: a. Individual qualities, either high or low, are not observable by buyers; b. Sellers strategically announce prices and buyers decide whether to buy having observed sellers’ actions. We find that the set of robust equilibria includes only fully separating equilibria. In any robust equilibrium the low quality is always traded. The high quality is traded if demand is sufficiently strong, so that low quality sellers are unable to satisfy all buyers, and is never traded otherwise. Hence, few rotten apples is better than a plentiful of lemons for plums’ sellers

The Monopolist's blues

We consider the problem of trade between a price setting party who has private information about the quality of a good and a price taker who may also have private information. We restrict attention to the case in which, under full information, it is efficient to trade only a subset of all qualities. In particular, we assume that trading a low (high) quality is inefficient when the seller (buyer) sets the price. We show that there is a unique equilibrium outcome passing Cho and Kreps (1987) “Never a Weak Best Response”. The refined outcome is always characterized by no trade, although trade would be mutually beneficial in some state of nature. This occurs: 1. Even if the price taker has more precise information than the price setting party, and 2. Even when the information received by both parties is almost perfect. Both results imply that there are inefficiencies due to price setting that are not present in standard markets with adverse selection. We find that the price setting party can always increase her profits through ex-ante delegation of the price choice to an uninformed third party. We discuss applications to professional bodies and the market for unskilled labor

Minimally invasive vs. open segmental resection of the splenic flexure for cancer: a nationwide study of the Italian Society of Surgical Oncology-Colorectal Cancer Network (SICO-CNN)

Background Evidence on the efficacy of minimally invasive (MI) segmental resection of splenic flexure cancer (SFC) is not available, mostly due to the rarity of this tumor. This study aimed to determine the survival outcomes of MI and open treatment, and to investigate whether MI is noninferior to open procedure regarding short-term outcomes. Methods This nationwide retrospective cohort study included all consecutive SFC segmental resections performed in 30 referral centers between 2006 and 2016. The primary endpoint assessing efficacy was the overall survival (OS). The secondary endpoints included cancer-specific mortality (CSM), recurrence rate (RR), short-term clinical outcomes (a composite of Clavien-Dindo > 2 complications and 30-day mortality), and pathological outcomes (a composite of lymph nodes removed >= 12, and proximal and distal free resection margins length >= 5 cm). For these composites, a 6% noninferiority margin was chosen based on clinical relevance estimate. Results A total of 606 patients underwent either an open (208, 34.3%) or a MI (398, 65.7%) SFC segmental resection. At univariable analysis, OS and CSM were improved in the MI group (log-rank test p = 0.004 and Gray's tests p = 0.004, respectively), while recurrences were comparable (Gray's tests p = 0.434). Cox multivariable analysis did not support that OS and CSM were better in the MI group (p = 0.109 and p = 0.163, respectively). Successful pathological outcome, observed in 53.2% of open and 58.3% of MI resections, supported noninferiority (difference 5.1%; 1-sided 95%CI - 4.7% to infinity). Successful short-term clinical outcome was documented in 93.3% of Open and 93.0% of MI procedures, and supported noninferiority as well (difference - 0.3%; 1-sided 95%CI - 5.0% to infinity). Conclusions Among patients with SFC, the minimally invasive approach met the criterion for noninferiority for postoperative complications and pathological outcomes, and was found to provide results of OS, CSM, and RR comparable to those of open resection

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice