A data mining approach for the monitoring of active labour market policies

The paper addresses the problem of evaluation of the effectiveness of Active Labour Policies in the province of Bologna, a manufacturing district in Northern Italy, during the period 2004/2006. Using surviving analysis through Kaplan Meier filter and a new approach to propensity score computation, the Authors shows that the policies run by the Labor Market Authorities are able to compensate the disavatanges that secondary labor forces such as migrants, old age or less educated workers have in getting a job when fired. Moreover, they put new light on the transitions from temporary job to permanent jobs, and show that the probability of transitions is very low.Mercato del lavoro, Precarietà, Valutazione delle politiche Labour Market, Temporary Jobs, Evaluation of Policy Effectiveness

Il dualismo del mercato del lavoro e la transizione da lavoro temporaneo a lavoro a tempo indeterminato in provincia di Bologna

In this present study we are going to avail ourselves of figures regarding new employment and employment termination, registered at the Bologna Provincial Labour Exchange for the three-year period 2004-2006, in order to calculate the duration of job placements, according to the type of contract, and the likelihood of temporary workers being made unemployed: in order to do so, we shall utilise the survival curves method based on the Kaplan and Maier filter (Cox and Oates, 1984). Given the impossibility of estimating true transition matrices, in that the database fails to \u201ccover\u201d all outgoing events, the survival curves method at least enables us to estimate the \u201cduration\u201d of permanence in a given state. The utilisation of the Bologna Provincial Employment Centre\u2019s records enables us to cover a sufficiently long period of time, which in turn enables us to obtain sufficiently stable estimates unaffected by contingencies. Clearly, the results may not be generalised for the whole of Italy, although they do nevertheless provide a meaningful insight into the situation of temporary workers (also given the healthy state of the Bologna province\u2019s labour market)

A data mining approach for the monitoring of active labour market policies

The paper addresses the problem of evaluation of the effectiveness of Active Labour Policies in the province of Bologna, a manufacturing district in Northern Italy, during the period 2004/2006. Using surviving analysis through Kaplan Meier filter and a new approach to propensity score computation, the Authors shows that the policies run by the Labor Market Authorities are able to compensate the disavatanges that secondary labor forces such as migrants, old age or less educated workers have in getting a job when fired. Moreover, they put new light on the transitions from temporary job to permanent jobs, and show that the probability of transitions is very low

Web Health Monitoring Survey: a new approach to enhance effectiveness of telemedicine systems

Aging of the European population and interest in a healthy population in western countries have contributed to an increase in the number of health surveys, where the role of survey design, data collection, and data analysis methodology is clear and recognized by the whole scientific community. Survey methodology has had to couple with the challenges deriving from data collection through information and communications technology (ICT). Telemedicine systems have not used patients as a source of information, often limiting them to collecting only biometric data. A more effective telemonitoring system would be able to collect objective and subjective data (biometric parameters and symptoms reported by the patients themselves), and to control the quality of subjective data collected: this goal be achieved only by using and merging competencies from both survey methodology and health research. The objective of our study was to propose new metrics to control the quality of data, along with the well-known indicators of survey methodology. Web questionnaires administered daily to a group of patients for an extended length of time are a Web health monitoring survey (WHMS) in a telemedicine system. We calculated indicators based on paradata collected during a WHMS study involving 12 patients, who signed in to the website daily for 2 months. The patients’ involvement was very high: the patients’ response rate ranged between 1.00 and 0.82, with an outlier of 0.65. Item nonresponse rate was very low, ranging between 0.0% and 7.4%. We propose adherence to the chosen time to connect to the website as a measure of involvement and cooperation by the patients: the difference from the median time ranged between 11 and 24 minutes, demonstrating very good cooperation and involvement from all patients. To measure habituation to the questionnaire, we also compared nonresponse rates to the items between the first and the second month of the study, and found no significant difference. We computed the time to complete the questionnaire both as a measure of possible burden for patient, and to detect the risk of automatic responses. Neither of these hypothesis was confirmed, and differences in time to completion seemed to depend on health conditions. Focus groups with patients confirmed their appreciation for this “new” active role in a telemonitoring system. The main and innovative aspect of our proposal is the use of a Web questionnaire to virtually recreate a checkup visit, integrating subjective (patient’s information) with objective data (biometric information). Our results, although preliminary and if need of further study, appear promising in proposing more effective telemedicine systems. Survey methodology could have an effective role in this growing field of research and applications

Parole, soltanto parole, parole tra noi

In recent years there has been a fair amount of debate in Italy about regional differences in student achievements at the end of the high school cycle (Esame di Stato). In particular, concerns have been expressed about the performance of students in Southern Italy, higher than the national average, while standardized tests of learning outcomes point to a very different situation. The paper investigates this issue using simple statistical methods to disentangle the geographical area effect from the effects of other characteristics. The main finding is that a regional effect is present in final grades, but it is more important in the area of Central Italy rather than in Southern Italy

Learning online: Remote teaching and university student’s engagement

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on many dimensions of living and working conditions, and uncertainties about the developments that we shall still face in the near future. This paper analyses the implications of a forced overnight push to online teaching. Drawing upon an online survey conducted during the 2020 lockdown by the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, this article describes students' living and studying conditions revealed by a large set of open and closed questions. The survey provides significant information on the students' real off-campus conditions, crucial data for the multidimensional analysis by combining non-parametric multivariate analysis of closed questions with textual analyses. It offers important indications about the most useful tools for inclusive teaching across thematic areas and highlights the main difficulties that emerged during the lockdown. Reflections on advantages and disadvantages, strengths and weaknesses in the innovative learning environment set up overnight are offered at a policy level

Agents and artefacts in the emerging electric vehicle space

After COP 21, the targets for reducing CO2 emissions have boosted the commitment of governments and companies to developing alternative technologies for the mobility of people and goods. Electric vehicles are at the heart of this transformation, which is profoundly affecting the characteristics of agents and artefacts. The aim of the paper is to identify the relevant domains of this transformation, and to identify what characterises the space of the agents and artefacts of the electric vehicle and their interactions, as oriented by the public policies promoted by the various countries. The paper presents the results of a multidimensional textual analysis of the news published in English by electrive.com, a daily newsletter covering a wide range of relevant information on developments in electric transport in Europe and beyond. These results are a preliminary step for the analysis of the social, economic, organisational and technological changes related to sustainable mobility.After COP 21, the targets for reducing CO2 emissions have boosted the commitment of governments and companies to developing alternative technologies for the mobility of people and goods. Electric vehicles are at the heart of this transformation, which is profoundly affecting the characteristics of agents and artefacts. The aim of the paper is to identify the relevant domains of this transformation, and to identify what characterises the space of the agents and artefacts of the electric vehicle and their interactions, as oriented by the public policies promoted by the various countries. The paper presents the results of a multidimensional textual analysis of the news published in English by electrive.com, a daily newsletter covering a wide range of relevant information on developments in electric transport in Europe and beyond. These results are a preliminary step for the analysis of the social, economic, organisational and technological changes related to sustainable mobility

Regionalisation and cross-region integration. Twin dynamics in the automotive international trade networks

The paper analyses the changes that occurred over 25 years in the geography of trade in automotive parts and components. Using the Infomap multilayer clustering algorithm, we identify clusters of countries and their specific trades in the automotive international trade network, we measure the relative importance of each cluster and the interconnections between them, and we analyse the contribution of countries and of trade of components and parts in the clusters. The analysis highlights the formation of denser and more hierarchical networks generated by Germany's trade relations with EU countries and by the US preferential trade agreements with Canada and Mexico, as well as the surge of China. While the relative importance of the main clusters and of some individual countries change significantly, connections between clusters increase over time

The Changing Shape of the World Automobile Industry: A Multilayer Network Analysis of International Trade in Components and Parts

In 2018, after 25 years of the North America Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the United States requested new rules which, among other requirements, increased the regional content in the production of automotive components and parts traded between the three partner countries, United States, Canada and Mexico. Signed by all three countries, the new trade agreement, USMCA, is to go into force in 2022. Nonetheless, after the 2020 Presidential election, the new treaty's future is under discussion, and its impact on the automotive industry is not entirely defined. Another significant shift in this industry – the accelerated rise of electric vehicles – also occurred in 2020: while the COVID-19 pandemic largely halted most plants in the automotive value chain all over the world, at the reopening, the tide is now running against internal combustion engine vehicles, at least in the announcements and in some large investments planned in Europe, Asia and the US. The definition of the pre-pandemic situation is a very helpful starting point for the analysis of the possible repercussions of the technological and geo-political transition, which has been accelerated by the epidemic, on geographical clusters and sectorial spe-cialisations of the main regions and countries. This paper analyses the trade networks emerging in the past 25 years out of this turmoil in a new analytical framework. In the economic literature on international trade, the study of the automotive global value chains has been addressed by using network analysis, focusing on the centrality of geographical regions and countries while largely overlooking the contribution of countries' bilateral trading in components and parts as structuring forces the subnetwork of coun-tries and their specific situations in the overall trade network. This paper focuses on such subnetworks as meso-level structures emerging in trade network over the last 25 years. Using the Infomap multilayer clustering algorithm, we are able to identify clusters of countries and their specific trades in the automotive international trade network and to highlight the relative importance of each cluster, the interconnections between them, and to analyse the contribution of countries and of components and parts in the clusters. We draw the data from the UN Comtrade database of directed export and import flows of 30 automotive components and parts among 42 countries (accounting for 98% of world trade flows of those items). The paper highlights the changes that occurred over 25 years in the geography of the trade relations, with particular with regard to denser and more hierarchical network generated by Germany’s trade relations within EU countries and by the US preferential trade agreements with Canada and Mexico, and the upsurge of China. With a similar overall variety of traded components and parts within the main clusters (dominated respectively by Germany, US and Japan-China), the Infomap multilayer analysis singles out which components and parts determined the relative positions of countries in the various clusters and the changes over time in the relative positions of countries and their specialisations in multilateral trades. Connections between clusters increase over time, while the relative importance of the main clusters and of some individual countries change significantly. The focus on US and Mexico and on Germany and Central Eastern European countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) will drive the comparative analysis

Automotive Value Chains in a Brave New World

The pandemic and electrification are shaking the foundations of the auto industr