10,057 research outputs found
Measuring the price elasticity of import demand in the destination markets of Italian exports
The aim of this paper is to compare the price elasticity of import demand in the destination markets of Italian exports to the price elasticity in the destination markets of the other main euro-area countries' exports. To this end, we use the elasticities of substitution across varieties estimated for each destination market (defined as a country-product combination) by Broda, Greenfield and Weinstein (2006). We find that Italy exports to markets which have, on average, a lower price elasticity than the markets where France, Germany and Spain sell their exports. The result is mainly driven by the motor vehicle and other transport equipment sectors. Net of these two industries, the export elasticities of the four countries are basically identical. The sectoral and geographical composition of Italian exports therefore does not seem to expose them to a relatively more elastic demand, contrary to the indications of part of the literature.exports, elasticity of substitution, Armington varieties, international specialization, price elasticity of exports
On-the-fly reduction of open loops
Building on the open-loop algorithm we introduce a new method for the
automated construction of one-loop amplitudes and their reduction to scalar
integrals. The key idea is that the factorisation of one-loop integrands in a
product of loop segments makes it possible to perform various operations
on-the-fly while constructing the integrand. Reducing the integrand on-the-fly,
after each segment multiplication, the construction of loop diagrams and their
reduction are unified in a single numerical recursion. In this way we entirely
avoid objects with high tensor rank, thereby reducing the complexity of the
calculations in a drastic way. Thanks to the on-the-fly approach, which is
applied also to helicity summation and for the merging of different diagrams,
the speed of the original open-loop algorithm can be further augmented in a
very significant way. Moreover, addressing spurious singularities of the
employed reduction identities by means of simple expansions in rank-two Gram
determinants, we achieve a remarkably high level of numerical stability. These
features of the new algorithm, which will be made publicly available in a
forthcoming release of the OpenLoops program, are particularly attractive for
NLO multi-leg and NNLO real-virtual calculations.Comment: v2 as accepted by EPJ C: extended discussion of the triangle
reduction and its numerical stability in section 5.4.2; speed benchmarks for
2->5 processes included in section 6.2.1; ref. adde
The Economic Crisis as a Trigger of Convergence? Short-time work in Italy, Germany and Austria
In all European countries, emergency policy measures have been introduced in order to counteract the employment consequences of the economic crisis. In the context of variously composed anticrisis packages, many European countries have used Short-Time Work (STW) schemes, that is measures to subsidize a temporary reduction in working time intended to maintain an employment relationship. Countries which already had STW schemes, such as Kurzarbeit in Germany and Austria and the Cassa Integrazione Guadagni (CIG) in Italy, have loosened the eligibility requirements and extended their maximum duration. This paper focuses on the issue whether the economic crisis has spurred any convergence in the use of STW in these three social-insurance countries - Austria, Germany and Italy - or whether policy change has rather occurred in a path-dependent fashion. In order to do so, the paper also adopts a systemic approach, focusing on relationships of complementarity or functional substitution and equivalence among the various schemes comprising income maintenance systems to tackle the risks of partial or total unemployment. In addition to shedding light on a rather under-researched province of contemporary welfare states such as STW, this article also aims to contribute to the debate on the analytical levels in the study of social policy by showing the relevance and potential of adopting an intermediate level of analysis between a regime-centred and a programme-centred approach.short time work; unemployment compensation; social protection; convergence; path dependence
Statistical outliers in random laser emission
We provide theoretical and experimental evidence of statistical outliers in
random laser emission that are not accounted for by the, now established,
power-law tailed (L\'evy) distribution. Such outliers manifest themselves as
single, large isolated spikes over an otherwise smooth background. A
statistical test convincingly shows that their probability is larger than the
one extrapolated from lower-intensity events. To compare with experimental
data, we introduced the anomaly parameter that allows for an identification of
such rare events from experimental spectral measurements and that agrees as
well with the simulations of our Monte Carlo model. A possible interpretation
in terms of Black Swans or Dragon Kings, large events having a different
generation mechanism from their peers, is discussed
Overcharging and reentrant condensation of thermoresponsive ionic microgels
We investigated the complexation of thermoresponsive anionic
poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNiPAM) microgels and cationic
-polylysine (-PLL) chains. By combining electrophoresis,
light scattering, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dielectric
spectroscopy (DS) we studied the adsorption of -PLL onto the microgel
networks and its effect on the stability of the suspensions. We show that the
volume phase transition (VPT) of the microgels triggers a large polyion
adsorption. Two interesting phenomena with unique features occur: a
temperature-dependent microgel overcharging and a complex reentrant
condensation. The latter may occur at fixed polyion concentration, when
temperature is raised above the VPT of microgels, or by increasing the number
density of polycations at fixed temperature. TEM and DS measurements
unambiguously show that short PLL chains adsorb onto microgels and act as
electrostatic glue above the VPT. By performing thermal cycles, we further show
that polyion-induced clustering is a quasi-reversible process: within the time
of our experiments large clusters form above the VPT and partially re-dissolve
as the mixtures are cooled down. Finally we give a proof that the observed
phenomenology is purely electrostatic in nature: an increase of the ionic
strength gives rise to the polyion desorption from the microgel outer shell.Comment: 15 Figure
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
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