Under the Social Capital Umbrella. Definition and Measurement

In the last two decades social capital has become one of the most analyzed and cited concepts in the social sciences. On the one hand it is a powerful idea, used to explain a very wide set of socioeconomic phenomena. On the other hand social capital is disputed and ambiguous: there are a number of different meanings because of different theoretical frameworks. This conceptual vagueness is reflected in a nebulous empirical application of the idea of social capital. This work critically discusses the most relevant definitions of social capital, exploring how different scholars understand social capital, which are its main dimensions and whether there is a unique latent variable, whether social capital is certainly benign, and what kind of measures should we use to estimate its level.

Economic well-being in Italy: The role of income insecurity and intergenerational inequality

This paper provides a measure of economic well-being for the Italian context. In the last two decades Italy experienced a sharp increase in labour market flexibility and a relative loss of command over resources of young generations with respect to older ones. We include new measures of temporary work and intergenerational inequality in the IEWB, and analyse its evolution in Italy and in Lombardy (the leading Italian region) over the 1995-2007 period. We find that well-being advanced at a slower rate than GDP, mainly because of the negative effect of a reduction in employment security and a rise in income inequality, which was more pronounced in Lombardy.well-being, inequality, income insecurity.

Leaving home and housing prices. The experience of Italian youth emancipation

This paper provides an explanation for the postponement of youth emancipation in the Italian context mainly characterized by a sharp increase in both house and rent prices together with stagnant disposable income over the past decade. We first assemble a unique database related to the housing and rental market which is then matched with household characteristics. We find that the probability of leaving home decreases by about half percentage point and one percentage point for males and females, respectively, for a one-standard-deviation change in house prices. Together with property prices, local labour markets play a prominent role in determining decisions by unemployed youths to postpone the transition. The youngest cohort was mainly affected by the real estate market evolution that occurred in the last decade.coresidence, moving out, real estate market, discrete time duration model.

Leaving home and housing prices. The experience of Italian youth emancipation

This paper provides an explanation for the postponement of the youth emancipa- tion in the Italian context mainly characterized by a sharp increase in both house and rent prices together with a stagnant disposable income over the last decade. We first assemble a unique database related to the housing and rental market value which is then matched with household characteristics. We find a significant effect of the real estate market: the probability of moving out decreases by about 0.45% and 1.18% for males and females respectively for a one-standard-deviation increase in house prices. Together with property prices, local labour markets play a prominent role in determin- ing unemployed youth decisions to postpone the transition. The youngest cohort was mainly affected by the real estate market evolution occurred in the last decadecoresidence, moving out, real estate market, discrete time duration model

Income Shocks, Coping Strategies, and Consumption Smoothing. An Application to Indonesian Data

Using the Indonesian Family Life Survey, this study investigates whether Indonesian farmers respond differently to income shocks (crop loss) depending on the level of their asset ownership, and whether their responses are aimed at preserving consumption levels or at accumulating assets. We consider a framework in which assets contribute directly to the income generation process. In this context the need to accumulate assets to ensure future income may lead poor farmers (those with a low level of productive assets) to behave quite differently in terms of both their responses to shocks and their consumption decisions. For them transitory shocks may have long term consequences when the income loss leads to changes in their asset investment decisions. Our results suggest that while non-poor farmers smooth consumption relative to income, poor households use labor supply to compensate the income loss and, on average, they save half of this extra income. These results confirm the importance of savings for poor households, and highlight a crucial role for policies that support savings or, more precisely, the accumulation of productive assets.income shocks, consumption smoothing, asset smoothing

I Would if I Could: Precarious Employment and Childbearing Intentions in Italy

This paper carries out an investigation into the socio-economic determinants of childbearing decisions made by couples in Italy. The analysis accounts for the characteristics of both possible parents. Our results do not support established theoretical predictions according to which the increase in the opportunity cost of motherhood connected to higher female labour participation is responsible for the fall in fertility. On the contrary, the instability of women’s work status (i.e. having occasional, precarious, and low-paid positions) is revealed as a significant dissuasive factor in the decision to have children. Couples in which there is an unemployed woman are less likely to plan childbearing as well. Other relevant explanatory variables are women’s age, men’s work status and education, women’s citizenship, marital status and perceived economic wellbeing.Fertility, family planning, parenthood, childbearing, participation, job instability, precarious employment, Italy.

I Would if I Could: Precarious Employment and Childbearing Intentions in Italy

This paper carries out an investigation into the socio-economic determinants of childbearing decisions made by couples in Italy. The analysis accounts for the characteristics of both possible parents. Our results do not support established theoretical predictions according to which the increase in the opportunity cost of motherhood connected to higher female labour participation is responsible for the fall in fertility. On the contrary, the instability of women’s work status (i.e. having occasional, precarious, and low-paid positions) is revealed as a significant dissuasive factor in the decision to have children. Couples in which there is an unemployed woman are less likely to plan childbearing as well. Other relevant explanatory variables are women’s age, men’s work status and education, women’s citizenship, marital status and perceived economic well-being.Fertility, family planning, parenthood, childbearing, participation, job instability, precarious employment, Italy

Models for Non-Exclusive Multinomial Choice, with Application to Indonesian Rural Households

Textbook discussions of discrete choice modelling focus on binomial and multinomial choice models in which agents select a single response. We consider the situation of non-exclusive multinomial choice. The widely used Marginal Logit Model imposes independence and has other disadvantages. We propose two models which account for non-exclusive and dependent multiple responses and require at least one response. In the first and simpler specification, the Poisson-multinomial, households first choose the number of responses to a specific shock, and then the specific choices are identified to maximize household utility conditional on the former choice. The second specification, the threshold-multinomial, generalizes the standard multinomial logit model by supposing that agents will choose more than one response if the utility they derive from other choices is “close” to that of the utility-maximizing choice. We apply these two approaches to reported responses of rural Indonesian rural households to demographic and economic shocks.Discrete choice models, Marginal logit, Shocks, Risk coping strategies

Economic insecurity and fertility intentions: the case of Italy

We aim to provide an explanation for the combination of the relatively low female participation rates and lowest-low fertility levels in Italy. Starting from the assumption that childbearing decisions also depend on uncertainty about future employment, income, and wealth, we empirically assess how fertility intentions are affected by: 1) the deprivation of a quality job, which may severely compromise the employability of workers and is likely to provoke feelings of insecurity about future employment; 2) conditions of economic disadvantage in terms of household income and wealth, which may imply insufficient means to deal with potential adverse future events, thereby generating in the household feelings of anxiety and economic insecurity. We show that the instability of women’s work status (i.e. the holding of occasional and precarious employment positions) significantly discourages the decision to have a first child. Low levels of household wealth significantly and positively influence the decision to postpone, or even decide against, having a first child. The chances of further childbirth are significantly and negatively influenced by household income insecurity.economic insecurity, income, wealth, fertility, childbearing, , employment instability, precarious employment, Italy

Multidimensional economic well-being. Is it measurable? The case of Lombardy

The definition and measurement of economic well-being is receiving growing attention, both in academic research and policy agenda, as a key issue to provide a solid basis for decision-making at all levels, both national and local. There is general agreement among economists and policy-makers about the necessity to go beyond GDP but the convergence towards a new and wider definition and measurement is far from being reached. This is why research and experiments that try to test different definitions and indicators can help, through empirical results, to the ongoing debate. This paper attempts to measure the multidimensional well-being of the Italian Region Lombardy, for the years 1995-2005, along the lines of the Index of Economic Well-Being (IEWB) proposed by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (Osberg, 1985; Osberg and Sharpe, 2002, 2005). The evolution of the index is aligned with that of per capita GDP from 1995 to 2001 but diverges in the following period because of the fall of regional per capita GDP and consumption in the period 2002-2005 and a contemporary strong growth of the health dimension and of the level of human capital stock (education).well-being, composite indicators, development