Essays on the Economics of Migration and Labor Market Entry

In this thesis I explore the labour market dynamics of specific categories, namely migrants and young individuals, relating to their entry into new labour markets and their performance in the subsequent years. In the first chapter, joint with Joseph-Simon Görlach, we analyse the factors that shape the assimilation of migrants after their arrival in the host country. Using US data, we estimate the effect that two different channels of assimilation, skill growth and substitutability, play in determining the wage of migrants. We find that the equivalence of wage growth with productivity, a common assumption in the literature, is in fact inaccurate. Immigrants, as they accumulate skills, become much more productive than reflected in their wage growth, because at the same time they are also becoming more substitutable with natives and long-term migrants, with whom they compete for jobs. This increased competition, in the form of larger labour supply, dampens immigrants’ wages. Therefore, substitutability must be taken into account alongside skill accumulation when evaluating assimilation and the impact of immigration on wages. In the second chapter, I explore the patterns of migration within the European Union, differentiating by skill level and contrasting it with recent trends in the USA and other developed countries. Unlike the other examples, the European Union is experiencing a rising rate of inter-State migration, and I show that this is due in particular to the rising migration rate of high-skilled workers. After showing that the common explanations advanced for migration rate patterns in other countries cannot explain this peculiarity of rising EU migration, I show that a significant cause instead is the streamlining of higher education, through the Bologna Process, and in particular the mutual recognition of qualifications from other EU countries. Finally, the third chapter explores the impact of job instability on young people's entry into the labor market. In particular, I focus on the effect of the expansion of more precarious opportunities, such as internships, on the wage of more stable long-term contracts, such as apprenticeships. I develop a simple model whereby two effects can be simultaneously at play when new legislation increases the share of precarious contracts that can be activated: 1) a selection effect increases the average wage of permanent contracts since the most productive workers are offered a permanent contract; 2) a dumping effect decreases the average wage since entrant workers are willing to bargain lower wages in exchange for the stability of a permanent contract. Using a 2017 legislative change to internships in Italy I am able to exploit interregional variation and estimate the overall effect on apprenticeship wages, revealing that the dumping effect is prevalent

Sviluppo di un modello a parametri concentrati per l'analisi di trasmissioni a cinghia

Una analisi accurata delle trasmissioni a cinghia CVT richiede attualmente l’utilizzo di modelli multibody o FEM molto complessi e di non facile messa a punto. Scopo del presente lavoro è lo sviluppo di un modello a parametri concentrati in grado di fornire con buona approssimazione l’andamento della tensione e della pressione laterale agenti sulla cinghia e di stimare le perdite di coppia nella trasmissione. Il modello è stato applicato all’analisi di due trasmissioni CVT esistenti. La cinghia è stata suddivisa in elementi collegati tra loro da molle e smorzatori lineari e sono stati introdotti schemi di modellazione del contatto cinghia – puleggia e dell’attrito. Inoltre è stato realizzato un secondo modello in grado di valutare correttamente la tensione effettiva nella cinghia dopo il montaggio. I risultati forniti dal modello sono stati validati tramite confronto con i risultati teorici disponibili in letteratura e con quelli forniti da un modello multibody. Infine si è studiata l’influenza di alcuni parametri, tra cui il rapporto di smorzamento, sui risultati forniti dal modello proposto

The oxidative damage to the human telomere: effects of 5-hydroxymethyl-2'-deoxyuridine on telomeric G-quadruplex structures

As part of the genome, human telomeric regions can be damaged by the chemically reactive molecules responsible for oxidative DNA damage. Considering that G-quadruplex structures have been proven to occur in human telomere regions, several studies have been devoted to investigating the effect of oxidation products on the properties of these structures. However only investigations concerning the presence in G-quadruplexes of the main oxidation products of deoxyguanosine and deoxyadenosine have appeared in the literature. Here, we investigated the effects of 5-hydroxymethyl-2’-deoxyuridine (5-hmdU), one of the main oxidation products of T, on the physical–chemical properties of the G-quadruplex structures formed by two human telomeric sequences. Collected calorimetric, circular dichroism and electrophoretic data suggest that, in contrast to most of the results on other damage, the replacement of a T with a 5-hmdU results in only negligible effects on structural stability. Reported results and other data from literature suggest a possible protecting effect of the loop residues on the other parts of the G-quadruplexes

Opportunities and Challenges in the Use of Big Data in Healthcare: A Literature Review

Digitalisation and the use of technology are pushing the spread of new business models and improving the efficiency of processes. The demand for innovative and revolutionary applications is increasing, along with the use of big data (BD). The proliferation of large quantities of data is receiving considerable attention in all sectors due to the possibility of using these data in decision-making processes. In the healthcare sector, the role of BD is prominent, especially regarding patient diagnostics, fast epidemic recognition and patient management improvement. To ensure personalised care, the health system must transform individual medical services into electronic forms and favour complete and systemic automation based on the advanced technologies of Industry 4.0. This paper consists of a systematic literature review of the use of BD in the healthcare sector, focusing on the opportunities and challenges. To this end, we selected articles from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Providing a deep understanding of the state of the art, this paper aims to reveal the implications of the use of BD and offer valuable insights to address future research and identify emerging issues. Keywords: big data, healthcare, digitalisation, internet of things, artificial intelligenc

CSR Reporting Practices: The Case of University of Bari

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a relevant topic for researchers and practitioners, widely explored with reference to companies. However, there are still few studies that address how higher education institutions integrate CSR practices into their strategy. This represents an important limitation since the university, through academic training and research activity, is the main promoter of CSR practices among different categories of stakeholders. Given the many benefits associated with the adoption of CSR, this study aims to explore the topic of CSR in universities, as they are institutions that act in the public interest and represent the ideal context for spreading the culture of preserving environmental and social, as well as economic, sustainability. The main purpose of this study is to explore, through the methodology of case studies, the type and effectiveness of the tools used by universities, specifically the University of Bari, to disseminate and integrate CSR into corporate strategy. Furthermore, this study aims to investigate how the university ensures the involvement of stakeholders, represented in particular by professors, administrators and students (stakeholder approach), in CSR initiatives. The analysis revealed the centrality of the investigated university in promoting CSR issues and sustainable territorial development. Finally, the study provides empirical evidence of the actions and methods of integrating CSR practices into corporate strategy and the ways in which stakeholders are involved

The key drivers of born-sustainable businesses: Evidence from the italian fashion industry

Environmental pollution has become one of the most pressing preoccupations for governments, policymakers, and consumers. For this reason, many companies make constant efforts to comply with international laws and standards on ethics, social responsibility, and environmental protection. Fashion companies are among the main producers of pollution because their manufacturing processes result in highly negative outcomes for the environment. In recent years, numerous fashion industries have been transforming their production policies to be sustainable, while others are already born as sustainable businesses. Based on Resource-Based View (RBV) theory and Natural Resource-Based View theory (NRBV), this paper aims at understanding how internal and external factors stimulate born-sustainable businesses operating in the fashion sector, adopting a multiple case study methodology. Our analysis shows that culture, entrepreneurial orientation of the founders, and the proximity of the suppliers among the internal factors, combined with the increase of green consumers as an external factor, foster the creation of green businesses. At the same time, neither current legislation nor the dynamism and competitiveness of markets have influenced the choice of the companies’ founders to start a business based on green production logic. These results reveal the centrality of the founders’ sensitivity toward green strategies to create a sustainable business. The findings have practical implications because they could support regulatory institutions to introduce some incentives that more clearly encourages companies that choose to adopt sustainable business models from the founding, by acting to the internal and external key factors that drive born-sustainable businesses. This study also provides an extension of the existing literature on sustainable born companies, offering researchers useful information on internal and internal factors that promote the adoption of green policies in the fashion industry

Climate-related financial disclosure in Integrated Reporting: what is the impact on the business model? The case of Poste Italiane

Purpose – Sustainable development has become a strategic priority for companies. The purpose of this study is to explain what paths a company can take to reconfigure its business model and corporate reporting tools in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Design/methodology/approach – The research used a qualitative approach and drew on stakeholder and legitimacy theories to collect primary and secondary data through in-depth interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and observation of corporate documents. Findings – Sustainability and climate change issues’ relevance in the business model and reporting requires improvement so that stakeholders can participate and become aware of the actions put in place to limit the climate challenge. Research limitations/implications – The results of the case study cannot be subjected to statistical generalisation, as they focus on the Italian context and do not capture the regulatory divergence of different countries. Practical implications – The results can help managers experiment with, orient, test and implement business model transformations to increase the level of sustainability within an organisation. In addition, disclosure of climate change risks and opportunities for the company and the resulting impacts, including financial impacts, is now recognised as a key urgency to support the achievement of the SDGs and the stakeholder decision-making process. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by focusing on necessary developments for governance and strategy and on climate change disclosure to support investors’ and other stakeholders’ decision-making processes for corporate social responsibility

Towards the Use of Big Data in Healthcare: a literature review

The interest in new and more advanced technological solutions is paving the way for the diffusion of innovative and revolutionary applications in healthcare organizations. The application of an artificial intelligence system to medical research has the potential to move toward highly advanced e-Health. This analysis aims to explore the main areas of application of big data in healthcare, as well as the restructuring of the technological infrastructure and the integration of traditional data analytical tools and techniques with an elaborate computational technology that is able to enhance and extract useful information for decision-making. We conducted a literature review using the Scopus database over the period 2010-2020. The article selection process involved five steps: the planning and identification of studies, the evaluation of articles, the extraction of results, the summary, and the dissemination of the audit results. We included 93 documents. Our results suggest that effective and patient-centered care cannot disregard the acquisition, management, and analysis of a huge volume and variety of health data. In this way, an immediate and more effective diagnosis could be possible while maximizing healthcare resources. Deriving the benefits associated with digitization and technological innovation, however, requires the restructuring of traditional operational and strategic processes, and the acquisition of new skills