Governing Migration: Immigrant Groups' Strategies in Three Italian Cities - Rome, Naples and Bari

Ethnic networks constitute an important component of immigrants’ integration in their host societies. This has been a particularly important strategy in Italy, where institutional assistance for immigrants is often paltry and problematic. This paper examines three ethnic communities in Italy that have been particularly successful in using their ethnic social capital for integrating into Italian society at the city level: the Mauritians in Bari, Filipinos in Rome and Chinese in Naples. Sending countries’ policies and programs, as well as the socio-historical context of ethnic relations within the countries has also influenced the patterns of these networks. The psychological or motivational element behind these groups’ migration project is also critical to their integration, and is often manifested on a group level. Keywords: Migration, Immigrant, Ethnic group

Merger Performance under Uncertain Efficiency Gains

In view of the uncertainty over the ability of merging firms to achieve efficiency gains, we model the post-merger situation as a Cournot oligopoly wherein the outsiders face uncertainty about the merged entity’s final cost. At the Bayesian equilibrium, a bilateral merger is profitable provided that non-merged firms sufficiently believe that the merger will generate large enough efficiency gains, even if ex post none actually materialize. The effects of the merger on market performance are shown to follow similar threshold rules. The findings are broadly consistent with stylized facts, and provide a rationalization for an efficiency consideration in merger policy.Horizontal merger, Bayesian Cournot equilibrium, Efficiency gains, Market performance

Transport Energy Security. The Unseen Risk?

The decline in significance given to energy security in recent years can be associated with increasing trust in the self-balancing security of a global-trading economy. After the events of the first years of the 21st century, that framework now looks more problematic, at least for oil supplies. The underlying level of risk that characterised the oil market of the late 20th century has changed, exacerbated by the increasing inelasticity of demand for oil-based products in the transport sector of the world’s economies, which in its turn reflects the strategic dominance of transport within economies. The prudent course for the international community is to reduce the underlying causes of possible geopolitical constraints by making them more manageable through normal channels. One such constraint that is within every nation’s capability (and self-interest) to reduce is the upward drift in the price inelasticity of domestic oil consumption. This could involve increasing the ability to divert oil used within the domestic economy to transport. Yet for many industrial economies, this option has largely been exhausted and a more radical approach of opening up new energy vectors to supply the transport sector may be needed. Taking preventative action after a security event is generally more straightforward than taking precautionary action to ensure that it never happens. The latter course may only be successful through a coincidence with other interests. The current environment agenda is such a coincident interest with transport fuel security.Transport energy security, Risk

The Cooperative Theory of Two Sided Matching Problems: A Re-examination of Some Results

We show that, given two matchings of which say the second is stable, if (a) no firm prefers the first matching to the second, and (b) no firm and the worker it is paired with under the second matching prefer each other to their respective assignments in the first matching, then no worker prefers the second matching to the first. This result is a strengthening of a result originally due to Knuth (1976). A theorem due to Roth and Sotomayor (1990), says that if the number of workers increases, then there is a non-empty subset of firms and the set of workers they are assigned to under the F – optimal stable matching, such that given any stable matching for the old two-sided matching problem and any stable matching for the new one, every firm in the set prefers the new matching to the old one and every worker in the set prefers the old matching to the new one. We provide a new proof of this result using mathematical induction. This result requires the use of a theorem due to Gale and Sotomayor (1985 a,b), which says that with more workers around, firms prefer the new optimal stable matchings to the corresponding ones of the old two-sided matching problem, while the opposite is true for workers. We provide an alternative proof of the Gale and Sotomayor theorem, based directly on the deferred acceptance procedure.Two-sided matching, Stable

Valuation of Ecosystem Services Provided by Biodiversity Conservation: An Integrated Hydrological and Economic Model to Value the Enhanced Nitrogen Retention in Renaturated Streams

The importance of ecosystem functions for humankind is well known. But only few attempts have been undertaken to estimate the economic value of these ecosystem services. In particular, indirect methods are rarely used, even though they are most suitable for the task. This discrepancy is because quantitative knowledge of changes in ecosystem functions is scarce. This paper presents a user-friendly procedure to quantify the increased N-retention in a renaturated river using easily available data. In a case study of the renaturated River Jossa (Germany) the benefits of increased nitrogen retention caused by beaver reintroduction are determined by using the replacement cost method. The quantification of chemical processes is discussed in detail, as well as the problems of defining an adequate reference scenario for the substitute costs. Results show that economic benefits from the evaluated ecosystem service (€12,000/annum) equal 12% of the total costs of the corresponding conservation scheme.Biodiversity conservation programmes, Cost-benefit-analysis, Replacement cost method, Ecosystem services, Nutrient retention

The Socio-Economic Value of Natural Riverbanks in the Netherlands

Ecologists and economists both use a different approach to determine the value of nature. Its ecological value can be measured using criteria like rarity and diversity of species in an ecosystem. The economic value can be determined using non-market valuation techniques. This paper focuses on an empirical application of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to find out whether this valuation method is a suitable method to estimate the economic value of natural riverbanks in the Netherlands. Natural riverbanks will provide habitat for species that particularly depend on the land water transit area. Since common riverbanks do not provide this habitat, natural river banks increase biodiversity in the Netherlands. On the basis of technical and ecological characteristics nine different types of natural riverbanks were distinguished. For each type a laymen description was made. This description served as a basis for economic valuation by means of CVM. The results of the CVM study shows that the average willingness to pay for non-use of a natural riverbank varied between 16 and 25 Dutch guilders per household year. The willingness to pay for recreational use ranged from 1,07 to 2,50 guilders per visit. The generated outcomes proved to be consistent with results from other studies. At first sight, the economic value of natural riverbanks seemed to be higher than their construction and maintenance cost.Nature friendly river banks, Land water interactions, Economic value, Nature, CVM, Non-use value

Investments in Gas Pipelines and Liquefied Natural Gas Infrastructure. What is the Impact on the Security of Supply?

This paper addresses the question of the infrastructure investment required for gas pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG) connections to meet growing gas demand in an enlarged EU over the next 20 years. Several issues are presented, bearing in mind the major objective of the security of supply for EU countries. First, to set the scene, recent projections of gas demand in an enlarged EU are presented along with the corresponding need for additional imports. Then a scenario is developed showing possible supply routes to meet the import gap, relying on increasingly remote routes. An impressive bill of $150 to 200 billion will have to be paid for extending and building the required infrastructure in pipeline links and LNG-receiving facilities. The expected major development of LNG markets is subject to a particular discussion, as far as the progressive globalisation of this market and its inherent flexibility provide major advantages in terms of the security of supply, despite more costly infrastructure than pipeline links. The impact of technological progress is expected to reduce both capital investment and unit transport costs, offering access to new supply opportunities. Finally, the question of major obstacles to the realisation of the required huge investments in gas infrastructure over the next 20 years is addressed, opening hot debate on the subjects of future gas price, market liberalisation and financing issues.Investment, Gas pipelines, Liquefied natural gas, Security of supply

Asset Accumulation, Fertility Choice and Nondegenerate Dynamics in a Small Open Economy

This paper shows that the assumption of elastic fertility choices represents an unconsidered way of introducing nondegenerate dynamics within an immortal small open economy, facing perfect capital mobility and no adjustment costs associated with capital accumulation, and having a fixed discount rate. The transient dynamics are obtained since fertility, which enters the Euler equation, renders the growth of the marginal utility of wealth strictly interconnected with wealth accumulation. The comparative dynamics are studied for two exogenous shocks: an increase in thrift, which changes fertility and capital formation permanently, and an increase in government spending, which alters fertility and capital stock temporarily.Endogenous population, Capital accumulation, Current account, Transitional dynamics

Coalition Formation in Games without Synergies

This paper establishes sufficient conditions for the existence of a stable coalition structure in the ”coalition unanimity” game of coalition formation, first defined by Hart and Kurz (1983) and more recently studied by Yi (1997, 2000). Our conditions are defined on the strategic form game used to derive the payoffs the game of coalition formation. We show that if no synergies are generated by the formation of coalitions, a stable coalition structure always exists provided that players are symmetric and either the game exhibits strategic complementarity or, if strategies are substitutes, the best reply functions are contractions. We illustrate the role of synergies in a Cournot oligopoly example with cost reducing R&D.Coalition formation, Synergies, Strong Nash equilibrium

Integrated Environmental Study for Beach Management: A Methodological Approach

This paper aims to present a project convened by the University of Genoa and Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), in collaboration with Local Authorities, concerning the development of tools for beach management in the Riviera del Beigua (Liguria Region, Italy). The aim of the first step of the project is to assess the environmental state of resort beaches examining them interdisciplinary, through a data analysis based on a sound understanding of the components of the physical and the human system. The following step will be the treatment of the data, through the use of various instruments, which use a synthesis analysis, such as the traditional SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, and the use of a set of environmental and socio-economic indicators. Finally, our ultimate target is to propose guidelines, which will supply an instrument to back up policies concerning beach planning and management.Costal management, Sustainable tourist, Integrated assessment, Indicators