Portugal as a near shore destination for Information Technology and Business Processes Outsourcing. Factors influencing the location assessment

This research aims to define Portuguese positioning in the near shoring market for Information Technology and Business Processes Outsourcing. The TAVAAS methodology used throughout this work considers six factors, for which corresponding relative weights were assumed. A qualitative research methodology was conducted to identify the motivational drivers of companies whose transnational services are installed in Portugal. Its results challenged the initial assumption; therefore, they were re-applied to the framework. The deviation from the results achieved with the initial perceived weights was not significant; thus, the initial hypothesis was tested and its results accepted. As conclusion, the relative factor weights to consider when evaluating Portugal as a near shore destination for IT and BPO have been identified

Risk and Regulation: The Efficiency of Italian Cooperative Banks

In this paper we analyse the determination of cost efficiency in a sample of Italian small banks located in different geographical areas and including two great institutional categories: cooperative banks (CB’s) and other banks. We highlight the effect of environmental factors (asset quality, local GDP per capita) on banks’ performance, and provide novel evidence in favour of the “bad luck” hypothesis suggested by Berger and De Young (Journal of Banking and Finance, 1997). Local GDP per capita strongly affects the territorial differentials for technical efficiency, especially for CB’s. This can be easily rationalised, as current regulations hamper CB’s vis-à-vis other banks in their capability to diversify territorially. Our estimates provide us with a tentative quantitative measure of the costs of missing diversification, ranging between 2 and 7 percentage points. Correspondingly, our evidence suggests that there is potentially strong endogeneity in some currently available bank performance indicators.Cooperative banks, Cost efficiency, Local shocks, Territorial diversification

Combustion kinetic characteristics of smart energy carriers in model reactors

The use of advanced combustion technologies is among the most promising methods to reduce emission of pollutants. For such technologies, working temperatures are enough low to boost the formation of several classes of pollutants, such as NOx and soot. To access this temperature range, a significant dilution as well as preheating of reactants is required. Such conditions are usually achieved by a strong recirculation of exhaust gases that simultaneously dilute and pre-heat the fresh reactants. These peculiar operative conditions also imply strong fuel flexibility, thus allowing the use of low calorific values (LCV) energy carriers with high efficiency. Coupling these innovative combustion technologies with the energy carriers, define the Smart Energy Carriers. The intersection of low combustion temperatures and highly diluted mixtures with intense pre-heating alters the evolution of the combustion process with respect to traditional flames, thereby affecting the kinetics involved during fuel ignition and oxidation. Furthermore, the high content of diluent species, namely CO2 and H2O, deriving either from the presence of diluent in LCV fuels or from the recirculation of flue gases, makes the role of these species relevant in the oxidation chemistry in such a non-standard condition. Such issues are currently largely unexplored. The effects of high dilution and pre-heating levels, along with the significant presence of non-conventional diluents on the ignition and oxidation kinetics were studied in two model reactors. More specifically, ignition delay times have been experimentally evaluated in a Plug Flow Reactor using propane and a model gas surrogating the gaseous fraction of biomass pyrolysis products containing C1-C2 species, CO and CO2. Experimental tests have also been carried out in a Jet Stirred Flow Reactor, using methane, propane and n-pentane as reference fuels. The experimental analysis has been carried out at atmospheric pressure, in a wide range of inlet temperatures and equivalence ratios, for mixtures highly diluted in He, N2, CO2, H2O, or mixtures of them. Temperature and species concentration measurements obtained in the Jet Stirred Flow Reactor, along with the ignition delay times obtained in the Plug Flow Reactor, suggest that the ignition and oxidation processes of simple fuels are significantly altered by CO2 and H2O in dependence of mixture inlet temperatures and equivalence ratios. Furthermore, the exploitation of the ignition and oxidation processes under diluted conditions leads to the identification of peculiar phenomena and combustion regimes, such as the existence of an NTC-like behaviour for propane mixtures at intermediate temperature, strong and weak ignitions, and oscillatory regimes for all the tested fuel mixtures. Numerical simulations for studying the ignition and oxidation processes in the same working conditions of experimental tests have been carried out by means of twelve kinetic models available in the literature. It has been shown that kinetic models are not always able to correctly reproduce the experimental results, particularly when CO2 and H2O are used as diluents. In addition, large variations can be observed among models themselves. Further analysis were performed to identify the controlling reaction pathways in these non-standard conditions and to explore the interaction of CO2 and H2O with the ignition and oxidation processes. Results suggested that, for diluted conditions and lower adiabatic flame temperatures, the competition among several pathways, i.e. intermediate- and high-temperature branching, branching and recombination channels, oxidation and recombination/pyrolysis pathways, is enhanced, thus permitting the onset of phenomena that are generally hidden during conventional combustion processes. Moreover, CO2 and H2O participate in this competition, influencing termolecular reactions as third body species with high collisional efficiencies, or directly participating in bimolecular reactions

Subjective Job Insecurity During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

This article studies subjective job insecurity in Italy during the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused structural, economic and policy changes. It employs data drawn from the “Extraordinary Survey on Italian Families in 2020” released by the Bank of Italy in 2021. The work estimates a zero one inflated beta model (ZOIB). The main results show that (1) worsening household economic conditions is associated with an increase in householder workers subjective job insecurity; (2) receiving a wage guarantee fund in 2019 is associated with an increase in subjective job insecurity; and (3) increasing the number of people working from home within the household is associated with an increase in subjective job insecurity. Moreover, having a temporary contract and working in the private sector is associated with an increase in subjective job insecurity

The Effect of Job–Education Vertical Mismatch on Wages Among Recent PhD Graduates: Evidence From an Instrumental Variable Analysis

Existing studies suggest that recent PhD graduates with a job vertically mismatched with their education tend to earn lower wages than their matched counterparts. However, by being based on cross-sectional ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates, these studies raise endogeneity concerns and can only be considered evidence of a correlation between vertical mismatch and wages. This paper improves this literature by applying a heteroskedasticity-based instrumental variable estimation approach to analyzing Italian PhD holders’ cross-sectional micro-data. Our analysis suggests that previous empirical studies have provided slightly upward estimates of the impact of vertical mismatch on wages. Nevertheless, our results show that the effect of overeducation on wages is sizeable. However, no wage effect is found for overskilling. The heterogeneity of these findings by field of study and gender are also inspected

Incentivi alla ricerca e sviluppo in Italia: una indagine sugli effetti della Legge 46/82

The current economic crisis has put government intervention and policy evaluation at the centre of the debate on industrial development policy. Government efforts to stimulate a structural change of Italian industries are needed and in this context it becomes fundamental to engage in evaluation exercises in order to understand what policies are working. The paper offers an evaluation exercise on the major instruments used to promote R&D and innovation activities of Italian firms. We concentrate in particular on Law 46/82 and we look at the effects of the incentives it provides on firms expenditures on R&D and on new employment generation. We also consider the effects of such incentives when other similar laws are at work. Results suggest that a rethinking of the system of incentives might be needed to limit an inefficient overlapping of instruments.Evaluation of industrial policies; R&D and innovation; R&D incentives

The Effect of Job–Education Vertical Mismatch on Wages Among Recent PhD Graduates: Evidence From an Instrumental Variable Analysis

Existing studies suggest that recent PhD graduates with a job vertically mismatched with their education tend to earn lower wages than their matched counterparts. However, by being based on cross-sectional ordinary least squares (OLS) estimates, these studies raise endogeneity concerns and can only be considered evidence of a correlation between vertical mismatch and wages. This paper improves this literature by applying a heteroskedasticity-based instrumental variable estimation approach to analyzing Italian PhD holders’ cross-sectional micro-data. Our analysis suggests that previous empirical studies have provided slightly upward estimates of the impact of vertical mismatch on wages. Nevertheless, our results show that the efect of overeducation on wages is sizeable. However, no wage efect is found for overskilling. The heterogeneity of these fndings by feld of study and gender are also inspecte