A two-level Structural Equation Model for evaluating the external effectiveness of PhD

In recent years the number of PhDs in Italy has significantly grown and purposes of PhD courses have expanded from the traditional ones. The analysis of the contribution of PhD title for job placement and employment condition of PhDs is an important tool for evaluating the quality and the effectiveness of PhD courses. For this reason, knowledge of the employment status and career of PhDs becomes essential and can help to reduce the gap between academia and labour market. The aim of this paper is to estimate a two-level structural equation model with latent variables to assess the external effectiveness of PhD. The analysis is performed using data from the research "Current situation and employment prospects of PhDs", commissioned by National Committee for the Evaluation of the University System (CNVSU) to the Department of Statistics "G. Parenti" of the University of Florence. The proposed measure of "external effectiveness" is a latent variable obtained by evaluating the level of satisfaction with the employment status of PhDs who achieved the title in 2008. The opinion was expressed one year after obtaining PhD on a ten ordered point scale. External effectiveness indicators used are Consistency with studies, Utilization of the acquired skills and Compliance with the cultural interests

Impact of the 2008 and 2012 financial crises on the unemployment rate in Italy: an interrupted time series approach

One of the most widely recognized indicators of a recession is a rising unemployment rate. In Italy, from the late nineties this indicator continuously decreased over time until 2007. The aim of this paper is to study the immediate impact and persistence of the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2012 European sovereign debt crisis on the Italian unemployment rate by using a segmented regression analysis approach of interrupted time series. Quarterly data were collected from the website of the Italian National Institute of Statistics. In particular, the impact of the financial crises was evaluated across some subpopulations of interest by stratifying unemployment rate for age groups, in order to highlight the effects on youth unemployment, gender and macro-regions. Finally, to provide a more in-depth analysis, some information on the effects of the two economic recessions was also given about the people not engaged in Education, Employment or Trainin

Small area models for analysing job placement survey data of the STELLA consortium

Job placement is a very important issue in nowadays governance of universities and data on career of graduates in the labour market are crucial also for evaluating the performance of the courses of study. The University of Pisa is member of the STELLA consortium whose aim is to perform periodic sample and census surveys for investigating and monitoring the career of graduates on the labor market. In this paper the level of satisfaction for the coherence of the employment condition with the studies of graduates one year after the degree is analysed. Small Area Models (SAE) are used to obtain more accurate estimates for the unplanned domains defined by the course of study. Focus is on the Economics and Statistics master's of science or single-cycle degree courses of the University of Brescia and Pisa

Quality service in banking: a longitudinal approach

The association between service quality and customer satisfaction represents one of the fundamental relationships in marketing research. Although cross-sectional analysis has been commonly applied in such a context, the shift to a more dynamic approach appears to be a worthwhile change. A broad range of statistical methods exist for the management of data that arises from longitudinal designs. Based on pseudo-panel data collected from the banking sector, a latent growth curve model is proposed for the analysis of service quality in order to capture both intra-individual and inter-individual changes in customer satisfaction over time. Results also describe the impact of reliability on overall satisfaction for different customers’ profile

Does water utilities' ownership matter in water pricing policy? An analysis of endogenous and environmental determinants of water tariffs in Italy

Owing to the growing importance of efficient water management, it has become crucial to understand water utilities' characteristics and the environmental factors affecting water pricing, so as to provide guidance to policy-makers. The analysis of factors influencing water tariffs is a challenging task in a context in which companies providing the service are characterized by different ownership features. Moreover, environmental factors and companies' characteristics may simultaneously influence both the decision to privatize the service and the water tariff level. Using a treatment effects model, where privatization is considered as an endogenous binary treatment variable, this paper analyzes whether and how certain relevant variables affect the tariffs levied by water utilities in Italy. The results show that higher tariffs are set in order to cover a greater amount of investments; furthermore, abundant water availability, measured by the average annual rainfall, significantly reduces prices. The data surprisingly show that tariffs are higher where the income level is lower. Significantly, after accounting for the endogeneity due to the fact that water firms are not randomly distributed between totally publicly or not totally publicly owned, our results seem to suggest that ownership does not influence the tariffs levied by water utilities

Local Comparisons of Small Area Estimates of Poverty: An Application Within the Tuscany Region in Italy

The aim of this paper is to highlight some key issues and challenges in the analysis of poverty at the local level using survey data. In the last years there was a worldwide increase in the demand for poverty and living conditions estimates at the local level, since these quantities can help in planning local policies aimed at decreasing poverty and social exclusion. In many countries various sample surveys on income and living conditions are currently conducted, but their sample size is not enough to obtain reliable estimates at local level. When this happens, small area estimation (SAE) methods can be used. In this paper, a SAE model is used to compute the mean household equivalised income and the head count ratio for the 57 Labor Local Systems of the Tuscany region in Italy for the year 2011. The caveats of the analysis of poverty at the local level using small area methods are many, and some are still not so well explored in the literature, starting from the definition of the target indicators to the relevant dimensions of their measurement. We suggest in this paper that together with the universally recognized multidimensional, longitudinal and local dimensions of poverty, a new dimension must be considered: the price dimension, which should take into account local purchasing power parities to cor- rectly compare the poverty indicators based on income measures

Students’ satisfaction and teaching efficiency of university offer

This study analyses the factors affecting students’ satisfaction with university experience, focusing on the aspects characterising the teaching efficiency of educational offer. For this purpose, organisation of teaching activities, available information, teaching materials, and other facilities offered to students to make their learning experience more successful, are considered as indicators of teaching efficiency. Our interest in this topic is justified by the importance that students’ satisfaction assumes, not only as indicator of the quality of educational services but also for its relationship with overall life satisfaction and subjective well-being. A structural equation model with latent variables is estimated by using survey and administrative data of the University of Pisa. Main findings seem to show that teaching efficiency has a positive effect on satisfaction and suggest that whenever it is inadequate, or at least, considered as such, students are less satisfied for their university experience. The effects of other factors on students’ satisfaction such as studies organisation, social capital and internship experience are also discussed

Un'indagine campionaria sugli studenti inattivi: il caso dell'Università di Pisa

In questo lavoro si vuole soffermare l’attenzione sugli studenti inattivi, cioè gli studenti universitari che nella loro carriera hanno trascorso almeno un anno senza acquisire crediti formativi (o senza superare esami). L’interesse per questo argomento si spiega non solo per gli evidenti effetti negativi che la condizione di inattivo crea sugli studenti e sulle loro famiglie ma anche per gli oneri sul sistema universitario. I dati sono stati raccolti con un’indagine campionaria su un campione casuale stratificato di 1945 studenti iscritti all’Università di Pisa nell’anno accademico 2010-’11. L’analisi è stata effettuata con un modello di regressione logistica a due livelli, rispettivamente per i corsi di laurea di primo e di secondo livello

Labour market condition in Italy during and after the financial crises: a segmented regression analysis approach of interrupted time series

One of the most widely recognized indicators of the labour market condition is a rising unemployment rate. In Italy, after the 2008 global financial crisis and the 2012 European sovereign debt crisis, this indicator continuously increased over time until late 2014, after which it seems to happen a trend reversal. The aim of this paper is to assess the existence a significant trend reversal in the unemployment rate after 2014, by analysing quarterly data collected from the Italian National Institute of Statistics using a segmented regression analysis approach of interrupted time series. In particular, the analysis is carried out considering some subpopulations of interest, by stratifying unemployment rate for age groups, in order to examine youth unemployment, gender and macro-regions. Moreover, a focus is given to the analysis of the percentage of people Not Engaged in Education, Employment or Training, to provide a more in-depth analysis of the labour market