Estimating the New Keynesian Phillips Curve for Italian Manufacturing Sectors

The purpose of this paper is to test the general validity of the NKPC previsions for the Italian manufacturing industries. In particular we are interested in estimating the extent to which the degree of nominal inertia and the fraction of backward-looking price-setters differ from industry to industry. We attempt to address this issue by testing three different model specifications: a pure forward-looking model versus a hybrid model where an income labour share marginal cost measure is considered, and a modified hybrid model specification where marginal costs are corrected to include intermediate inputs. Our results show that the backward-looking component is statistically significant and quantitatively large for all industries. Moreover, this estimate does not depend on the model’s specification. Conversely, the parameter measuring the extent of price rigidity is sensitive to the definition of firms’ cost. Interpreting the overall results, we conclude that price-setting behaviour is not totally homogeneous among Italian firms.Phillips curve, Inflation, Unit labour cost

Domestic tourism demand in Italy: a Fixed Effect Vector Decomposition estimation

This study investigates the main determinants of the Italian domestic tourism demand measured in terms of regional bilateral tourism flows. We consider a large panel of explanatory variables meant to capture not only the role of traditional economic demand-driven forces, but also qualitative supply-side factors that can be crucial in determining the comparative advantage of the exporting regions. The empirical analysis, performed in the context of an extended gravity model, builds on the Fixed Effect Vector Decomposition estimator (FEVD) developed by Plümper and Troeger (2007). The investigation is conducted for the country as a whole and separately for the two macro-areas, namely the Centre-North and the South. According to our results, at aggregate level, the main determinants of Italian tourism flows appear to be the lagged dependent variable, which control for reputation and habit formation, and relative prices. Also the per capita GDP plays a significant role, but its coefficient suggests that in Italy domestic tourism does not behave as a luxury good, as frequently found in the international tourism context. Another interesting result is that for Italian tourists, domestic destinations and international destinations act as substitutable goods. At sub-sample level two main findings are worth noting. On the one hand, the main outcomes of the full sample analysis are confirmed, on the other hand some interesting differences arise with respect to the impact of the relevant variables. In particular, tourists coming from the southern regions appear to be more concerned than northern ones about variations in their per capita GDP and in price differences.Domestic tourism flows, Gravity model, Fixed Effect Vector Decomposition

A panel estimation of the relationship between income, electric power consumption and CO2 emissions

This paper aims to give a contribution on the still questioned bell-shaped relationship between carbon dioxide polluting emissions and economic growth, which is commonly known in the literature as the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. In particular, it develops a panel analysis for a group of 77 countries, including 22 OECD and 55 NON-OECD units, over the period 1971-2006. We specify the estimated model by taking into account the role of electric power consumption and compare the performance of alternative panel estimators for a quadratic and cubic specification of the empirical model. Our findings seem to go in favor of the EKC relationship for the entire sample. However, this outcome is not confirmed when moving the analysis at sub-sample level where results highlight a non homogeneous picture across different groups of nations.Panel analysis, Environmental Kuznets Curve, CO2 emissions and Energy use

Does internal migration affect Italian domestic tourism? A panel data analysis

This paper proposes a dynamic panel data investigation on the role of interregional migration on Italian domestic tourism demand, using three panel estimators characterized by different homogeneity assumptions imposed on the parameters. A standard cointegration analysis is performed before proceeding to panel regressions. The results provide ample support for a strong positive relationship between per capita domestic tourism nights and per capita internal migration stock. This evidence extends the migration-tourism nexus, already established at the international level, to the intranational scale, and reinforces the idea that host regions should not overlook the role of migration when designing their tourism policies

The relationship between immigration and tourism firms

This article investigates whether the presence of immigrants represents an opportunity for Italian tourism firms to increase the number of establishments and their employees. To this scope, we focus on the hotels and restaurants sector where a great amount of revenues comes from the tourist expenditure. The investigation is conducted at both the nationwide level and, separately, for Centre-Northern and Southern provinces. As estimation technique, in order to deal with the potential endogeneity problem, we will proceed with the two-stage least square method. The results strongly support a positive relationship between the provincial share of immigrants and the number of tourism establishments and their employees. This relationship seems to be stronger for southern provinces

Does air pollution affect the impact of economic development on cancer mortality? The case of OECD countries

This paper’s principle aim is to investigate if the level of fine particular matter (PM10) affects the impact of economic development on cancer mortality. At this scope, we consider a polynomial model with the number of cancer deaths as dependent variable for a panel of 26 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Countries (OECD) during the 1990-2013 time span. The covariates are PM10, income, public health-expenditure, the share of urban population, the number of daily sold cigarettes and alcohol daily consumption. For the scope of our investigation, we implement a quartile division of covariates using the level of PM10 as reference variable in order to estimate the effect of the same variable for each subgroup. Technically, we first use PM10 values to construct quartiles. Then, we use cancer-mortality rates by PM10 quartile to run separate regressions for each quartile. We also calculate the social costs arising from cancer deaths caused by PM10 emissions. According to our results, increasing pollution levels weaken the moderating effect of income and health expenditure on cancer-deaths. As far as PM10 is concerned, it seems that it increasingly affects cancer-deaths until it reaches a threshold level, then its influence on the number of deaths lowers down. Finally, we simulate that a 1% increase in PM10 emissions leads to an increase of 0.205 cancer-deaths every 100.000 inhabitants. In terms of social costs, these deaths amount to 881.500 US$

Domestic tourism demand in Italy: a Fixed Effect Vector Decomposition estimation

This study investigates the main determinants of the Italian domestic tourism demand measured in terms of regional bilateral tourism flows. We consider a large panel of explanatory variables meant to capture not only the role of traditional economic demand-driven forces, but also qualitative supply-side factors that can be crucial in determining the comparative advantage of the exporting regions. The empirical analysis, performed in the context of an extended gravity model, builds on the Fixed Effect Vector Decomposition estimator (FEVD) developed by Plümper and Troeger (2007). The investigation is conducted for the country as a whole and separately for the two macro-areas, namely the Centre-North and the South. According to our results, at aggregate level, the main determinants of Italian tourism flows appear to be the lagged dependent variable, which control for reputation and habit formation, and relative prices. Also the per capita GDP plays a significant role, but its coefficient suggests that in Italy domestic tourism does not behave as a luxury good, as frequently found in the international tourism context. Another interesting result is that for Italian tourists, domestic destinations and international destinations act as substitutable goods. At sub-sample level two main findings are worth noting. On the one hand, the main outcomes of the full sample analysis are confirmed, on the other hand some interesting differences arise with respect to the impact of the relevant variables. In particular, tourists coming from the southern regions appear to be more concerned than northern ones about variations in their per capita GDP and in price differences

ACTN-3 and ACE genotypes in elite male Italian athletes

The ACE I/D and the ACTN-3 R577X polymorphisms are the most studied genes associated with elite athlete status, even if this association has been often conflicting. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the ACE and the ACTN3 genotypes and elite performance in Italian male athletes. The ACTN-3 R577X and the ACE I/D genotype distributions of 59 elite male Italian athletes practicing gymnastics (G; n = 17), 100 m-400 m running (R; n = 12), and playing soccer (S; n= 30) were compared with controls from Italian (C; n = 31) populations. For ACE distribution, athletes did not differ from controls (G, X2 = 0.37, df = 2, p = 0.82; R, X2 = 1.90, df = 2, p = 0.45; S, X2 = 1.48, df = 2, p = 0.47) and the DD genotype was at very high frequency in all groups (G = 53%, R= 50%, S = 60%, C = 45%). For ACTN-3 distribution, elite gymnasts showed a significant difference from controls (X2 = 6.57, df = 2, p = 0.03), showing an absence of XX genotype. Soccer players and runners did not differ from controls in ACTN-3 genotype distribution (R, X2 =0.43, df = 2, p = 0.80; S, X 2 = 1.25, df = 2, p = 0.53). Even if the ACE DD genotype is often positively associated with elite sprint/power athlete status, its high frequency in Italian populations eliminates the possibility of its exclusive association in Italian athletes. The results of ACTN3 genotypes suggest that RR genotype of ACTN-3 gene is a determinant of elite gymnasts status but it is not the key factor for achieving a top-level performance in soccer or track events

A panel estimation of the relationship between income, electric power consumption and CO2 emissions

This paper aims to give a contribution on the still questioned bell-shaped relationship between carbon dioxide polluting emissions and economic growth, which is commonly known in the literature as the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. In particular, it develops a panel analysis for a group of 77 countries, including 22 OECD and 55 NON-OECD units, over the period 1971-2006. We specify the estimated model by taking into account the role of electric power consumption and compare the performance of alternative panel estimators for a quadratic and cubic specification of the empirical model. Our findings seem to go in favor of the EKC relationship for the entire sample. However, this outcome is not confirmed when moving the analysis at sub-sample level where results highlight a non homogeneous picture across different groups of nations

Migration and Inbound Tourism: An Italian Perspective

This paper investigates the impact of migration on Italian inbound tourism flows in a dynamic panel data framework. Arrivals, expenditure and nights from 65 countries are analyzed for the period 2005-2011. The migration variable is defined at both origin and destination in order to assess the pushing and pulling forces. Estimates are performed using both aggregated flows and flows disaggregated to separate the VFRs from two non-VFR categories, namely holiday and business. The results suggest the presence of a strong migration-tourism nexus which clearly goes beyond visiting friends and relatives. Moreover, the effects of the different determinants vary according to the way in which the tourism market is segmented and, within each segment, to the way in which tourism demand is measured