Bank Competition and Regulatory Reform: The Case of the Italian Banking Industry

The paper analyzes the evolution of competitive conditions in the Italian banking industry using firm-level balance sheet data for the period 1983-1997. Regulatory reform, large-scale consolidation, and competitive pressure from other European countries have changed substantially the banking environment, with potentially offsetting effects on the overall degree of competitiveness of the banking market. We find that competitive conditions, relatively unchanged until 1992, have improved substantially thereafter, with estimated mark-ups decreasing over the last five years of the sample period. Also, there is no evidence that banks involved in mergers and acquisitions gained market power; at the same time, however, they exhibit lower than average marginal costs. Finally, after controlling for various factors that may have determined the time pattern of banksÂ’ estimated mark-ups, we still detect a significant unexplained drop in our competitive conditions indicators after 1992. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the introduction of the Single Banking License in 1993 contributed to improve bank competition.bank competition, mergers and acquisitions, Lerner, consolidation

Bank competition and regulatory reform: the case of the Italian banking industry

This study analyzes the evolution of competitive conditions in the Italian banking industry using firm-level balance sheet data for the period 1983-1997. Regulatory reform, large-scale consolidation, and competitive pressure from other European countries have changed substantially the banking environment, with potentially offsetting effects on the overall degree of competition of the banking market. We find that competitive conditions, relatively unchanged until 1992, have improved substantially thereafter, with estimated mark-ups decreasing over the last five years of the sample period. Also, there is no evidence that banks involved in mergers and acquisitions gained market power; at the same time, however, they exhibit lower than average marginal costs. Finally, after controlling for various factors that may have determined the time pattern of banks’ estimated mark-ups, we still detect a significant unexplained drop in our competitive conditions indicators after 1992. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the introduction of the Single Banking License in 1993 contributed to improve bank competition.Bank supervision ; Banks and banking - Italy

What-if analysis: A visual analytics approach to Information Retrieval evaluation

This paper focuses on the innovative visual analytics approach realized by the Visual Analytics Tool for Experimental Evaluation (VATE2) system, which eases and makes more effective the experimental evaluation process by introducing the what-if analysis. The what-if analysis is aimed at estimating the possible effects of a modification to an Information Retrieval (IR) system, in order to select the most promising fixes before implementing them, thus saving a considerable amount of effort. VATE2 builds on an analytical framework which models the behavior of the systems in order to make estimations, and integrates this analytical framework into a visual part which, via proper interaction and animations, receives input and provides feedback to the user. We conducted an experimental evaluation to assess the numerical performances of the analytical model and a validation of the visual analytics prototype with domain experts. Both the numerical evaluation and the user validation have shown that VATE2 is effective, innovative, and useful

The CLAIRE visual analytics system for analysing IR evaluation data

In this paper, we describe Combinatorial visuaL Analytics system for Information Retrieval Evaluation (CLAIRE), a Visual Analytics (VA) system for exploring and making sense of the performances of a large amount of Information Retrieval (IR) systems, in order to quickly and intuitively grasp which system configurations are preferred, what are the contributions of the different components and how these components interact together

The posthumous dimension of the poetry of Vittorio Sereni and Giorgio Caproni

In 1936 Olga Franzoni, Caproni’s girlfriend, dies of septicaemia. In 1943 Sereni is taken prisoner, thus beginning a two-year period of captivity. The impact of these episodes on Caproni’s and Sereni’s poetry has been thoroughly analysed, and to conceive of them as watersheds in the individual path of either poet thus comes as natural. However, what critics have less organically delved into is the possibility of considering these episodes as pivotal in shaping a more definite turning point, representing the moment from which Caproni’s and Sereni’s poetry becomes, in many respects, ‘posthumous’. Building on Giulio Ferroni’s idea of ‘postumo’, this study seeks to propose a critical lens through which to examine the oeuvre of both Sereni and Caproni. Through recourse to categories such as ‘end’ and ‘after’, I will explore the thematic implications of the nexus between poetry and experience for both Sereni and Caproni

Biodegradation and Microbial Contamination of Limestone Surfaces: An Experimental Study from Batalha Monastery, Portugal

An experimental study was conducted to assess the nature and extent of the biodeterioration of the limestone in the Batalha Monastery in Portugal. Stone fragments covered with microbial biofilms and lichenous crusts were investigated using Optical Microscopy (OM), Low Vacuum Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (LV-SEM + EDS), and X-ray micro-Diffractometry ( -XRD). Microbial samples were collected from the stone surface, cultured, and analyzed with NGS metagenomic DNA test to classify the bacterial communities associated with the formation of the biofilms. Particulate air pollutants collected on Pall GN-6 paper filters using a cascade impactor were characterized by SEM-EDS + NGS. The results showed that lichens play a major role in biodeterioration by promoting both physical and chemical attack on the limestone substrate via hyphae mechanical penetration along calcite inter-crystalline spaces, the dissolution/leaching of calcite minerals, and the precipitation of secondary minerals such as Ca-oxalates within the stone porosity framework. DNA analyses identified the bacterial communities within the biofilms and their relative abundances. Air quality monitoring results suggest that the microbial population colonizing the monastery limestone could at least partially be derived from the dry and wet deposition of airborne biological particles on the stone surfaces and that S, N, and P-rich air pollutants may have provided nutrients and energy for the bacteria communities, thus indirectly facilitating biofilm formation, the growth of a lichenous crusts, and limestone biodeterioration effects.European Commission - H2020-MSCA-ITN-EJD ED-ARCHMAT , GA 76631

Precision Nitrogen Management In Camelina: Preliminary Results From A Case Study In Central Italy

Nowadays, the use of advanced technologies in agriculture is mandatory in order to increase cropping system sustainability and quality. To guarantee a higher yield, farmers need to ensure the best health of their crops with, at the same time, the least environmental impact. Particular attention is generally paid to nitrogen fertilization since nitrogen use efficiency in modern agriculture is very low. It means that a lot of synthetic chemicals are wasted rather than utilized by crops with consequent environmental issues. The use of spectral reflectance indices, such as the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and chlorophyll index (Dualex), are reliable indicators to determine N status of crop plants. In this contest, very scarce knowledge is available about the response of camelina - a promising oilseed crop for food, feed, and the bio-based industry - to different N rates as well as on the use of remote/proximal sensing. So, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of N fertilization rate and timing on camelina seed yield and quality. At the same time, biochemical parameters and NDVI by using proximal sensing techniques were assessed with the aim to optimise camelina agronomic management

An optical sensing system for atmospheric particulate matter

Atmospheric particulate is one of the main responsible for the environmental pollution of highly populated cities. The particulate matter can be considered an aerosol of many particles, with different shapes, morphologies and sizes down to few micrometers. These small particles are responsible for climate changes and, when inhaled, can reach the lungs causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Usually commercial sensors are based on passive filters and are designed to measure only particles whose size is below a certain value. Therefore, a measuring system capable of assessing the quality of air and evaluating not only the amount of particles, but also the size distribution of the particulate matter in urban atmospheres could be extremely helpful. This paper describes a simple and cheap optical solution, which is able to detect the total amount of solid pollution particles and classify them according to their average size, giving a fast response to the users

Geoheritage map of the Portofino Natural Park (Italy)

This paper introduces a novel geoheritage map of the Portofino Natural Park. The park is an internationally well-known area, protected since 1935, located in the Ligurian Apennines, 25 km E of Genoa. It has 80 km of hiking trails which are used by visitors all year around. The map was produced by combining geological and geomorphological data, geoheritage elements and data from hiking and tourist maps. It is intended to be a base map from which can be derived applied maps. With appropriate integrations and simplifications, these can be useful tools for the management of highly frequented protected areas. The methodological approach involved aerial photo interpretation, bibliographical research, field work and the use of data from the Park archives. The original base map was produced by using a Digital Terrain Model raster (5 m) and vector layers for the different cartographical elements

Measuring randomness by leave-one-out prediction error. Analysis of EEG after painful stimulation

Abstract A parametric approach, to measure randomness in time series, is presented. Time series are modelled by a kernel machine performing regularized least squares and the leave-one-out (LOO) error is used to quantify unpredictability. On analyzing simulated data sets, we find that structure in data leads to a minimum of the LOO error as the regularizing parameter is varied. We consider electroencephalographic signals from migraineurs and healthy humans, after painful stimulation and use the proposed approach to detect changes of physiological state and to find differences between the response from patients and healthy subjects. As painful stimulus causes organization of the local activity in the cortex, EEG series become more predictable after stimulation. This phenomenon is less evident in patients: the inadequate cortical response to pain in migraineurs separates patients from controls with a probability close to 0.005