Addiction and the Interaction between Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption

This paper adopts a multi-commodity habit formation model to study whether unhealthy behaviours are related, i.e. whether there are contemporaneous and inter temporal complementarities in Italian consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Own and crossprice elasticities, as well as the income elasticities, are calculated from the parameters of a semi-reduced system estimated on aggregate annual time series for alcohol and tobacco expenditures over the period 1960-2002. Own price elasticities are negative and tobacco appears to be more responsive than alcohol demand, although both responses are less than unity. Cross price elasticities are also negative and asymmetric showing that alcohol and tobacco are complements. Whereby a ”double dividend” could then be exploited, because public policy needs to tackle the consumption of one good only to control the demand of both. The asymmetry in the values of the cross price elasticities coupled with the relative magnitude of the own price responses suggest that the optimal strategy for maximizing public revenues through increases in ”sin” goods excise taxation would be to raise alcohol taxation more than tobacco. Finally, past consumption of one addictive good does not significantly reinforce current consumption of the other addictive goodaddiction models; sin goods; GMM estimator

PUBLIC R&D INVESTMENT FROM PRIVATE AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE. AN APPLICATION TO ITALIAN AGRICULTURE, 1960-1995

Public R&D stock is considered as quasi-fixed input in a variable cost function. Its shadow price allows to measure the long run optimal level thus explicitly assessing the hypothesis of under (over) investment. Two alternative R&D prices are defined depending on whether the social or private (farmers) view prevails. The results under these alternatives provide evidence on the hypothesis that free-riding on public R&D explain overinvestment. The application to the Italian agriculture (1960-1995) suggests overinvestment in public research since the late seventies with a significant difference between the social and private optimal R&D, the former being much closer to the observed level.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Price-induced technical progress in Italian agriculture

In this paper we aim at investigating the price-induced innovation hypothesis in Italian agriculture. We generalize the framework of analysis proposed by Peeters and Surry (2000). This generalization includes a short-run specification of the dual technology as well as a quadratic spline in a time variable. We argue that the temporary equilibrium setting gives a more realistic representation of how relative prices may steer innovation and variable input bias over time. The quadratic function has desirable properties with respect to the splined variable, i.e., a more flexible treatment of exogenous technical change. Results provide evidence in favour of the price-induced innovation in Italian agriculture from 1951 to 1991.Induced innovation , Italian agriculture , SGM Restricted Cost Function

Public R&D Investment and Cost Behaviour in Italian Agriculture: 1960-1995.

The public R&D capital stock is introduced as a quasi-fixed input in a variable cost function. The relative shadow price allows the correct measurement of the equilibrium levels of quasi-fixed inputs thus explicitly assessing the hypothesis of public R&D under (over) investment. By introducing an appropriate R&D price in the long-run equilibrium, the model can also provide empirical evidence on the rationale driving public R&D investment and on the hypothesis that free-riding on public R&D can explain overinvestment. Moreover, the model allows a formal testing of the induced innovation hypothesis and a more accurate calculation of both internal rate of return to R&D and residual exogenous productivity growth. The empirical implications of the model are appraised in the case of Italian agriculture for the period 1960-1995.Public Economics,

Pediatric extraspinal sacrococcygeal ependymoma (ESE): an Italian AIEOP experience of six cases and literature review

Background: Primary pediatric extraspinal sacrococcygeal ependymoma (ESE) is a very rare disease, poorly described in literature, whose diagnostic, therapeutic, and follow-up approach is still controversial. Methods: We describe six cases of pediatric ESE treated at Associazione Italiana Ematologia Oncologia Pediatrica (AIEOP) centers in Italy since 1983, with a review of the literature. Results: All six patients had primary sacrococcygeal disease (two presacral and four subcutaneous) with median age of 10 years. Three patients were males, and two of them are metastatic at diagnosis; 3/6 had myxopapillary ependymoma grade I and 3/6 had classic ependymoma grade II. Five patients underwent surgical resection with complete removal only in one case with coccygectomy. Adjuvant chemoradiotherapy was administered to one metastatic patient obtaining a complete remission. Two patients relapsed at 3 and 8 years from diagnosis: they were treated with salvage chemotherapy (high-dose sequential chemotherapy with myeloablative regimen in one case), surgery, and radiotherapy achieving complete remission (CR). All six patients are in complete continuous remission (CCR) at a median follow-up of 12.8 years. Conclusions: Pediatric patients with this peculiar disease need to be referred to specialized pediatric cancer centers that can provide multidisciplinary treatment after a centralized pathology review. Our experience highlights the role of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in adjuvant and relapse setting. The final prognosis is relatively optimistic, but with a careful follow-up due to the high risk of recurrence

NUOVI MODELLI COLLABORATIVI DI IMPRESA: NASCITA E TRASFORMAZIONE DELL'ENTERPRISE 2.0

Today new approach to competition and new business models based on collaboration, sharing and openness and far from hierarchical control and vertical processes, seems to rise in some firms, known as Enterprise 2.0 This work explores the meaning of the acronym 2.0, synonymous of collaboration and sharing within open communities of individuals and firms, linked to the concept of enterprise. We try to define and explore a new way to create value: a new collaborative model lead by knowledge, web 2.0 technologies, complex network and people. Through these dimensions rises and develops Enterprise 2.0. The large availability of information and the opportunity for consumers, partner and professionals to share and co-create ideas, products and experiences, in fact, are questioning the effectiveness of traditional hierarchical strategy. Consumers are ever more empowered with the right to participate and take an active lead in the process of value creation. Therefore, companies are required to change their role in the all business processes. Firms are becoming even more open to share and collaborate, using the power of network and technologies web 2.0, rising the so called Enterprise 2.0. In this way, the goals are twofold: - on one hand to understand and to describe how this new enterprise model rises and evolves, through a predictive model based on theory building from cases. - on the other hand to explain if it is an evolution of the traditional business models, or a new, discontinuous innovation. To achieve these objectives we focus on the analysis of three case studies. Slow Food investigate the branding process, Ecars-Now! the innovation process and Fiat Mio the open design process. All these cases helped us to find some common elements and to define a common line guide for emerging and consolidation of Enterprise 2.0. Our major findings affect to the element responsible for the rise of these new organizational models that are: knowledge and intellectual capital, as the main source of competitive advantage and the most strategic resource of the firm that give effectiveness to the model; complex network, that allow knowledge and information sharing not otherwise available and offer sustainability to the model; web 2.0 technologies, that give efficiency to the model because reduce information and transaction costs; and people, because participate actively to the value creation process. Moreover, analyzing the case studies, emerge some common elements required for the consolidation of such models. We summarize them in: active participation, variety and diversity of the actors who participate, collaboration in goods production, collective leadership and auto-generating process. Finally, we consider the new Enterprise 2.0 just a traditional knowledge-based enterprise, which identifies in the new technologies (web 2.0) opportunities an alternative way to compete. This alternative models are not a discontinuous innovation, but just an evolution of traditional knowledge-based models with a much more high potential of collaboration

The Impact of a Permeation Grouting Technique Quantitatively Assessed through a Process-Focused Life Cycle Assessment

Permeation grouting technique can be considered nowadays a well-established ground improvement strategy in urban built environments, where an accurate fine-tuning of its component can lead to tailored and efficient interventions. But how environmentally impacting is it? Using life cycle assessment analyses (LCA) and focusing on the construction phase, this research highlights the leverages that can improve the environmental performance of this geotechnical construction process. The alternative approaches in terms of materials and processes are identified, quantified and compared using the standard output of the LCA analysis and represent the ideal input for the three-step sustainability assessment method for geotechnical infrastructure developed by the author

Rational Addiction and Time Consistency: an Empirical Test

This paper deals with one of the main empirical problems associated with the rational addiction model,  namely  that  the  demand  equation  derived  from  the  rational  addiction  theory  is  not  empirically  distinguishable from models with forward looking behavior, but with time inconsistent preferences. The  implication is  that, even when  forward‐looking  behavior is  supported  by  data,  the  standard  rational  addiction equation cannot identify time consistency in preferences. In fact, we show that the possibility  of testing for exponential versus non‐exponential time discounting is nestled within the general rational  addiction  model.  We  propose  a  test  that  uses  only  the  information  obtained  from  the  general  specification and the price effects. We use a panel of Italian individuals to estimate a rational addiction  model for tobacco. GMM estimators deal with errors in variables and unobserved heterogeneity. The  results conform to the theoretical predictions. We find evidence that tobacco consumers are forward  looking. Our test of time consistency does not reject the hypothesis that smokers in our sample actually  discount exponentially.

Malin 1: interacting galaxy pair?

Malin 1 is a unique, extraordinarily large low surface brightness galaxy. The structure and the origins of the galaxy are poorly understood. The reason for such a situation is an absence of detailed observational data, especially, of high-resolution kinematics. In this Letter we study the stellar kinematics of the inner part (r < 15 kpc) of Malin 1. We present spectroscopic arguments in favour of a small galaxy - Malin 1B - being a companion probably interacting with the main galaxy - Malin 1. This object is clearly seen in many published images of Malin 1 but is not mentioned in any astronomical databases. Malin 1B is located at the projected distance of 14 kpc from the Malin 1's nucleus and has small - 65$\pm$16 km/s - relative velocity, which we determined for the first time. We suggest that ongoing interaction with Malin 1B can explain main morphological features of the Malin 1's central region - two-armed spiral structure, a bar, and an external one-armed spiral pattern. We also investigated the large scale environment of Malin 1 and postulate that the galaxy SDSS J123708.91+142253.2 might be responsible for the formation of extended low-surface brightness envelope by means of head-on collision with Malin 1 (in the framework of collision scenario proposed by Mapelli et al. 2008). To test the collisional origins of Malin 1 global structure, more observational data and new numerical models are needed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA