On-the-job search in Italian labour markets: an empirical analysis

This paper analyses the determinants of on-the-job search activities of Italian workers. Using several waves of the Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) we estimate with a Probit model how individual socio demographic characteristics and economic variables affect the probability of on-the-job search. We find that the probability of being engaged in job-search activities is higher for low-wage earners, for workers with low tenure and higher levels of education, for males and for residents in large cities. Moreover, we find significant differences in the determinants of on-the-job search activities across sectors. Public sector employees show a considerable lower probability of on-thejob search compared to private sector workers; White-collars and teachers search much less than blue-collars (both in private and public sectors). Results suggest that the attractiveness of jobs varies considerably, even controlling for wage levels and that notwithstanding the high degree of centralization Italian markets are reactive to job-search determinants.Job search, labour mobility, Public sector

On-the-job Search in Italian Labour Markets: An Empirical Analysis

This paper analyses the determinants of on-the-job search activities of Italian workers. On-the-job search is a good indicator of labour turnover, overcoming the limitations due to a lack of adequate data about labour turnover. Using several waves of the Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) we estimate with a Probit model how individual socio-demographic characteristics and economic variables affect the probability of on-the-job search. We find that the probability of being engaged in job-search activities is higher for males, when wage is lower, for workers with low tenure and higher levels of education and for residents in large cities. Public sector workers show a considerable lower probability of on-the-job search, suggesting higher satisfaction on the job. White-Collars and Teachers search much less than Blue-Collars. The number of job held and the average number of hours worked per week are important factors that increase the probability of on-the-job search. Married women and women with children are less likely to be looking for an alternative employment.Keywords: Job search; labor mobility. JEL classifications: J28, J62, M51.

THE EFFECTS OF SCHOOL COMPETITION ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF ITALIAN STUDENTS

In this paper we study the impact of the degree of school competition on achievement of Italian students. Specifically, competition is measured as the number of schools available to students in a given area. The aim is to evaluate whether an increase in school choice improves the quality of education. Using the third cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2006) we investigate with simple Least Squares regression models, controlling for a range of individual and schools characteristics, if secondary school students with a wider range of schools choices perform better than those students whose choice is more limited. We find a significant positive correlation between students’ academic performance and the degree of local schools competition. Moreover, we show that students achieve much better outcomes if schools operating in more competitive environments also experience a higher pressure on academic standards coming from parents.Educational Production Function, School Competition, Students Achievement, PISA

Does bullying reduce educational achievement? An evaluation using matching estimators

Using data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (2006-PIRLS) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (2007-TIMSS), we investigate the impact of being a victim of school bullying on educational achievement for Italian students enrolled at the fourth and eighth grade levels. Firstly, we apply an OLS estimator controlling for a number of individual characteristics and school fixed effects. Secondly, in order to attenuate the impact of confounding factors, we use propensity score matching techniques. Our empirical findings based on average treatment effects suggest that being a victim of school bullying has a considerable negative effect on student performance at both the fourth and the eighth grade level. Importantly, the adverse effect of bullying on educational achievement is larger at age 13 than at age 9. Hence, school violence seems to constitute a relevant factor in explaining student performance.Bullying; Educational Achievement; School; TIMSS; PIRLS

The Use of Informal Networks in Italian Labor Markets: Efficiency or Favoritisms?

A number of papers considers the use of informal networks (the help of relatives, friends and acquaintances) to find an employment as an efficient mechanism to match workers to jobs. However, evidence in Italy shows that informal networks tend to be used more in less productive jobs and less developed regions. We aim to show that informal networks – rather than being an efficient channel of information transmission – may interfere with a genuine process of selection of workers, favoring socially connected people in place of more talented workers. Using the Bank of Italy Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) we estimate with a Probit model the determinants of the probability of using informal networks. We find that informal networks tend to be used by low educated individuals, in low productivity jobs, in high unemployment areas, where opportunistic behavior are widespread and in jobs paying a wage rent. We offer a stripped-down model of nepotism to explain theoretically these findings.Keywords: Informal Networks, Favoritism; Nepotism; Italian Labour Markets

Primary care utilisation and workers’ opportunity costs. Evidence from Italy

This paper analyses the effects of employment condition and work hours on the utilisation of primary care services in Italy. Although the Italian NHS provides free and equitable access to primary care, type of occupation and labour contracts may still deter workers to attend medical appointments. The hypothesis is that the higher the workers’ opportunity cost in terms of earning forgone, the less the demand for General Practitioner (GP) visits. Using survey data provided by the Italian National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), we estimate a negative binomial model of GP visits as a function of employment related variables, individual characteristics, supply factors and geographical effects. We find that selfemployed workers, managers and cadres have relatively low demand compared to white and blue collars. We conclude that the former, bearing higher opportunity costs, suffer more from the loss of earnings related to the absence from work than the latter.Opportunity cost, hours of work, utilisation of GP, employment status.

Análisis crítico de un arquetipo para la construcción de la nacionalidad argentina de principios del siglo XX

En el contexto socio cultural de las primeras dos décadas del siglo XX en Argentina, signado por el impacto inmigratorio y la configuración de una sociedad de masas, la no nacionalización del extranjero representó el locus primordial para el surgimiento de trabajos escritos por parte de un grupo de pensadores catalogados dentro del paradigma denominado Modernismo Cultural. Sus escritos construyeron la revalorización de ciertos personajes destacados del pasado decimonónico argentino, a partir del legado hispánico colonial y las gestas revolucionarias independentistas. (Párrafo extraído del texto a modo de resumen)Mesa 36: El placer del texto. Sociología, literatura y producción de subjetividades en los mundos literariosFacultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educació

Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act Is a Valid Exercise of Congress\u27 Power to Abrogate State Sovereign Immunity: \u3cem\u3eTennessee v. Lane\u3c/em\u3e

The Supreme Court of the United States held that as it applies to the class of cases implicating the fundamental right of access to the courts, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 constitutes a valid exercise of Congress\u27 authority under § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment to abrogate state sovereign immunity. Tennessee v. Lane, 124 S. Ct. 1978 (2004

Religious Narratives in Italian Literature after the Second Vatican Council

This book presents a semiotic study of the re-elaboration of Christian narratives and values in a corpus of Italian novels published after the Second Vatican Council (1960s). It tackles the complex set of ideas expressed by Italian writers about the biblical narration of human origins and traditional religious language and ritual, the perceived clash between the immanent and transcendent nature and role of the Church

Chapter 3 Reforms of asylum seekers’ reception during the 2010s

"This book provides a comparative overview of asylum seekers’ reception throughout Europe by adopting a theoretical framework based on an analytical approach to the notion of multilevel governance. It challenges the tendency of the multilevel governance literature to overlook political controversies and conflicts and questions the assumption that it represents the best policymaking arrangement for promoting policy convergence. In doing so, it explores the functioning of the reception component of the Common European Asylum System in centralised states and federal/regional states and analyses its implementation at both national and local levels. The book reveals the heterogeneous development of reception policies not only across Member States but also within each country where solutions adopted at the local level generally diverge substantially. Furthermore, the overall centralization of policymaking on reception regardless the institutional structure, seems to leave little room for MLG arrangements tailored to specific localities and triggers tensions between central governments and local authorities. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of migration and asylum studies, immigration, (multilevel) global governance and more broadly to comparative politics, European studies/politics, and public policy.