Skilled migration and education policies: Is there still scope for a Bhagwati tax?

The Bhagwati brain drain tax proposal dating back to more than thirty years ago has been criticized from different viewpoints. In particular, recent literature has pointed out that this tax would hamper accumulation of human capital by reducing gains from skilled migration. In this paper, it is argued that when taking into account social externalities of human capital, and optimal policies implemented by a government caring only for left behind residents, a brain drain tax tends rather to foster the investment in human capital and increase residents’ income and welfare. The Bhagwati tax could even be universally welfare improving. In fact, if the tax is paid by migrants in addition to the ordinary income taxation, their larger fiscal burden might be outweighed by a higher human capital and gross income. Alternatively, if the transfer is financed by the destination country, its fiscal losses might be outweighed by the advantage of more skilled immigrants.Skilled migration, education policies, Bhagwati tax

Aerial Archaeology in the Space Age

No abstract availabl

Cost reducing investments and spatial competition

In this paper we analyze the relationship between competition and cost reducing investments in the context of a location model. In particular, we derive the symmetric subgame-perfect equilibrium of a three-stage circular city model with closed-loop strategies, and study the effects of changes in competition fundamentals under both a given number of firms and free entryCost reducing investments

The M101 group complex: new dwarf galaxy candidates and spatial structure

The fine details of the large-scale structure in the local universe provide important empirical benchmarks for testing cosmological models of structure formation. Dwarf galaxies are key object for such studies. Enlarge the sample of known dwarf galaxies in the local universe. We performed a search for faint, unresolved low-surface brightness dwarf galaxies in the M101 group complex, including the region around the major spiral galaxies M101, M51, and M63 lying at a distance 7.0, 8.6, and 9.0 Mpc, respectively. The new dwarf galaxy sample can be used in a first step to test for significant substructure in the 2D-distribution and in a second step to study the spatial distribution of the galaxy complex. Using filtering algorithms we surveyed 330 square degrees of imaging data obtained from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The images were visually inspected. The spatial distribution of known galaxies and candidates was analyzed transforming the system into a M101 eigenframe, using the geometrical alignment of the group. We discovered 15 new dwarf galaxies and carried out surface photometry in the g and r bands. The similarity of the photometric properties of these dwarfs to those of Local Group dwarfs suggest membership to the M101 group complex. The sky distribution of the candidates follows the thin planar structure outlined by the known members of the three subgroups. The ~3Mpc long filamentary structure has a rms thickness of 67 kpc. The planar structure of the embedded M101 subgroup is even thinner, with rms=46 kpc. The formation of this structure might be due to the expansion of the Local Void to which it borders. Other implications are discussed as well. We show the viability of SDSS data to extend the sample of dwarfs in the local universe and test cosmological models on small scales.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in A&

The Italian Entrepreneurial Crisis During COVID-19. Investments in Algeria as a Possible International Opportunity for the Relaunch of our Companies.

The world economy is severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy is certainly one of the most affected countries in terms of health with over 35,000 victims to date and with a decrease of 12.8% of GDP in the 2nd quarter of 2020, mainly caused by the temporary closure or bankruptcy of many companies during the lockdown period. To restart, Italian entrepreneurs cannot rely only on current government aid which is not going to be immediately available, nor on the Recovery Fund granted by the EU which will probably become effective from mid-2021. The restart must take place immediately and, to do so, it is also necessary to aim at obtaining possible financing and profit from investment opportunities offered by the developing countries that are interested in foreign know-how. Among the opportunities offered by the international present context it is worth considering the possibility of investing in one of the most active countries in the Maghreb area, namely Algeria which is undoubtedly one of the most interesting markets for Italian investments in the coming years, due to various factors: its excellent bilateral relations with Italy, both economic and commercial, the geographical proximity and the common Mediterranean view, the cooperation on security and terrorism and the huge funding agreed by the two governments to encourage the creation of mixed start-ups on the Algerian territory. The research carried out started from the analysis of macroeconomic data, analyzing the business climate of the Maghreb territory with particular attention to the international economic development policies in the area, which could represent a chance to relaunch Italian companies. Afterwards, while in no way pretending to be exhaustive, the research, supported by the data collected from the questionnaire submitted to the main Italian operators in the area, highlighted their difficulties in doing business in recent years, and supplied a possible indication of the opportunities to be seized and the threats to be minimized on the territory by future Italian investors

Strategic delegation in a sequential model with multiple stages

We analyze strategic delegation in a Stackelberg model with an arbitrary number, n, of firms. We show that the n-1 last movers delegate their production decisions to managers whereas the first mover does not. Equilibrium incentive rates are increasing in the order with which managers select quantities. Letting u_i^* denote the equilibrium payoff of the firm whose manager moves in the i-th place, we show that u_n^*>u_{n-1}^*>...>u_2^*>u_1^*. We also compare the delegation outcome of our game with that of a Cournot oligopoly and show that the late (early) moving firms choose higher (lower) incentive rates than the Cournot firms.Comment: To appear in International Game Theory Review (IGTR), Vol. 13, No. 3 (2011) 1-1

Mattia Damiani (1705–1776), poet and scientist in eighteenth century Tuscany

Mattia Damiani da Volterra (1705–1776), “renowned Doctor,” was the author in 1754 of a collection of scientifi c poems, Le Muse Fisiche (The Physical Muses) on two subjects: Newtonian physics and the plurality of the worlds. Damiani’s interest in science was precocious, but even at that, it was superimposed on his studies in jurisprudence completed in Pisa in 1726. In 2003, Damiani’s lost text, De Hygrometris et eorum defectibus disputatio (Disputation about hygrometers and their defects), which was printed in 1726 in Pisa, was brought to light. It characterizes him as a young scientist who refl ected upon the properties and limits of laboratory instruments and on nascent aspects of climatology. In this Disputation, a delightful amalgamation of scientifi c and humanistic literature is pursued. A discussion of the properties and limits of contemporary hygrometers and a comparison of the Cartesian and Newtonian hypotheses about cloud formations are interspersed with quotations of verses on natural phenomena, mostly from poems of the classic age—a prelude to the author’s future involvement in writing scientifi c verses. The poetry of Damiani, which often shows a musicality comparable to that of the poet Giacomo Leopardi (1798–1837), deserves to be recognized and saved from oblivion. Especially remarkable is the implicit “multimedia” project of a union among science, poetry, theater, and music. The rediscovered Disputation about hygrometers opens a new window on the personages involved and on the evolution of meteorological concepts in Europe in the context of the then-new Galilean and Newtonian physics

The vague volcano-seismic clock of the South American Pacific margin

During his trip on the Beagle, Charles Darwin wrote about the eruptions associated with the Concepci´on earthquake of 1835. A later survey by Lorenzo Casertano, following the great 1960 Chilean earthquake, identified some unclear evidence of a link between eruptions and the seismic event, although some reservations were also raised. Using data available in 2006 in the Smithsonian Institution Catalogue of volcanic eruptions, Scalera revealed grounded evidence that South-American Wadati-Benioff zone earthquakes of magnitudes greater than 8.4 are associated with an increased rate of volcanic eruptions, but it was still impossible to determine a causal link between the two phenomena. An average return period of about 50 yr was deducible from the data for the time window 1800–1999. After 2006, the Smithsonian Institution’s effort to improve our knowledge of this region has greatly increased the completeness of the catalogue, adding the eruptions from the 2000– 2010 interval, together with 50% more new entries in the list of Andean volcanoes. The great Chilean Maule earthquake of 27 February 2010 (M = 8.8), occurring exactly five decades after the 1960 event, provided an occasion to reanalyse this updated database. The results suggest a preferential causal eruptions-earthquake relationship, but additional future volcano-seismic events should be studied to arrive at a definitive conclusion, within the perspective of using this phenomenon for Civil Protection. The possible correlation of South American volcano-seismic events with the Markowitz oscillation of the Polar Motion is another good reason for trying to establish an integrated geodynamic explanation

Service Quality Assessment in Health Care Sector: The Case of Durres Public Hospital☆

Abstract The aim of this paper is to assess the quality of services in the public regional hospital of Durres, as one of the most important in Albania, considering that the quality is a key parameter in performance evaluation. Patients are the main actors in appraising and assessing the quality, therefore this study is based on a questionnaire completed by 200 hospitalized patients between July and September, 2015. The survey is based on "SERVQUAL" model using five dimensions of service quality such as: empathy, tangibility, responsiveness, assurance and reliability all essential in measuring the perceptions and expectations of patients in each of them. Data elaboration and processing identify main factors affecting the overall patients' preferences where the findings in particular demonstrate positive results towards quality services without significant differences between expectations and actual perceptions of patients. In this context conclusion and results found should be taken in considerations as very important aspects for hospital managers and also policy makers when dealing with decisions affecting service quality assessment