Assessing the "Choosiness" of Job Seekers. An Exploratory Approach and Evidence for Italy

We use data about job search and work preferences, typically collected in a Labour Force Survey, in order to construct an indicator of .choosiness. of the supply of job-seekers. The method for obtaining the indicator, first at individual level and then at aggregate levels, is based on results from multiple correspondence analysis. We investigate the informational value of the indicator by examining its stability over time and its predictive power on labour force transitions. Empirical analyses of cross-section and panel samples of job-seekers from the Italian quarterly Labour Force Survey clarify the potentials (and limitations) of the approach.job search, multiple correspondence analysis, survey data, unemployment

GEM: a Distributed Goal Evaluation Algorithm for Trust Management

Trust management is an approach to access control in distributed systems where access decisions are based on policy statements issued by multiple principals and stored in a distributed manner. In trust management, the policy statements of a principal can refer to other principals' statements; thus, the process of evaluating an access request (i.e., a goal) consists of finding a "chain" of policy statements that allows the access to the requested resource. Most existing goal evaluation algorithms for trust management either rely on a centralized evaluation strategy, which consists of collecting all the relevant policy statements in a single location (and therefore they do not guarantee the confidentiality of intensional policies), or do not detect the termination of the computation (i.e., when all the answers of a goal are computed). In this paper we present GEM, a distributed goal evaluation algorithm for trust management systems that relies on function-free logic programming for the specification of policy statements. GEM detects termination in a completely distributed way without disclosing intensional policies, thereby preserving their confidentiality. We demonstrate that the algorithm terminates and is sound and complete with respect to the standard semantics for logic programs.Comment: To appear in Theory and Practice of Logic Programming (TPLP

New results on mixture and exponential models by Orlicz spaces

New results and improvements in the study of nonparametric exponential and mixture models are proposed. In particular, different equivalent characterizations of maximal exponential models, in terms of open exponential arcs and Orlicz spaces, are given. Our theoretical results are supported by several examples and counterexamples and provide an answer to some open questions in the literature.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.3150/15-BEJ698 in the Bernoulli (http://isi.cbs.nl/bernoulli/) by the International Statistical Institute/Bernoulli Society (http://isi.cbs.nl/BS/bshome.htm

The persistence of poverty: true state dependence or unobserved heterogeneity? Some evidence from the Italian Survey on Household Income and Wealth

Evidence from several countries is that any household experiencing poverty today is much more likely to experience it again, which may be due to both unobserved heterogeneity (UH) and true state dependence (TSD). We point out that in this context there are two sources of UH: (1) the household ability to obtain income at a specific time period and (2) the way in which this ability evolves from that time period onwards. We test for TSD using a panel from Italy. After testing for the ignorability of the massive attrition plaguing the panel and accepting it, we do not find any sign of TSD.Attrition ignorability, Discrete response panel data models, Poverty dynamics

The Effect of Extending the Duration of Eligibility in an Italian Labour Market Programme for Dismissed Workers

Liste di mobilità (LM) is an Italian labour market programme targeted to dismissed workers. There is a ‘passive’ component granting monetary benefits to employees dismissed by firms larger than 15 employees, and an ‘active’ component providing an employment subsidy to any firm hiring workers from the LM. Eligibility duration varies with the worker’s age at dismissal. We exploit the variability of these provisions to evaluate the impact of extending the duration of eligibility on re-employment probabilities and wages over the 36 months subsequent to enrolment in the programme. The average treatment effect is identified via a Regression Discontinuity Design. A major negative impact emerges for workers aged 50 or more granted the monetary benefit.active labour market policies, regression discontinuity design

Inconsistencies in Reported Employment Characteristics among Employed Stayers

The paper deals with measurement error, and its potentially distorting role, in information on industry and professional status collected by labour force surveys. The focus of our analyses is on inconsistent information on these employment characteristics resulting from yearly transition matrices for workers who were continuously employed over the year and who did not change job. As a case-study we use yearly panel data for the period from April 1993 to April 2003 collected by the Italian Quarterly Labour Force Survey. The analysis goes through four steps: (i) descriptive indicators of (dis)agreement; (ii) testing whether the consistency of repeated information significantly increases when the number of categories is collapsed; (iii) examination of the pattern of inconsistencies among response categories by means of Goodman's quasi-independence model; (iv) comparisons of alternative classifications. Results document sizable measurement error, which is only moderately reduced by more aggregated classifications. They suggest that even cross-section estimates of employment by industry and/or professional status are affected by non-random measurement error.industry, professional status, measurement errors, survey data

Choosing among alternative classification criteria to measure the labour force state

Current labour force counting relies on general guidelines set by the International Labour Office(ILO) to classify individuals into three labour force states: employment, unemployment and in activity. However, the resulting statistics areknown to be sensitive to slight variations of operational definitions prima facie consistent with the general guidelines. In this paper two alternative classification criteria are considered: a 'strict' criterion followed by Eurostat, which results from a stringent interpretation of the ILO guidelines, and a 'mild' criterion followed by the Italian Statistical Office up to 1992. We first show that the labour force statistics resulting from the two classification criteria differ considerably. We then discuss the relative merits of the two criteria by comparing those individuals whose classification depends on the criterion adopted to individuals whose classification is common across criteria. Similarities are established with respect to characteristics known to be relevant to the labour force state to assess which benchmark group individuals whose state is questionable look like the most. An application is presented to samples of married women from the Italian Labour Force Survey from five survey occasions between 1984 and 2000. Results are neatly in favour of the 'mild' criterion and are rather robust to changes in the business cycle, the participation rate, local labour market conditions and the questionnaire design.ILO classification, Mixture Models, Unemployment

The Economic impact of Slave Trade in the Dutch Economy during the Golden Age

openThe purpose of this paper is to develop into the impact of the trade of enslaved people in Dutch economy. I will try to do so firstly by introducing the historical events leading up to the Golden Age and the context wherein trading companies could thrive. I will then describe the financial and economic balances existing behind organisations such as VOC and WIC to introduce the structure behind the slave trade. Finally, in the third chapter, I will draw conclusions on what impact the trade of enslaved people had on the Republic's economy.The purpose of this paper is to develop into the impact of the trade of enslaved people in Dutch economy. I will try to do so firstly by introducing the historical events leading up to the Golden Age and the context wherein trading companies could thrive. I will then describe the financial and economic balances existing behind organisations such as VOC and WIC to introduce the structure behind the slave trade. Finally, in the third chapter, I will draw conclusions on what impact the trade of enslaved people had on the Republic's economy

Activated Random Walks on Zd*

Some stochastic systems are particularly interesting as they exhibit critical behavior without fine-tuning of a parameter, a phenomenon called self-organized criticality. In the context of driven-dissipative steady states, one of the main models is that of Activated Random Walks. Long- range effects intrinsic to the conservative dynamics and lack of a simple algebraic structure cause standard tools and techniques to break down. This makes the mathematical study of this model remarkably challenging. Yet, some exciting progress has been made in the last ten years, with the development of a framework of tools and methods which is finally becoming more structured. In these lecture notes we present the existing results and reproduce the techniques developed so far.Fil: Trivellato Rolla, Leonardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Matemáticas "Luis A. Santaló"; Argentin