Why do (or did?) banks securitize their loans? Evidence from Italy

This paper investigates the ex-ante determinants of bank loan securitization by using different econometric methods on Italian individual bank data from 2000 to 2006. Our results show that bank loan securitization is a composite decision. Banks that are less capitalized, less profitable, less liquid and burdened with troubled loans are more likely to perform securitization, for a larger amount and earlier.securitization, credit risk transfer, capital requirements, liquidity needs

Synchrotron and Compton Components and their Variability in BL Lac Objects

BL Lacertae objects are extreme extragalactic sources characterized by the emission of strong and rapidly variable nonthermal radiation over the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Synchrotron emission followed by inverse Compton scattering in a relativistic beaming scenario is generally thought to be the mechanism powering these objects. ...Comment: 4 pages, TeX plus 3 figures. Proceedings of the conference "X-ray Astronomy 1999", September 6-10,1999, Bologn

VAT tax gap prediction: a 2-steps Gradient Boosting approach

Tax evasion is the illegal evasion of taxes by individuals, corporations, and trusts. The revenue loss from tax avoidance can undermine the effectiveness and equity of the government policies. A standard measure of tax evasion is the tax gap, that can be estimated as the difference between the total amounts of tax theoretically collectable and the total amounts of tax actually collected in a given period. This paper presents an original contribution to bottom-up approach, based on results from fiscal audits, through the use of Machine Learning. The major disadvantage of bottom-up approaches is represented by selection bias when audited taxpayers are not randomly selected, as in the case of audits performed by the Italian Revenue Agency. Our proposal, based on a 2-steps Gradient Boosting model, produces a robust tax gap estimate and, embeds a solution to correct for the selection bias which do not require any assumptions on the underlying data distribution. The 2-steps Gradient Boosting approach is used to estimate the Italian Value-added tax (VAT) gap on individual firms on the basis of fiscal and administrative data income tax returns gathered from Tax Administration Data Base, for the fiscal year 2011. The proposed method significantly boost the performance in predicting with respect to the classical parametric approaches.Comment: 27 pages, 4 figures, 8 tables Presented at NTTS 2019 conference Under review at another peer-reviewed journa

"Diventare storici anche del tempo presente": la crisi del '56 e la storiografia marxista britannica

1. Il ’56 e i «caratteri originali» della storiografia anglo-marxista. 2. Alla vigilia del ’56: revisioni storiografiche e fondazione di «Past and Present». 3. Alla vigilia del ’56: la persistenza del «modo di pensare stalinista». 4. Gli storici comunisti britannici durante la crisi del ’56. 5. All’indomani del ’56: revisioni teoriche

La crisi dei profughi nella prospettiva della storia globale

Testo dell'Intervento tenuto da Teodoro Tagliaferri alla presentazione di Profughi, a cura di Stefano Gallo, numero monografico di «Meridiana. Rivista di storia e scienze sociali», XVII (2016), 86, pp. 21-188, svoltasi il 12 maggio 2017 all’Istituto di studi sulle società del Mediterraneo nell’ambito della Giornata di studi Nuove ricerche sulle migrazioni organizzata dal Master di I livello in Immigrazione e politiche pubbliche di accoglienza ed integrazione del Dipartimento di Scienze politiche dell’Università di Napoli Federico II. Il testo, pubblicato sul sito web della rivista «Ricerche di storia politica» (il Mulino), è accessibile on-line all’indirizzo: http://www.ricerchedistoriapolitica.it/tavole-rotonde-e-convegni/il-profugato-contemporaneo-nella-prospettiva-della-storia-globale/#more-87

Probing the very high redshift Universe with Gamma-ray Bursts: prospects for observations with future X-ray instruments

Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) are the most violent explosions in the Universe. Long duration GRBs are associated with the collapse of massive stars, rivaling their host galaxies in luminosity. The discovery of the most distant spectroscopically confirmed object in the Universe, GRB090423, opened a new window on the high redshift Universe, making it possible to study the cosmic 're-ionization' epoch and the preceding dark ages, as well as the generation of the first stars (Population III) using GRBs. Obviously this enables a wealth of new studies using the near infrared (nIR) characteristics of GRB afterglows. Here we explore a different path, focusing on the next generation of X-ray missions with large area focusing telescopes and fast repointing capabilities. We found that X-ray data can complement nIR observations and for the brightest GRBs can provide an accurate and independent redshift determination. Metallicity studies can also be carried out profitably once the redshift is known. Finally we discuss observational signatures of GRBs arising from Population III stars in the X-ray band.Comment: Accepted for publication on MNRAS (1 figure, 3 tables