Credit rationing and the financial structure of Italian small and medium enterprises

Our aim is to analyze the effect of public subsidies on the development path of Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Public subsidies to SMEs have been often used with the aim of favoring economic growth in less developed regions. The main theoretical arguments justifying this intervention are related to the idea that public subsidies can solve lack-ofcapital problems deriving from asymmetric information. According to Stiglitz and Weiss (1981), public subsidies to rationed firms can reduce the informational gap, leading subsidized firms to reduce their financial constraints and to increase their investment levels. Results obtained modelling leverage, performance and investment behaviour in a panel of around 1,900 enterprises over the years 1989 to 1994 seem to confirm the working hypotheses. However, they can not be considered as conclusive and further research is needed in this context.Public subsidies, credit rationing, asymmetric information, Markov regression models

Structural Breaks, Price and Income Elasticity, and Forecast of the Monthly Italian Electricity Demand

Insights about electricity demand dynamics is fundamental for investment capacity, optimal energy policies, and a balanced electricity system. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the monthly Italian electricity demand since January 2001 to June 2012. In the first section we conduct the analysis of structural breaks in the electricity demand finding that the series has two structural breaks in August 2002 and August 2004 as market liberalization effects on consumption. In the second part of the paper we estimate demand price elasticities both for residential and industrial sector. As expected from the electricity economics literature concerning elasticities estimates, we find that the long run price and income elasticities are more price elastic than the short run both in industrial and residential consumption. In the third and last section, we compare two different forecasting models: the Hidden Markov Models (HMM) and the Holt Winters (H-W) seasonal smoothing method. Considering the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), the HMM approach seems to show a superiority in forecasting the monthly electricity demand compared to the H-W methodology

OECD agricultural subsidies and poverty rates in lower income countries

We investigate the implications of the OECD support for agriculture on the headcount poverty rates of developing countries. Following the strategy proposed by McMillan, Peterson Zwane, and Ashraf (2005, 2007), we estimate the cross-country empirical framework building a new OECD policy index and applying different panel data techniques. In addition to the standard parametric model estimators, we also use the finite mixture models to detect heterogeneous effects of the OECD policy index within our sample. We find statistically significant evidence that OECD agricultural policies worsened the poverty rates in some developing countries. Most of the main food exporters appear in fact to be negatively affected by the OECD support for agriculture while the impact detected on food importers is not significant or near to zero

Organized Crime, Corruption and Economic Growth

In this paper we study the relationship between organized crime, corruption and economic growth. To shed light on this nexus, we propose a growth model in which organized crime can embezzle public spending by corrupting and threatening public officers. Then we bring the empirical implications of the model to data from Italian regions, as stylized facts show that less developed regions are characterized by the highest levels of corruption and of presence of criminal organizations of Mafia-type. Our main findings are: i) the per capita GDP dynamics of Italian regions in the period considered is characterized by multiple regimes identified by the initial level of organized crime, a finding consistent with a multiple steady state growth dynamics (e.g. Durlauf and Johnson, 1995); ii) in the regions with the higher levels of organized crime the estimated share of embezzled public expenditure is higher and, moreover, public expenditure has a negative effect on per capita GDP. Differently, in the regions with lower levels of organized crime the estimated share of embezzled public expenditure is lower and the effect of public expenditure on per capita income is positive

Do domestic and cross-border M&As differ? Cross-country evidence from the banking sector

Are the drivers of domestic and cross-border M&As in the banking sector different? Despite the intense research on bank M&As in the last decade, the attention paid to this issue is surprisingly limited. We fill this gap studying the ex-ante determinants of national and international acquisitions in the banking sector in an unbalanced panel of nearly 1,000 banks from 50 world countries, from 1992 to 2007. Our results show that size and profitability have a stronger impact on the probability that a bank is a bidder in a cross-border deal than in a domestic deal. Consistent with the findings of the literature on the determinants of the internationalization of manufacturing firms, international expansion in the banking sector is therefore easier for countries with a number of large “national champions”, that are more capable to overcome the fixed costs of internationalization and have a stronger incentive to diversify the idiosyncratic risks of their domestic [email protected]

Structural Breaks, Price and Income Elasticity, and Forecast of the Monthly Italian Electricity Demand

Insights about electricity demand dynamics is fundamental for investment capacity, optimal energy policies, and a balanced electricity system. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the monthly Italian electricity demand since January 2001 to June 2012. In the first section we conduct the analysis of structural breaks in the electricity demand finding that the series has two structural breaks in August 2002 and August 2004 as market liberalization effects on consumption. In the second part of the paper we estimate demand price elasticities both for residential and industrial sector. As expected from the electricity economics literature concerning elasticities estimates, we find that the long run price and income elasticities are more price elastic than the short run both in industrial and residential consumption. In the third and last section, we compare two different forecasting models: the Hidden Markov Models (HMM) and the Holt Winters (H-W) seasonal smoothing method. Considering the Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE), the HMM approach seems to show a superiority in forecasting the monthly electricity demand compared to the H-W methodology

The environmental Kuznets curve within European countries and sectors: greenhouse emission, production function and technology

Following the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) literature and the theoretical climate change literature, we analyse the impact of per capita GDP on CO2 emissions at industrial level for several European countries. This relationship is evaluated comparing the adjusted EKC specification – CO2 emission conditioned by the effects of income and final energy-consumption of several energy sources – to the simultaneous equations model, considering the determinants of income. Following Dean (2002) we introduce a second equation that takes into consideration the technological progress, measured by human and physical capital, productivity and R&D expenditure. Theoretically, it is well known that new technology and renewable energy adoptions can force the system to a more efficient economy system in term of environment and in term of quality of life. To verify if environmental policy can influence technological change, we address the effect of R&D expenditures and R&D intensities on output, and simultaneously we test weather the output (measured by the per capita GDP) affects or not the greenhouse gas emissions. In this simultaneous equation model, the shape of the GDP-CO2 relationship appears quite sensitive to both sectors and countries. However, the analysis confirms the existence of an EKC among the European countries and sectors

The environmental Kuznets curve within European countries and sectors: greenhouse emission, production function and technology

Following the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) literature and the theoretical climate change literature, we analyse the impact of per capita GDP on CO2 emissions at industrial level for several European countries. This relationship is evaluated comparing the adjusted EKC specification – CO2 emission conditioned by the effects of income and final energy-consumption of several energy sources – to the simultaneous equations model, considering the determinants of income. Following Dean (2002) we introduce a second equation that takes into consideration the technological progress, measured by human and physical capital, productivity and R&D expenditure. Theoretically, it is well known that new technology and renewable energy adoptions can force the system to a more efficient economy system in term of environment and in term of quality of life. To verify if environmental policy can influence technological change, we address the effect of R&D expenditures and R&D intensities on output, and simultaneously we test weather the output (measured by the per capita GDP) affects or not the greenhouse gas emissions. In this simultaneous equation model, the shape of the GDP-CO2 relationship appears quite sensitive to both sectors and countries. However, the analysis confirms the existence of an EKC among the European countries and sectors

Le Norme EMAS-ISO nella valutazione della qualità del Servizio Idrico Integrato

This contribution proposes a theoretical model to support the environmental assessment for the organizations aiming at implementing an EMAS-ISO auditing process in the ground of the water services industry. The model tries to combine a new theory of value – based on natural, bio-genealogical and semantic surplus – with the cycle input - output - re-input characterizing namely the most critical area of the integrated waters service, the waste water treatment plants. A multidimensional pattern based on the Multi-Attribute Value Theory has been assumed as an effective operational framework connecting the contents of the treatment process, as defined by the scientific and technological tools supporting the judges of fact, and the issues of sustainability, supporting the value judgements.This contribution proposes a theoretical model to support the environmental assessment for the organizations aiming at implementing an EMAS-ISO auditing process in the ground of the water services industry. The model tries to combine a new theory of value – based on natural, bio-genealogical and semantic surplus – with the cycle input - output - re-input characterizing namely the most critical area of the integrated waters service, the waste water treatment plants. A multidimensional pattern based on the Multi-Attribute Value Theory has been assumed as an effective operational framework connecting the contents of the treatment process, as defined by the scientific and technological tools supporting the judges of fact, and the issues of sustainability, supporting the value judgements