Educational efficiency in a dea-bootstrap approach

We use the PISA 2006 results to analyse the students' proficiencies in 24 European Countries with regard to two indexes that represent the educational resources available at home and the family background of students. Many factors affect the proficiencies and therefore, using a DEA-bootstrap method, we intend to measure the efficiency of the European educational systems as capability to ensure high students' competencies despite adverse conditions about the educational resources available in students' home and the family background.PISA, educational achievement, efficiency analysis.

Gli aspetti processuali della legge c.d. "Spazzacorrotti". L'ennesimo doppio binario.

Il contrasto alla corruzione \ue8 oggetto, da sempre, di interventi legislativi e sterzate, pi\uf9 o meno brusche, nella ricerca di un adeguato equilibrio tra prevenzione e repressione. In questo contesto si colloca la legge 9 gennaio 2019, n. 3, nota nel dibattito pubblico come \u201clegge Spazzacorrotti\u201d, che ha consacrato un \u201cdoppio binario\u201d, non dissimile da quello originariamente previsto per i delitti di criminalit\ue0 organizzata, per i pi\uf9 gravi reati contro la pubblica amministrazione, modificando, talvolta profondamente, istituti consolidati e compiendo scelte molto nette e impegnative sul versante delle attivit\ue0 e degli strumenti di investigazione da impiegare per la scoperta di fatti di corruzione. Il presente contributo si propone, quindi, di analizzare le novit\ue0 introdotte, prestando attenzione alle disposizioni concernenti, ad esempio, le intercettazioni per mezzo di captatore informatico, il patteggiamento, la riabilitazione, l\u2019esecuzione della pena \u2013 dando anche conto della recentissima sentenza della Corte costituzionale n. 32/2020 \u2013, la nuova misura cautelare interdittiva, l\u2019inedita causa di non punibilit\ue0 per il corrotto e il corruttore, nonch\ue9 la nuova forma di collaborazione per l\u2019ente imputato, interrogandosi sulla legittimit\ue0 e sull\u2019efficacia di un (nuovo) regime processuale speciale

Impact of High-Speed Rail on Tourists' Decisions: Evidence from a Survey Conducted in Paris and in Madrid

The analysis of how tourists select their holiday destinations along with the factors that determine their choices is very important for promoting tourism. In particular, transportation is supposed to have influence on tourists? decissions. The objective of this paper is to investigate more especifically the role of High Speed Rail (HSR) in this choice. Two key tourist destinations in Europe, Paris and Madrid, have been chosen to understand the factors influencing this choice. On the basis of a survey conducted to tourists, we found out that some aspects such as the presence of architectural sites, the quality of promotion of the destination itself, and cultural and social events, have an impact on their choice. However the presence of the HSR system affects the choice of Paris and Madrid as a touristic destination in a different way. For Paris, TGV is considered a real transport mode alternative among tourists who use it quite often. On the other hand, Madrid is chosen by tourists irrespective of the presence of an efficient HSR network. Data collected from the two surveys have been used for a further quantitative analysis. Regression models have been specified and parameters have been calibrated to identify the factors influencing holidaymakers to revisit Paris and Madrid and visit other touristic spots accesible from HSR from these cities

Does passenger transport modes internalize the external cost they produce? The case study of the Madrid-Seville corridor

The objective of this paper is to evaluate how much interurban passenger transport modes internalize the external costs they produce in order to calculate the efficient charge that the users would have to pay. This analysis is relevant since it affects the competitiveness of the different transport modes in the corridor. For this research the case study of the Madrid– Seville corridor in Spain has been chosen since several transport modes compete in this origin-destination pair. The research carries out a balance between the marginal external costs per user produced by each transportation mode and the charges that the users currently pay. The gap between the social marginal cost and the fare paid by the users will give us the extra–charge per passenger that each transportation mode would have to pay to internalize the external cost they produce. We found that that, unlike what many people think, the rail mode does not internalize all the external cost it produces whereas the road modes do it. This happens because even though the road modes pollute more, they also pay much more due to large discriminatory fuel taxes

Does high speed rail compete fairly with other transportation modes? Madrid-Barcelona case study

Transportation modes produce many external costs such as congestion, accidents, and environmental impacts (pollution, noise and so on). From the microeconomic theory it is well known that in order to maximize social welfare, transportation modes should internalize the marginal costs they produce. Allocative efficiency is achieved when all transportation modes are priced at their social marginal cost. The objective of this research is to evaluate to what extent different passenger transport modes internalize their social marginal costs. This analysis is important since it affects the competitiveness of the different transport modes for a given OD pair. The case study analyzed is the corridor Madrid-Barcelona in Spain and the different transport modes have been considered (cars, buses, high-speed train and air). The research calculates the marginal social cost per user for each transportation mode, and it compares it with the average fare—allowing for the effect of discriminatory taxes—currently paid by the users. The external costs are calculated according to the guidelines established by the European Union. The gap between the marginal social cost and the price paid by users will provide the extra cost per passenger that each transport mode should have to pay for internalizing the external cost it produces. The research shows that external costs already produced by road and air transport modes are much higher than those produced by rail. However, the results show that road transport already internalizes every external costs it produces because users pay high fuel taxes. In other words, although rail transportation produces lower external costs, road transportation pays more than it should on the basis of the social marginal costs. The results of this work might be of help for Europ ean policy actions to be undertaken in the future

Mirafiori sud: la città fordista oltre la Fabbrica. Scenari e progetti per (la costruzione di) una nuova identità

Mirafiori is a model city now passed, disappeared. It's one of the most significant examples of Italian company town. Since the 80s, due to labor market crisis and to new geographies of production, the neighborhood is characterized by a divestment process of the activities that had generated it. It is also characterized by a gradual abandonment of the living space and by a relentless process of physical, cultural and social degradation. At Mirafiori however, as in other places, was decided to preserve and enhance the urban fabric, typical of the Fordist model but still recognized as urban, for its intrinsic and shared (by the public as by inhabitants) value. Since the '90s, in fact, different urban regeneration projects followed to give a new image to the working-class neighborhood but, despite the huge amount of resources and expertise, they have always reached rather modest outcomes. On the other hand, the slowly and silently project, carried out by the local community, has started a process of taking into care and revival this part of the city that symbolically turned his back to the Factory to look out toward his river (Sangone) and be able to imagine a different future. Today the biggest challenge is to figure out if the place of affirmation of a right (housing for all) which ceased to be such, may contain new values, able to award a different identity

Metabolic Syndrome and Inflammatory Cytokines in Psoriasis.

Obesity negatively affects the pathological states of chronic inflammation, such as Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis. The inflammatory cytokines released by the adipose tissue determine, in addition to inflammation, a condition of insulin resistance, which is also a comorbidity of psoriasis. The state of chronic inflammation unites both psoriasis and obesity. The first is an autoimmune skin disease, where very thick skin layers are evident due to an abnormal proliferation of keratinocytes; obesity, on the other hand, represents one of the possible comorbidities of psoriasis the simultaneous presence in the same subject of two or more diseases

Thermolytic reverse electrodialysis heat engine: model development, integration and performance analysis

Salinity gradient heat engines represent an innovative and promising way to convert low-grade heat into electricity by employing salinity gradient technology in a closed-loop configuration. Among the aqueous solutions which can be used as working fluid, ammonium bicarbonate-water solutions appear very promising due to their capability to decompose at low temperature. In this work, an experimentally validated model for a reverse electrodialysis heat engine fed with ammonium bicarbonate-water solutions was developed. The model consists of two validated sub-models purposely integrated, one for the reverse electrodialysis unit and the other for the stripping/absorption regeneration unit. The impact of using current commercial membranes and future enhanced membranes on the efficiency of the system was evaluated, along with the effect of operating and design parameters through sensitivity analyses. Results indicated that exergy efficiency up to 8.5% may be obtained by considering enhanced future membranes and multi-column regeneration units

SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND HIGH SPEED RAIL: THE CASE STUDY OF SPAIN

[EN] Very few contributions in the literature have dealt with the issue of social exclusion related to High Speed Rail systems. The objective of this manuscript is to understand what are the factors excluding users from choosing High Speed Rail services considering as case study Spain. For this purpose, a Revealed Preference survey was employed in November and December 2015. A questionnaire was submitted to users of the Spanish transport systems travelling for long distance-journeys. The aim was that of investigating their perception of High Speed Rail system and the factors inhibiting passengers or excluding them from its use. Data about their socioeconomic characteristics were collected as well. The main result of the survey has been that a relationship between social exclusion and High Speed Rail in Spain is present, especially in terms of geographical exclusion.Pagliara, F.; Menicocci, F.; Vassallo, JM.; Gomez, J. (2016). SOCIAL EXCLUSION AND HIGH SPEED RAIL: THE CASE STUDY OF SPAIN. En XII Congreso de ingeniería del transporte. 7, 8 y 9 de Junio, Valencia (España). Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 476-782. https://doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2015.3100OCS47678