The Effects of Managerial Turnover: Evidence from Coach Dismissals in Italian Soccer Teams

In this paper sport data are used to study the effects of manager replacement on firm performance. Using match results of the major Italian soccer league (“Serie A”) we analyze the effects of coach (manager) changes in terms of team performance. From our preliminary estimates, including year and team fixed effects, it emerges that changing the coach produces a positive effect on a number of measures of team performance. However, this effect turns out to be statistically insignificant once we take into account the fact that the firing of a coach is not an exogenous event, but it is triggered by a “dip” in team performance. Using as an instrument for coach change the number of remaining matches in the season (which is a proxy for the residual length of the coach contract) Two-Stages Least Squares estimations do not show any significant effect of coach change on team performance.Managerial Turnover, Dismissal; Performance evaluation; Sport economics

THE CAUSAL IMPACT OF CLOSENESS ON ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION EXPLOITING THE ITALIAN DUAL BALLOT SYSTEM

Using data from Italian municipal elections from 1993 to 2011, we investigate whether political competition affects electoral turnout. Taking advantage of the dual ballot system adopted for municipalities with more than 15,000 inhabitants, we measure the expected closeness in the second round through the first round electoral results. Thanks to the richness of our dataset we are able to distinguish between valid, blank and invalid ballots and to investigate the effect of closeness on each of these variables, controlling for municipalities’ and candidates’ characteristics and for municipal fixed effects. We also estimate a Heckman selection model to take into account for the non-randomly selected sample. It emerges that closeness strongly increases valid ballots and reduces blank ballots supporting the idea that the expected benefits of voting increase in closer competitions. The effect is much higher in magnitude than that merging when measuring closeness with ex-post electoral results, suggesting a quite relevant endogeneity bias. On the other hand, we do not find any statistically significant effect on invalid ballots.Electoral Turnout, Closeness, Electoral Competition, Blank and Invalid Ballots

MEDIA EXPOSURE AND INDIVIDUAL CHOICES: EVIDENCE FROM LOTTO PLAYERS

To what extent individual choices are influenced by media exposure? We try to provide evidence on this issue considering how the sales of lotto tickets are determined by the size of the top prize (the jackpot) compared to the amount of attention that media devote to the game. We use data on the Italian SuperEnalotto (2003- 2010) and estimate tickets sales in relation to the jackpot size and to several measures of lotto media coverage. To take into account that media attention may be affected by the amount of tickets sold we instrument media coverage with the availability of other newsworthy material (sport events and disasters). It emerges that media attention to the game is inversely related to the availability of other news. Two-Stage-Least Squares Estimations show that, given the jackpot size, players spend more on lotto when media attention to the game is higher.Media Influence, Media Exposure, Psychology and Economics, Lottery, Instrumental Variables

Effects of Class Size on Achievement of College Students

In this paper we investigate the effects of class size on the achievements of a sample of college students enrolled at a middle-sized Italian public university. To estimate the effects of class size we exploit the exogenous variations in class size determined by a maximum class size rule introduced by the 2001 Italian university reform. From our analysis it emerges that large teaching classes produce negative effects on student performance measured both in terms of the grades obtained in exams and the probability of passing exams. These results are robust to the use of a matching estimator.Class size; student achievement; educational production function

CONSUMERS’ REACTIONS TO NEGATIVE INFORMATION ON PRODUCT QUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM SCANNER DATA

We analyze consumers’ reactions to negative information on product quality using daily scanner data at item level from a well-known supermarket chain. We focus on a fraud that in 2008 has involved a number of Italian leading firms in the cheese sector. Exploiting the fact that only some brands were mentioned by the media as being involved in the fraud, we adopt a difference-in-differences estimation strategy and evaluate the effects of the negative media coverage comparing changes in sales for involved and for not involved brands. It emerges that the negative news on product quality have induced consumers to shift their demand from involved to not involved brands. These effects persist overtime, also once the media was no more giving attention to the issue. Retailers have suffered part of the costs deriving from the diffusion of bad news on product quality: the margin gained on brands directly mentioned by media has decreased after the negative publicity.Consumer Behavior, Product Quality, Firm Reputation, Scanner Data

Peer Group Effects on the Academic Performance of Italian Students

We analyse peer effects among students of a middle-sized Italian public university. We explain students’ average grade in exams passed during their Second Level Degree course on the basis of their pre-determined measures of abilities, personal characteristics and peer group abilities. Thanks to a rich administrative dataset, we are able to build a variety of definitions of peer groups, describing different kinds of students’ interaction, based on classes attended together or exams taken in the same session. Self-selection problems are handled through Two-Stage Least Squares estimations using as an instrument, the exogenous assigning of students to different teaching classes in the compulsory courses attended during their First Level Degree course. We find statistically significant positive peer group effects, which are robust to the different definitions of peer group and to different measures of abilities.Peer effects; Student performance; Educational production function; instrumental variables

THE EFFECTS OF PEOPLES’ HEIGHT AND RELATIVE HEIGHT ON WELL-BEING

Using a rich Italian survey, we investigate the effect of height on individual happiness. From our analysis it emerges that a large part of the effect of height on well-being is driven by a positive correlation between height and economic and health conditions. However, for young males the effect of height on happiness persists even after controlling for these variables, implying that height may produce some psycho-social direct effects on well-being. Consistent with this hypothesis, we find that males care not only about their own height but also about the height of people in their reference group. Well-being is greater for individuals who are taller than other subjects in their reference group. Results are robust to different definitions of reference group and controlling for a number of other reference group characteristics. We speculate that the beneficial effect of height on young males' well-being may be related to the fact that in some countries, such as Italy, and especially for men, height is considered as a proxy for handsomeness.height, social comparison, subjective well-being

The Role of Family Ties in the Labour Market. An Interpretation Based on Efficiency Wage Theory

By casual empiricism, it seems that many firms take explicit account of the family ties connecting workers, often hiring individuals belonging to the same family or passing jobs on from parents to their children. This paper makes an attempt to explain this behaviour by introducing the assumption of altruism within the family and supposing that agents maximise a family utility function rather than an individual one. This hypothesis has been almost ignored in the analysis of the relationship between employers and employees. The implications of this assumption in the efficiency wage models are explored: by employing members of the same family, firms can use a (credible) harsher threat¬ – involving all the family’s members in case of one member’s shirking - that allows them to pay a lower efficiency wage. On the other hand, workers who accept this agreement exchange a reduction in wage with an increase in their probability of being employed: this can be optimal in situation of high unemployment. Moreover, the link between parents and children allows the firm to follow a strategy that solves the problem of an individual’s finite time horizon through family’s reputation.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF REMEDIAL COURSES IN ITALY: A FUZZY REGRESSION DISCONTINUITY DESIGN

We evaluate the effects on student achievement of a number of remedial courses provided by an Italian University. To identify the causal effect of remediation we use a Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, relying on the fact that students whose performance at a placement test was below a certain cutoff were assigned to the treatment. We deal with partial compliance using the assignment rule as an instrumental variable for the effective attendance to remedial courses. From our analysis it emerges that students just below the cutoff, attending the remedial courses, acquire a higher number of credits compared to students just above the cutoff. We also find that remedial courses reduce the probability of dropping out from academic career. On the other hand, we do not find any statistically significant effect on the average grade obtained at passed exams.Remedial Courses, Tertiary Education, Public Policy, Fuzzy Regression Discontinuity Design, Instrumental Variables

Gender Discrimination and Evaluators’ Gender: Evidence from the Italian Academy

Relying on a natural experiment consisting in 130 competitions for promotion to associate and full professor in the Italian University, we analyze whether gender discrimination is affected by the gender of evaluators. Taking advantage of the random assignment of evaluators to each competition, we examine the probability of success of each candidate in relation to the committee gender composition, controlling for candidates’ scientific productivity and a number of individual characteristics. We find that female candidates are less likely to be promoted when the committee is composed exclusively by males, while the gender gap disappears when the candidates are evaluated by a mixed sex committee. Results are qualitatively similar across fields and type of competitions. The analysis of candidates’ decisions to withdraw from competition highlights that gender differences in preferences for competition play only a minor role in explaining gender discrimination. It also emerges that withdrawal decisions are not affected by the committee gender composition and therefore the gender discrimination is not related to self-fulfilling expectations.Gender Discrimination, Evaluators’ Gender, Affirmative Actions, Academic Promotion