Costs and Technology of Public Transit Systems in Italy:Some Insights to Face Inefficiency

This study provides fresh evidence about the characteristics of technology and cost structure of public transit systems in Italy. The aim is to suggest useful guidelines for facing detected inefficiencies. The analysis is carried out through the estimation of a translog variable cost function. The sample includes 45 Italian public companies. Firms are observed in the years 1996, 1997 and 1998, and operate both in the urban and extra-urban compartments. Results support previous evidence on the existence of natural monopoly at local level and stress the importance of the average speed of vehicles in explaining cost differences between companies. We conclude that cost benefits can be achieved by promoting mergers between firms (whenever possible), introducing some forms of "competition-for-the-market" (e.g., competitive tendering for the single license) and taking more care of the local traffic regulation.

The Costs of Disposal and Recycling. An Application to Italian Municipal Solid Waste Services

The paper investigates the costs of waste disposal and recycling services by using a well-behaved Composite cost function model. Our estimates on a unique sample of more than 500 Italian municipalities highlight that the refuse collection technology exhibits constant returns to scale as well as scope economies between disposal and recycling. As far as the size of the municipality increases, scope economies rise up to 14%, but they are accompanied with overall diseconomies of scale. Our findings suggest that, on the one hand, joint management of disposal and recycling should be encouraged, and, on the other hand, that strategies aimed at increasing the share of waste sent for recycling would not imply a considerable increase in total costs.solid waste, recycling, cost functions

The determinants of board compensation in SOEs. An application to Italian local public utilities

This paper investigates the determinants of board compensation for a sample of Italian State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). To that purpose, we use a newly collected panel data of 106 local public utilities observed form 1994 through 2004, which includes detailed information on the boards of directors. During this period, the deregulation process inspired institutional interventions that forced utilities, traditionally owned by local municipalities, to change their juridical form and ownership structure, thereby facilitating the entrance of private investors. The corporate governance literature shows that such changes may exacerbate the agency conflicts between shareholders, top executives and the board. However, board compensation could reduce the agency costs by aligning the incentives of managers with the interests of shareholders. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the impact that board composition, firm characteristics and performance have on board compensation. We find that the average board pay is negatively related to board size and positively related to firm dimension. The public or private nature of the major shareholder does not influence board compensation but the juridical form does. Finally, while the proportion of politically connected directors is found to negatively influence the level of per capita compensation, the impact of firm performance is uncertain.board compensation, board composition, politicians, local public utilities

The Costs of Disposal and Recycling. An Application to Italian Municipal Solid Waste Services

The paper investigates the costs of waste disposal and recycling services by using a well-behaved Composite cost function model. Our estimates on a unique sample of more than 500 Italian municipalities highlight that the refuse collection technology exhibits constant returns to scale as well as scope economies between disposal and recycling. As far as the size of the municipality increases, scope economies rise up to 14%, but they are accompanied with overall diseconomies of scale. Our findings suggest that, on the one hand, joint management of disposal and recycling should be encouraged, and, on the other hand, that strategies aimed at increasing the share of waste sent for recycling would not imply a considerable increase in total costs.Solid waste, recycling, cost functions

The determinants of board compensation in SOEs: An application to Italian public utilities

This paper investigates the determinants of board compensation for a sample of Italian State Owned Enterprises (SOEs). To that purpose, we use a newly collected panel data of 106 local public utilities observed for the years 1994-2004, which includes detailed information on the boards of directors. During this period, the deregulation process inspired institutional interventions that forced utilities, traditionally owned by local municipalities, to change their juridical form and ownership structure, thereby facilitating the entrance of private investors. The corporate governance literature shows that such changes may exacerbate the agency conflicts between shareholders, top executives and the board. However, board compensation could reduce the agency costs by aligning the incentives of managers with the interests of shareholders. This paper addresses this issue by investigating the impact that board composition, firm characteristics and performance have on board compensation. We find that the average board pay is negatively related to board size and positively related to firm dimension. The public or private nature of the major shareholder does not influence board compensation but the juridical form does. Finally, while the proportion of politically connected directors is found to negatively influence the level of per capita compensation, the impact of firm performance is uncertain.board compensation, board composition, politicians, local public utilities

Managerial aspects and efficiency analysis in the gas distribution industry

The gas distribution in Italy is nowadays subjected to a deep process of deregulation, aimed to strengthen the competitive rules. In the same time, this industry is undergoing intensive regulation constraints, particularly in the definition of service prices. The mentioned deregulation process is considered to impact positively both on profitability and productivity growth. The present study is aimed to verify how cost saving can be regarded as one of the most important competitive advantage.This analysis is conducted on a sample of 33 firms, observed through the period 1994-1999. Categorical variables such as type of ownership, operational size and diversification of activities are also taken into accountGas utilities, Costs, Productivity growth

Board diversity in family firms

The paper deals with diversity as a key factor to improve the board of directors’ decision process in family firms. The empirical literature about board diversity points at the positive impact of diversity on board functioning and firm performance. The paper uses a statistical diversity index to capture the heterogeneity of board of directors and put it in relation with firm performance, as measured by firm profitability. The empirical analysis is based on a newly collected panel of 327 family firms including data on their board of directors during the period 2003-2007. We find that firm performance is positively related to a global measure of board diversity. In particular, the presence of gender diversity and a good mix of executive and non-executive managers show the strongest econometric significance, suggesting that diversity is an important factor to improve board decisions

The Local Public Transport in Italy: Determinants of Cost Structure

The aim of the present study is to provide fresh evidence about the characteristics of cost structure of public transit systems in Italy. The analysis is carried out by comparing the productive performance (average costs and productivity) of small, medium and large-sized companies providing both urban and extra-urban transport service. The sample includes observations of 47 Italian firms operating during the period 1996-1998. In an attempt to analyze the composite nature of costs, we separate components closely related to the physical production of output from those concerning the general organization of transport service and selling activities. The results highlight the role played by input prices and labor and capital productivity in explaining the observed cost differences between companies. The findings also show that inefficiency varies with firm size, network density, the average speed of vehicles and the regulatory context (in terms of the different subsidization mechanisms) that companies have to face.

The determinants of board compensation in SOEs: an application to Italian local public utilities

This article investigates the determinants of board compensation for a sample of Italian state owned enterprises (SOEs). To that purpose, we use newly collected panel data of 106 local public utilities observed from 1994 through 2004, which includes detailed information on the boards of directors. During this period, the deregulation process inspired institutional interventions that forced utilities, traditionally owned by local municipalities, to change their juridical form and ownership structure, thereby facilitating the entrance of private investors. The corporate governance literature shows that such changes may exacerbate the agency conflicts between shareholders, top executives and the board. However, board compensation could reduce the agency costs by aligning the incentives of managers with the interests of shareholders. This article addresses this issue by investigating the impact that board composition,firm characteristics and performance have on board compensation. Wefind that the average board pay is positively related to firm dimension and negatively related to board size. The public or private nature of the major shareholder does not influence board compensation but the juridical form does. Finally, while the proportion of politically connected directors is found to negatively influence the level of per capita compensation, the impact offirm performance is uncertain.Publicad