EU rural policy: proposal and application of an agricultural sustainability index

In this paper I propose an Agricultural Sustainability Index (ASI) starting from a ‘political’ perspective: European legislation in the rural sector. I try to answer these questions. How can we measure sustainability in agriculture? How do we measure the enhancement (if any) of the European policy for sustainability in agriculture? Why do some geographical areas perform better than others? Considering these questions, the paper suggests a model for measuring sustainability in agriculture and an approach to compare performances among different geographical contexts. The model puts together different dimensions of sustainability in agriculture, combining Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). Using eighteen agricultural indicators divided into three dimensions, social, economic and environmental, the model incorporates the following stages: (i) indicator specification and definition of the decisional framework; (ii) indicators' normalisation by means of transformation functions based on the fuzzy logic approach; (iii) indicators weighted by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques; (iv) indicators aggregated to obtain the ASI. The model is tested on a specific area: Alta Val d’Agri, a rural area in the southern Basilicata Region. Final results show that ASI consistently synthesises the evolution of thirty years of rural development policy.Agricultural sustainability, Indicators, GIS-MCA

Economic growth, electricity consumption and foreign dependence in Italy between 1963 and 2007

The energy sector is assuming an increasing importance in the global economy. As a consequence, there is a vast literature on the causal relation between energy use and others economic variables. In this paper, I investigate the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth for Italy using yearly data covering the period 1963–2007. Unlike previous works, this paper specifically concerns the causal link between the dynamics of GDP and the different sources of electricity production. Regarding the dependence from foreign suppliers, the paper tests the hypothesis of a causal relationship between economic growth and electricity imports. The results show a unidirectional causality from economic activity to other variables. More specifically, economic growth Granger cause total electricity consumption, industrial consumption and electricity import. For the others source of generation, any specific causal relationship has been found.: Energy and Growth, Italy, Vector Error Correction Model, Granger Causality

Firm productivity and institutional quality: Evidence from italian industry

This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the determinants of differentials in firms' productivity. We test the hypothesis that macro factors, especially the quality of local institutions, play a central role in explaining firm productivity in Italy. To this end, we construct measures of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) for about 4,000 firms by means of different estimation techniques, and a province-level index of institutional quality. Then, we estimate the relationship between institutional quality and firm-level TFP. Our results show that the existence of better local institutions might help firms to become more productive

EU rural policy: proposal and application of an agricultural sustainability index

In this paper I propose an Agricultural Sustainability Index (ASI) starting from a ‘political’ perspective: European legislation in the rural sector. I try to answer these questions. How can we measure sustainability in agriculture? How do we measure the enhancement (if any) of the European policy for sustainability in agriculture? Why do some geographical areas perform better than others? Considering these questions, the paper suggests a model for measuring sustainability in agriculture and an approach to compare performances among different geographical contexts. The model puts together different dimensions of sustainability in agriculture, combining Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). Using eighteen agricultural indicators divided into three dimensions, social, economic and environmental, the model incorporates the following stages: (i) indicator specification and definition of the decisional framework; (ii) indicators' normalisation by means of transformation functions based on the fuzzy logic approach; (iii) indicators weighted by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques; (iv) indicators aggregated to obtain the ASI. The model is tested on a specific area: Alta Val d’Agri, a rural area in the southern Basilicata Region. Final results show that ASI consistently synthesises the evolution of thirty years of rural development policy

Economic growth, electricity consumption and foreign dependence in Italy between 1963 and 2007

The energy sector is assuming an increasing importance in the global economy. As a consequence, there is a vast literature on the causal relation between energy use and others economic variables. In this paper, I investigate the relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth for Italy using yearly data covering the period 1963–2007. Unlike previous works, this paper specifically concerns the causal link between the dynamics of GDP and the different sources of electricity production. Regarding the dependence from foreign suppliers, the paper tests the hypothesis of a causal relationship between economic growth and electricity imports. The results show a unidirectional causality from economic activity to other variables. More specifically, economic growth Granger cause total electricity consumption, industrial consumption and electricity import. For the others source of generation, any specific causal relationship has been found

EU rural policy: proposal and application of an agricultural sustainability index

In this paper I propose an Agricultural Sustainability Index (ASI) starting from a ‘political’ perspective: European legislation in the rural sector. I try to answer these questions. How can we measure sustainability in agriculture? How do we measure the enhancement (if any) of the European policy for sustainability in agriculture? Why do some geographical areas perform better than others? Considering these questions, the paper suggests a model for measuring sustainability in agriculture and an approach to compare performances among different geographical contexts. The model puts together different dimensions of sustainability in agriculture, combining Geographical Information System (GIS) analysis and Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA). Using eighteen agricultural indicators divided into three dimensions, social, economic and environmental, the model incorporates the following stages: (i) indicator specification and definition of the decisional framework; (ii) indicators' normalisation by means of transformation functions based on the fuzzy logic approach; (iii) indicators weighted by Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques; (iv) indicators aggregated to obtain the ASI. The model is tested on a specific area: Alta Val d’Agri, a rural area in the southern Basilicata Region. Final results show that ASI consistently synthesises the evolution of thirty years of rural development policy

What do you want to be when you grow up? Local institutional quality and the choice of the fields of study in Italy (2004-2007)

Students’ choices about post-secondary fields of study vary widely across space and time, due to many psychological, social and economic motivations. Regarding these latter, the most important role in steering students’ options has been often ascribed to expected returns from different occupations. This paper emphasizes in particular the link between local institutional quality, the reward structure and students’ preferences. Based on a sample of 80,996 students graduated in Italy in 2004 and 2007, our econometric investigation, controlling for both individual characteristics (gender, residence, family background, high school track) and geographical variables (per capita GDP, industrial specialization), finds that in the choice of the field of study institutional quality definitely matters

Does institutional quality matter for lending relationships? Evidence from Italy

Why the number of banking relationships per firm varies so much across space? Is it simply due to microeconomic features of firms localized in different regions or is there instead something connected to microeconomics and macroeconomic factors? Can the institutional endowment of a region affect the number of bank-firm relationships? We seek to answer these questions with reference to the Italian case, one particularly interesting because of the substantial institutional gap between Center-North and South and the high average number of banking relationships per firm. We investigate the role of institutional quality in determining firms’ choices and, consistent with previous studies, find that institutions are a basic determinant of the observed differentials in the number of firms’ banking relationships among different Italian provinces

Does institutional quality matter for lending relationships? Evidence from Italy

Why the number of banking relationships per firm varies so much across space? Is it simply due to microeconomic features of firms localized in different regions or is there instead something connected to microeconomics and macroeconomic factors? Can the institutional endowment of a region affect the number of bank-firm relationships? We seek to answer these questions with reference to the Italian case, one particularly interesting because of the substantial institutional gap between Center-North and South and the high average number of banking relationships per firm. We investigate the role of institutional quality in determining firms’ choices and, consistent with previous studies, find that institutions are a basic determinant of the observed differentials in the number of firms’ banking relationships among different Italian provinces

What do you want to be when you grow up? Local institutional quality and the choice of the fields of study in Italy (2004-2007)

Students’ choices about post-secondary fields of study vary widely across space and time, due to many psychological, social and economic motivations. Regarding these latter, the most important role in steering students’ options has been often ascribed to expected returns from different occupations. This paper emphasizes in particular the link between local institutional quality, the reward structure and students’ preferences. Based on a sample of 80,996 students graduated in Italy in 2004 and 2007, our econometric investigation, controlling for both individual characteristics (gender, residence, family background, high school track) and geographical variables (per capita GDP, industrial specialization), finds that in the choice of the field of study institutional quality definitely matters