Sweet Talk: A Theory of Persuasion

This paper introduces a model of sweet talk in which a seller may acquire verifiable information and selectively disclose it to a buyer to negotiate a deal. We start by analyzing a model with common priors in which the seller generates information for two reasons: a trading motive and a profit motive that is, to make trade possible or to increase the gains from it. There exists a negotiation region in which the seller continues to reveal information even if trading is already profitable. We extend the model, allowing for different prior beliefs about the value of the object, arguing that a complementarity between the seller's confidence and the precision of his information endogenously arises. Appointing an optimistic salesman may be costly because he may destroy profitable trading opportunities. We also allow the seller to choose in which market to trade: a matching market with a fixed price or a haggling market. Our model also provides a testable difference between a model of trading with homogenous priors and one with heterogeneous priors and finds application in understanding contracts as reference points.persuasion games; haggling; negotiation; bargaining; heterogeneous priors, overconfidence, consummate and perfunctory performance, verifiable information.

Accountability and Cheap Talk

This paper analyzes a cheap talk model with heterogeneous receivers who are accountable for the correctness of their actions, showing that there exists a truth-revealing equilibrium. This sheds new light on the important role played by elections in shaping politicians' and, more surprisingly, advisor's behaviors in a cheap-talk setting. In deciding which message to send, the advisor is aware that he could use this message to affect the electoral outcome, the manipulation effect, or to shape the first period policy, the influence effect. When the first effect dominates the second there exists an informative equilibrium. In addition, I show that the presence of heterogeneous politicians leads to an increase in voters' welfare as a result of better-informed decisions. I allow the politician to delegate authority to the expert, showing that due to the signaling value of the politician's delegation decision, only corrupt or incompetent incumbents will delegate the second-period decision. Finally, I generalize the results in a number of different directions.cheap talk, corruption, reputation, ideology.

Information sharing in emerging credit markets

This paper examines the lack of information flow in the credit markets of developing countries. We show that the miscoordination among financial intermediaries might explain why lenders don't share their information about the borrowers. The competition effect of more transparency in the market leads to a higher probability of default of the firm, also generating credit rationing.Coordination.

Study made of large amplitude fuel sloshing

Study of resonant oscillations of an ideal fluid in a cylindrical tank is used to obtain a better understanding of fuel sloshing in large liquid booster. More realistic structural design criteria may be formulated when the dynamic response of the liquid in a cylindrical tank can be predicted analytically

Le Rotte Mediterranee di Imago Mundi e l’immagine contemporanea della Wunderkammer

Attraverso l’analisi di Rotte Mediterranee, una delle molteplici mostre itineranti di “Imago Mundi”, la collezione in progress di arte contemporanea che Luciano Benetton commissiona e raccoglie nei suoi viaggi intorno al mondo, l’articolo dimostra come questo archivio di opere sia esso stesso un’opera, un’azione di mecenatismo contemporaneo. “Imago Mundi” è un continuo viaggio di ricerca, una mappa antropologico-visuale complessa, giocata tra la raccolta materiale delle collezioni e la loro registrazione virtuale nel catalogo digitale. Per la sua struttura espositiva enciclopedica, “Imago Mundi” rimanda al modello delle Wunderkammern: un caleidoscopio di immagini dove locale e globale coesistono, dialogano e si citano a vicenda. Lo studio dimostra che lo scopo più importante di questa mappa globale dell’immaginazione artistica contemporanea è quello di tracciare un’immagine delle arti che compongono la cultura visuale della nostra contemporaneità molteplice e plurale. Proprio in questa immagine antropologico-culturale risiede la sua forza.Through the analysis of Rotte Mediterranee, one of the many traveling exhibitions of "Imago Mundi", the in-progress collection of contemporary art that Luciano Benetton commissions and collects in his travels around the world, the article demonstrates how this archive of works is it same a work

LA CONTABILITÀ ANALITICA NELLE AZIENDE SANITARIE: IL CASO DELLA AZIENDA U.S.L. DI GROSSETO

Il presente elaborato si articola su quattro capitoli, di cui i primi tre di tipo descrittivo ed analitico, mentre l'ultimo si concretizza su di un caso aziendale. Nel primo capitolo verranno introdotti i principi ed il quadro normativo di riferimento che caratterizzano il Servizio Sanitario Nazionale. Nel secondo capitolo si farà specifico riferimento al sistema di finanziamento in sanità. Il terzo capitolo si concentrerà sull'esposizione dell'importanza che la contabilità analitica assume come supporto contabile - informativo per le decisioni del management. Il quarto capitolo propone un caso aziendale

Households’ Indebtedness and Financial Fragility

The paper studies the determinants of international differences in household indebtedness, and inquires whether indebtedness is associated with increased “financial fragility”, as measured by the sensitivity of household arrears and insolvencies to macroeconomic shocks. It also investigates whether financial fragility is affected by institutional factors, such as information sharing arrangements, judicial efficiency and individual bankruptcy regulation. We address these issues by tapping three data sets: (i) cross-country data on household indebtedness; (ii) European panel data for households lending and arrears; and (iii) time series data for household lending and insolvencies in the U.K., the U.S.A. and Germany. Overall, the analysis underscores the importance of institutional arrangements in determining the size and fragility of household credit markets.household debt, financial fragility, arrears, insolvency, information sharing, judicial efficiency, bankruptcy law

\uabTransitoriet\ue0 e ritribalizzazione delle immagini nelle spaziazioni museali contemporanee\ubb

Parlare di spazio significa parlare di luoghi reali o immaginari, delle cose, delle azioni, delle parole, delle immagini o delle performance che a questi rimandano e viceversa. Il sistema dell\u2019arte occidentale, soprattutto negli ultimi due secoli, ha fatto dei musei i luoghi dell\u2019arte in senso stretto, della sua conservazione ed esposizione permanente. Eppure vanno considerate tutta una serie di pratiche artistiche che esulano lo spazio museale pur evocandolo in qualche modo. Si pensi alla Land Art, alle pitture rupestri del Paleolitico superiore, a certe opere d\u2019arte non occidentale come i Sand Paintings degli Indiani Navajo o degli Aborigeni Australiani dove l\u2019azione artistica (de)finisce lo spazio del paesaggio, e questo a sua volta comprende, orienta, influenza e sviluppa l\u2019azione artistica. Lo scopo di questo studio \ue8 di riflettere sul concetto di transitoriet\ue0 che contraddistingue certe azioni artistiche che vanno oltre il museo, che lo eccedono, e al contempo dimostrare come la stessa logica temporanea stia sempre pi\uf9 caratterizzando le forme, le dinamiche e le pratiche artistiche all\u2019interno degli spazi espositivi moderni (installazioni, foto e videoproiezioni, retrospettive). L\u2019idea \ue8 che l\u2019arte di passaggio nel paesaggio \u2012 realizzata da sempre da diverse societ\ue0 \u2012 si stia trasponendo come pratica artistica, come paradigma all\u2019interno dei musei occidentali che non sono pi\uf9 solo dei meri contenitori di oggetti e immagini, ma dei veri e propri atelier, teatri in azione dove artisti e/o curatori mettono in scena performance artistiche ed espositive istantanee. Lo spazio museale odierno sta subendo una sorta di \uabritribalizzazione artistica\ubb dove \ue8 facile osservare una corrispondenza antropologica tra l\u2019effimerit\ue0 delle azioni artistiche nel paesaggio e quella delle azioni artistiche nel museo. Quest\u2019ultimo diviene, in ultima analisi, terreno di ricerca, spazio da esplorare in senso etnografico

An integrated analysis of micro- and macro-habitat features as a tool to detect weather-driven constraints: a case study with cavity nesters

The effects of climate change on animal populations may be shaped by habitat characteristics at both micro- and macro-habitat level, however, empirical studies integrating these two scales of observation are lacking. As analyses of the effects of climate change commonly rely on data from a much larger scale than the microhabitat level organisms are affected at, this mismatch risks hampering progress in developing understanding of the details of the ecological and evolutionary responses of organisms and, ultimately, effective actions to preserve their populations. Cavity nesters, often with a conservation status of concern, are an ideal model because the cavity is a microenvironment potentially different from the macroenvironment but nonetheless inevitably interacting with it. The lesser kestrel (Falco naumanni) is a cavity nester which was until recently classified by as Vulnerable species. Since 2004, for nine years, we collected detailed biotic and abiotic data at both micro- and macro-scales of observation in a kestrel population breeding in the Gela Plain (Italy), a Mediterranean area where high temperatures may reach lethal values for the nest content. We show that macroclimatic features needed to be integrated with both abiotic and biotic factors recorded at a microscale before reliably predicting nest temperatures. Among the nest types used by lesser kestrels, we detected a preferential occupation of the cooler nest types, roof tiles, by early breeders whereas, paradoxically, late breeders nesting with hotter temperatures occupied the overheated nest holes. Not consistent with such a suggested nest selection, the coolest nest type did not host a higher reproductive success than the overheated nests. We discussed our findings in the light of cavity temperatures and nest types deployed within conservation actions assessed by integrating selected factors at different observation scales

Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell niches and regenerative medicine

Mesenchymal progenitors are a powerful tool in regenerative medicine, but suffer from a rapid loss of differentiation potential during in vitro expansion. The recent discovery that well-characterized stem cells, like HSC, maintain their stemness during self-renewal through the interaction with specialized microenvironments, called stem cell niches, prompted us to investigate the existence of a niche compartment for also mesenchymal progenitors. In Chapter 4 of this thesis we described the establishment of a niche/progenitor system in vitro for bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSC). We asked whether the non-adherent fraction of human bone marrow cultures contained early progenitors which can constitute a reservoir for the mesenchymal compartment and whether the adherent cells, instead, could provide a niche function for the maintenance and regulation of these progenitors. Replating the non-adherent fraction in a new dish at the first medium change, we found that a population of bone marrow non-adherent mesenchymal progenitors (BM-NAMP) was present and their number was 20.43.6% of the initial CFU-f. However, further investigation showed that, when serially replated in new dishes, BM-NAMP were able to steadily increase in number, self-renewing as non-adherent progenitors while generating at the same time adherent colonies. The diameter size evaluation showed that BM-NAMP could produce colonies with 2-fold larger diameter, indicating a significantly higher proliferation capacity. However, the colonies produced in the following replating steps were progressively smaller, indicating a gradual loss of BM-NAMP proliferation potential. Together with increased proliferation, first-replated BM-NAMP progeny cells displayed a higher differentiation potential compared to standard CFU-f both in vitro and in vivo. Taken together, these data indicate together that BM-NAMP show features of earlier progenitor features and suggest a biological difference between BM-NAMP and the initially adhrering CFU-f. Serial replating experiments performed with serum alone showed that BM-NAMP critically required FGF-2 for their initial selection and maintenance in culture. Interestingly, blocking receptor experiments showed that the maintenance of BM-NAMP in culture was mediated through FGFR2c signaling, which has been shown to be involved in vivo in the balance between proliferation and differentiation of skeletal progenitors. We also hypothesized that BM-NAMP were in close interaction with the adherent cells, and that these provide a niche function for them. BM-NAMP were not able to survive when replated either on agarose-coated dishes or on human fibroblasts. This suggests that BM-NAMP required specific signals from the adherent progeny and that this fraction constitutes a unique environment for BM-NAMP survival and self-renewal. In fact, when kept in contact with initial CFU-f progeny for 14 days instead of being serially replated, BM-NAMP were able to produce 3-fold more colonies. Furthermore, the colony diameter analysis showed that, unlike the serial replating which caused a gradual loss of BM-NAMP proliferative activity, the continuous culture in the primary plate could preserve BM-NAMP proliferation potential. Furthermore, if kept in the original plate, BM-NAMP could generate a progeny that also displayed a higher differentiation capacity. Taken together, these results suggest together that CFU-f progeny provides a niche function for BM-NAMP. In Chapter 5 we sought at investigating the presence of a class of non-adherent progenitors in human adipose tissue stromal vascular fraction (SVF), which constitute an abundant source of mesenchymal progenitors, to determine whether the NAMP compartment was specific to bone marrow or they could constitute a reservoir also in other tissues. NAMP were present in adipose tissue SVF cultures (AT-NAMP) with a similar frequency as observed in the bone marrow and the replating of the non-adherent fraction in the same dish revealed that they were stably non-adherent. The main difference compared to BM-NAMP was the inability of AT-NAMP to self-renew as non-adherent progenitors upon serial replating, since only few colonies were present in the last replating step. However, these colonies had a significantly increased diameter. This suggests that, when serially replated, AT-NAMP do not undergo proliferation but rather a selection for the very rare progenitors with the highest proliferation ability. Similarly to BM-NAMP, when kept in contact with the initially adhering CFU-f, AT-NAMP could proliferate without loss of their proliferation capacity. This suggests that, as for bone marrow cells, adherent CFU-f provide a niche function for the non-adherent progenitors, regulating the maintenance of their early-progenitor properties. In conclusion, these data show that, although displaying important tissue-specific biological differences, NAMP are present in the mesenchymal progenitor compartment of different tissues and they represent a reservoir of earlier progenitors compared to standard CFU-f