Who cares about Director Independence?

In this article we have expanded the analysis of the new dataset we created in Santella, Paone, Drago (2005) which analysed and quantified corporate disclosure on directors formally identified as independent by the forty Italian Blue Chips. We find here a general low level of compliance with independence requirements for both financial and non-financial companies, particularly with regard to the two key independence criteria of not having too many concurring commitments and not having business relationships with the company or an associated company. We also find that financial companies show a lower level of compliance than non-financial ones and are connected with each other and with a few non-financial companies through networks of cross-directorships: two directors (one independent and one executive) who also sit at the same time on another company board. Finally, those non-financial companies that have a relatively fragmented shareholder structure tend to be characterised by higher levels of compliance and disclosure (but not always by lower levels of not compliance) than tightly-controlled non-financial companies, presumably because of sensitivity to a larger pool of small shareholders. Peculiarly, financial companies with fragmented shareholder structure tend to be characterised by low disclosure levels, although such companies are also subject to strong financial supervision.corporate governance; independent directors; interlocking directorships; empirical legal studies

The Italian Chamber of Lords Sits on Listed Company Boards: An Empirical Analysis of Italian Listed Company Boards from 1998 to 2006

The purpose of the present paper is to contribute to the literature on country interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships in the Italian listed companies from 1998 to 2006. We find that over the entire period a high percentage of the Italian listed companies are connected with each other through a very small minority of directors. Such group of interlocking (overwhelmingly male) directors shows a remarkable stability over time with very few entrants and very few exits mainly related to the passing away of the director. We define them for brevity the Lords of the Italian stockmarket. Lords tend to belong to families of directors, with the first five families having more than 100 directorships in nine years. The highest level of connectivity concerns those companies that belong to the MIB 30/S&P-MIB 40 index, the Italian Blue Chips. In particular, practically all the financial Blue Chips are connected with each other through a web of directors continuously from 1998 to 2006. The extent, depth, and stability of the connections among the Italian listed companies, and in particular the main Italian financial companies, raise doubts on the extent of their competitive behaviour.corporate governance, interlocking directorships, board turnover, antitrust, competition, social network analysis (SNA), exploratory data analysis (EDA), empirical corporate finance

HOW INDEPENDENT ARE INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS? THE CASE OF ITALY

In this article, we provide an interpretation for the voluntary independence requirements contained in the Italian Corporate Governance Code (Preda Code) checking them against a proxy for international best practice, the independence criteria provided in the EC Recommendation on non-executive and supervisory directors of 2005. We then check to what extent company disclosure for 2003 allows the verification of the independence of directors qualified as independent by the Italian 40 blue chips. We find that the Preda Code (currently under revision) should be updated in several respects in order to make it abreast with best practice in the European Union. We also find that for two key independence requirements (not to have business relationships with the company and not to have too many concurrent commitments outside of the company) the level of compliance is dramatically low (4% and 16% respectively). Overall, for only 5 out of the 284 directors declared as independent by the Italian blue chips is it possible to verify the respect of all the Italian independence standards (and for only 4 directors with respect to the EC standards). This raises the problem of who should monitor what listed companies declare.Independent directors, Corporate governance,

How Independent are Independent Directors? The Case of Italy

In this article, we provide an interpretation for the voluntary independence requirements contained in the Italian Corporate Governance Code (Preda Code) checking them against a proxy for international best practice, the independence criteria provided in the EC Recommendation on non-executive and supervisory directors of 2005. We then check to what extent company disclosure for 2003 allows the verification of the independence of directors qualified as independent by the Italian 40 blue chips. We find that the Preda Code (currently under revision) should be updated in several respects in order to make it abreast with best practice in the European Union. We also find that for two key independence requirements (not to have business relationships with the company and not to have too many concurrent commitments outside of the company) the level of compliance is dramatically low (4% and 16% respectively). Overall, for only 5 out of the 284 directors declared as independent by the Italian blue chips is it possible to verify the respect of all the Italian independence standards (and for only 4 directors with respect to the EC standards). This raises the problem of who should monitor what listed companies declare.Independent directors, Corporate governance

A Comparison among the director networks in the main listed companies in France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the literature on director interlocks by illustrating and analysing the interlocking directorships among the Italian, French, German, UK and US listed Blue Chips. The comparison of the five countries considered shows that two national models stand out. On the one hand a model made of a high number of companies linked to each other through a small number of shared directors who serve on several company boards at the time (France, Germany, and Italy). On the other hand, in the UK much fewer companies are connected to each other essentially through directors who have no more than two board positions at the time. A case in between is represented by the US, where a high number of companies are connected to each other just like Germany, France, and Italy. However, just like the UK, such connections are made through directors who tend to have just two board positions at the time, a sign that, differently from Italy, Germany, and France, the UK and US networks might not be functional to systemic collusion.corporate governance, interlocking directorships, antitrust, competition, social network analysis (SNA), exploratory data analysis (EDA), empirical corporate finance

Measuring and Forecasting Job-Search in Italy using Machine Learning

[EN] The Social Media are becoming more and more important to allow to measure phenomena which are very difficult to measure on a different way. In this sense these data can become relevant indicators which could be used in the analysis of the business cycle. In this work we will consider data related job-search queries on Google, in order to measure the intensity of the job-search behavior over the time. From the queries we are able to identify how vary during the business cycle the job-search behavior using Google. These behaviors are very relevant because they can lead to changes in job positions (transition from unemployed to the employed but also transitions on the job employedemployed). So forecasting this behavior we can have tools to interpret and analyze the business cycle. Finally we consider a forecasting approach based on Machine Learning in order to predict over the time the job-search behavior. The different forecasting approach considered are compared and finally validated by considering the forecast adequacy of the different predictions obtained.Drago, C.; Hoxhalli, G. (2020). Measuring and Forecasting Job-Search in Italy using Machine Learning. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/148769OCS34434

BIBLIOMETRIJSKA ANALIZA LITERATURE O REGIONALNOM RAZVOJU I MODELU CENTAR-PERIFERIJA U EUROPI

This paper investigates the effect of spatial divisions and their demarcations on the formation of networks and the inadequacies of specific policy implementations in mitigating marginalization processes. Despite the controversies surrounding numerous theoretical premises, the center-periphery model remains widely accepted. Implications of these ideas by synthesizing critical findings from a vast array of prior literature using a comprehensive bibliometric analysis have been clarified. Innovation and a readjustment of regional policy are required to address the disparities between the center and the periphery. Regional development policies of the European Union aim to reconcile the socioeconomic chasm between prosperous and peripheral regions. The localization theory of regional development provides insights into the spatial distribution of firms, the dispersion of economic prosperity, and the potential for future growth. These insights provide valuable perspectives on regional policies and the factors that influence the geographical distribution of economic activity.Ovaj rad istražuje učinak prostornih podjela i njihovih razgraničenja na formiranje mre- ža i nedostatke provedbe specifičnih politika u ublažavanju procesa marginalizacije. Unatoč suprotnim shvaćanjima oko brojnih teorijskih premisa, model centar-periferija i dalje je ši- roko prihvaćen. Korištenjem sveobuhvatne bibliometrijske analize pojašnjene su implikacije ovih ideja sintetiziranjem kritičkih nalaza iz golemog niza prethodne literature. Potrebne su inovacije i prilagodba regionalne politike kako bi se riješile razlike između centra i periferije. Politike regionalnog razvoja Europske unije imaju za cilj pomiriti socioekonomski jaz između prosperitetnih i perifernih regija. Lokalizacijska teorija regionalnog razvoja daje uvid u pro- stornu distribuciju poduzeća, disperziju ekonomskog prosperiteta i potencijal za budući rast. Ovi rezultati pružaju vrijedne perspektive o regionalnim politikama i čimbenicima koji utječu na geografsku distribuciju gospodarske aktivnosti

Exploring the Community Structure of Complex Networks

Regarding complex networks, one of the most relevant problems is to understand and to explore community structure. In particular it is important to define the network organization and the functions associated to the different network partitions. In this context, the idea is to consider some new approaches based on interval data in order to represent the different relevant network components as communities. The method is also useful to represent the network community structure, especially the network hierarchical structure. The application of the methodologies is based on the Italian interlocking directorship network

The Analysis and the Measurement of Poverty: An Interval Based Composite Indicator Approach

The analysis and measurement of poverty is a crucial issue in the field of social science. Poverty is a multidimensional notion that can be measured using composite indicators relevant to synthesizing statistical indicators. Subjective choices could, however, affect these indicators. We propose interval-based composite indicators to avoid the problem, enabling us in this context to obtain robust and reliable measures. Based on a relevant conceptual model of poverty we have identified, we will consider all the various factors identified. Then, considering a different random configuration of the various factors, we will compute a different composite indicator. We can obtain a different interval for each region based on the distinct factor choices on the different assumptions for constructing the composite indicator. So we will create an interval-based composite indicator based on the results obtained by the Monte-Carlo simulation of all the different assumptions. The different intervals can be compared, and various rankings for poverty can be obtained. For their parameters, such as center, minimum, maximum, and range, the poverty interval composite indicator can be considered and compared. The results demonstrate a relevant and consistent measurement of the indicator and the shadow sector's relevant impact on the final measures