Pathways to reintegration in Senegal and Nigeria promoted by Italian Assisted Voluntary Return programmes

This article presents the main findings of a research study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of pathways to reintegration for citizens repatriated from Italy to Senegal and Nigeria through Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programmes. Based on the scientific debate on the subject, the article begins by offering an in-depth exploration of the issue of whether or not AVRR is truly voluntary, as well as the meaning of the term ‘reintegration’. It then illustrates the Italian AVRR system before presenting the methodology and results of the research carried out. In particular, the aim is to identify and analyse the main factors upon which the result of the reintegration of citizens who have used AVRR programmes depends, perhaps most notably the type of reception given to the returnee by friends and relatives who remained in their home country.     

A Bayesian Markov-Switching Correlation Model for Contagion Analysis on Exchange Rate Markets

This article develops a new Markov-switching vector autoregressive (VAR) model with stochastic correlation for contagion analysis on financial markets. The correlation and the log-volatility dynamics are driven by two independent Markov chains, thus allowing for different effects such as volatility spill-overs and correlation shifts with various degrees of intensity. We outline a suitable Bayesian inference procedure based on Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms. We then apply the model to some major and Asian-Pacific cross rates against the U.S. dollar and find strong evidence supporting the existence of contagion effects and correlation drops during crises, closely in line with the stylized facts outlined in the contagion literature. A comparison of this model with its closest competitors, such as a time-varying parameter VAR, reveals that our model has a better predictive ability. Supplementary materials for this article are available online     

Contributions‐financed cash benefits: Selected examples of tiered pension systems

This article addresses the link between pensions and occupational earnings using the example of social security contributions in selected OECD countries. The rules of the pension schemes studied point towards a very strong link between occupational earnings and pension level. However, certain pension calculation methods, through pension calculation parameters or through the existence of tools to compensate for certain career discontinuities, may distort this link in the majority of the countries studied. Therefore, the examination of pension calculation parameters and of solidarity measures attached to retirement is necessary to provide a more finely‐tuned evaluation of the link between occupational earnings and pension level. Ultimately, comparison of pension systems across countries remains challenging given their specificities.     

Happiness in Italy: Translation,Factorial Structure and Norming of the Subjective Happiness Scale in a Large Community Sample

The Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) is one of the most commonly used measures of happiness. Many translations and validation studies have been carried out in different countries and languages. The aim of the current paper was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Italian translation of the SHS and to provide normative data. The SHS was administered with life satisfaction items, anxiety and depression scales to a community sample of 993 participants, aged 18–85 years, living in different parts of Italy. Age and gender distributions were stratified according to the population pyramid. Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the unidimensionality of the SHS, with acceptable fit indexes (NNFI = .96; CFI = .99; RMSEA = .08; 95 % C.I. [.04–.12]). Multi-group analyses supported total invariance of the SHS measurement model for males and females, and partial invariance for younger (i.e., 18–44 years old) and older (i.e., 45–85 years old) participants. Significant correlations with satisfaction items, anxiety and depression provided evidence for concurrent validity. These findings showed that the Italian SHS translation is a reliable and valid tool, which adds to existing translations and validation studies in different countries and languages.     

Social and Economic Determinants of Reproductive Behavior Before the Fertility Decline. The Case of Six Italian Communities During the Nineteenth Century

In recent decades, main demographic historical research assessed the importance of bio-demographic components in human reproduction, before the diffusion of birth control and contraceptive techniques. According to this dominant view, before fertility decline, marital fertility was mainly regulated by biological and physiological factors and socio-economic factors played only a limited and indirect role. In order to demonstrate the importance of non-biological components, the present study focuses on six pre-transitional communities situated in different geographic areas of Italy. The work aims to demonstrate how fertility levels could significantly be affected by social and economic factors even in natural fertility populations, before the diffusion of contraceptives. Micro-level data are collected from several historical sources, and discrete-time event history models are applied to female reproductive careers in order to estimate effects of socio-economic status, household structure, and price fluctuations on marital fertility, controlling for several bio-demographic factors. Despite clear differences in geographic localization and environment, marital reproductive behavior appeared to be significantly and constantly affected by socio-economic status, household composition, and price levels in all the investigated communities.