Restarting “Normal” Life after Covid-19 and the Lockdown: Evidence from Spain,the United Kingdom,and Italy

Social Indicators Research - In this article, we examine the expectations of the economic outlook, fear of the future, and behavioural change during the first Covid-19 wave, for three European...     

REGULATION AND INVESTMENT

We use newly assembled data on regulation in several sectors of many OECD countries to provide evidence that regulatory reform of product markets is associated with an increase in investment. A component of reform that plays a very important role is entry liberalization, but privatization also has a substantial effect on investment. Sensitivity analysis suggests that our results are robust. (JEL: E22, L5)     

Tests for cointegration rank and choice of the alternative

This paper discusses likelihood-ratio (LR) tests on the cointegrating (CI) rank which consider any possible dimension of the CI rank under the alternative. The trace test and lambda-max test are obtained as special cases. Limit quantiles for all the tests in the class are derived. It is found that any of these tests can be used to construct an estimator of the CI rank, with no differences in asymptotic properties when the alternative is fixed. The properties of the class of tests are investigated by local asymptotic analysis, a simulation study and an empirical illustration. It is found that all the tests in the class have comparable power, which deteriorates substantially as the number of random walks increases. Tests constructed for a specific class of alternatives present minor power gains for alternatives in the class, and require the alternative to be far from the null. No test in this class is found to be asymptotically (in-)admissible. Some of the new tests in the class can also be arranged to give a constrained estimator of the CI rank, that restricts the minimum number of common trends. The power gains that these tests can obtain by constraining the minimum number of common trends appears to be limited and outweighted by the risk of inconsistency induced by the constrains. As a consequence, no value of the CI rank should be left untested, unless it can be excluded beyond any reasonable doubt.     

The hydropolitical challenges of domestic water conservation. Palestine and Tunisia case studies

Southern Mediterranean area, particularly the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has been facing social, economic, environmental and political challenges related to the water scarcity and quality. Within the European SWMED project, a socio-economic survey was conducted in Palestine and Tunisia, in order to explore the water conditions, and the social and economic situations of local families. The article illustrates the research design and implementation, as well as the main results that were used to select the appropriate sustainable water management solutions to respond to the hydropolitical issues. Due to the huge use of water in agriculture and the difficulty of reducing the water consumption in this sector, fostering tools for domestic water saving may be a winning strategy for facing water scarcity in MENA region.     

Unexplored dimensions of discrimination in Europe: homosexuality and physical appearance

We study labor-market discrimination of individuals with “specific” characteristics in Italy. We conduct a field experiment in two Italian cities: Rome and Milan, by sending “fake” CVs to real ads. We find that there is a strong penalty for homosexuals, i.e., about 30 % less chance to be called back compared to a heterosexual male and even more so if they are highly skilled. On the other hand, we find no penalty for homosexual females. We also find a beauty premium for females only but this premium is much lower when the “pretty” woman is skilled.     

The Role of Secularism of State on the Relationship Between Catholic Identity,Political Orientation,and Gay Rights Issues

In discussions of regulations governing same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians, the issue of state secularism is often called into question. This study aims to test the mediating effects of state secularism on the relationship between Catholic identity, political orientation, and gay civil rights. Participants were Catholic Italians who completed a questionnaire measuring the constructs under investigation. Results showed that state secularism mediates the effects of Catholic identity and political orientation on attitudes toward same-sex marriage and adoption by gays and lesbians.     

Gambling,geographical variations and deprivation: findings from the adult psychiatric morbidity survey

Gambling problems are prevalent in the UK, especially in the most deprived boroughs of the country. Individual-level characteristics may exist alongside a social and geographical gradient. The study aimed to establish whether living in specific geographic areas increases problem gambling likelihood. It used data from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. It adopted a twofold categorization distinguishing recreational from problem/pathological gambling. It used the 2004 Overall Index of Multiple Deprivation to measure deprivation of the district of residence, and primary sampling units, based on postcode sectors, to take into account area characteristics in multi-level mixed-effects regression models. The determinants of recreational gambling operated solely at the individual level. These included male sex, stable relationship and employment, though a number of clinical variables were also important: impulsivity, hazardous use or dependency on alcohol, and current smoking. In contrast, an appreciable proportion of the variance in problem/pathological gambling was explained by area-level clustering. Unlike recreational gamblers, problem/pathological gamblers appear to cluster in specific areas. Thus, there are grounds for restricting the location and density of gambling opportunities and for providing selective prevention programmes targeting geographic areas characterized by contextual determinants.     

A Systems View of Companies’ Communication in Online Social Environments

In order to enrich previous contributions interested in the identification of possible pathways to improve companies’ capabilities to better face the challenges imposed by increasing social and economic variety, this paper focuses attention on the role of companies’ communications in online social environments. Thanks to the adoption of systems thinking, the paper enlarges existing contributions on companies’ online communication by combining the research streams of signalling theory, capital need theory, and legitimacy theory. By building on a multi-disciplinary literature review, this paper identifies three variables to analyse the effectiveness of companies’ communication based on the use of social networks: the frequency, the instability, and the previous activities. Empirical research is proposed with reference to a sample composed by the 50 best performing European companies in terms of return on sales (ROS) (USD) in 2015 via the use of structural equation modelling (SEM). SEM is applied to explore the relationships among identified variables in companies’ online communication on Facebook and Instagram, and how those communications influence companies’ economic performance in terms of ROS.     

PARENTS KNOW THEM BETTER: THE EFFECT OF OPTIONAL EARLY ENTRY ON PUPILS' SCHOOLING ATTAINMENT

The effect of optional early school entry on pupils' educational outcomes is investigated using data covering the entire population of Italian primary school students and exploiting exogenous thresholds imposed by norms regulating first enrollment. Results highlight the fact that pupils whose parents can choose when their children start school perform better than those who are bounded by terms imposed by law. These findings suggest that parental choice leads to a better match between pupils' characteristics and the beginning of formal learning. Results show that giving parents the option to anticipate or delay school entry could be a beneficial measure. (JEL I20, H52)     

Product defects are not created equal: prioritizing production process improvements

Abstract

Despite manufacturers’ efforts to improve quality, customers frequently experience product defects. Based on expectation confirmation theory, hypotheses concerning the effects of experiencing product defects on overall quality perceptions and loyalty to the product manufacturer have been developed and tested. Our results show that experiencing product defects related to performance, ease of use, prestige and versatility damages overall quality perceptions and decrease customer loyalty to the product manufacturer, either fully or partially mediated through overall quality perceptions. Contrary to frequent claims in the literature, experiencing even a single product defect per quality dimension damages customers’ quality perceptions. Furthermore, different types of product defect damage customer perceptions of product quality and loyalty to the manufacturer differently. Building on these results, we develop a defect typology and a portfolio visualization that allows operations managers to prioritize production process improvements.