Wage Dispersion and Equilibrium Search Models: Some Evidence from Italy

This paper provides a structural estimation of an equilibrium search model with on‐the‐job search and heterogeneity in firms' productivities using a sample of Italian male workers. Results indicate that arrival rates of offers for workers are higher when unemployed than when employed and firms exploit their monopsony power when setting wages. As a result, workers earn far less than their marginal product. The model is then used to study regional labour market differentials in Italy. Wide variation in frictional transition parameters across areas helps to explain persistent unemployment and wage differentials.     

Psychophysical conditions of air traffic controllers evaluated by the standard shiftwork index

Abstract

In the ambit of a large epidemiological survey on the Italian population of air traffic controllers, an evaluation of their health conditions was carried out using the Standard Shiftwork Index (SSI). The study took into consideration 572 male air traffic controllers, aged between 23 and 59 years, of whom 301 were engaged in three large Regional Centres, 189 in thirteen Airport Towers and 82. formerly active controllers, were working in administrative offices. The former controllers showed worse health levels, in particular minor psychological disorders and chronic fatigue. Sixteen of them had been transferred to administrative jobs because of health impairment, owing to severe diseases of the nervous, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular systems. Such disorders, and musculoskeletal ones, were mostly reported by the active controllers. The controllers engaged in Regional Centres showed more sleep disturbances than those engaged in towers. Beside age, some personal characteristics appeared to influence health and well-being. Neuroticism was correlated with chronic fatigue, digestive and cardiovascular complaints, minor psychological disorders, cognitive and somatic anxiety. On the other hand, morningness was correlated negatively with sleep disturbances on morning shift, and positively with sleep duration both on morning shift and rest days.     

Computation of Sharp Bounds on the Expected Value of a Supermodular Function of Risks with Given Marginals

We show that the rearrangement algorithm (RA) introduced in Puccetti and Rüschendorf (2012 Puccetti, G., Rüschendorf, L. (2012). Computation of sharp bounds on the distribution of a function of dependent risks. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics 236(7):1833–1840.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) to compute distributional bounds can be used also to compute sharp lower and upper bounds on the expected value of a supermodular function of d random variables having fixed marginal distributions. Compared to the analytical methods existing in the literature the algorithm is widely applicable, more easily obtained and gives insight into the dependence structures attaining the bounds.     

Dimensionality reduction approach to multivariate prediction

The authors consider dimensionality reduction methods used for prediction, such as reduced rank regression, principal component regression and partial least squares. They show how it is possible to obtain intermediate solutions by estimating simultaneously the latent variables for the predictors and for the responses. They obtain a continuum of solutions that goes from reduced rank regression to principal component regression via maximum likelihood and least squares estimation. Different solutions are compared using simulated and real data.     

Earthquakes occurrences estimation through a parametric semi-Markov approach

The estimation of earthquakes’ occurrences prediction in seismic areas is a challenging problem in seismology and earthquake engineering. Indeed, the prevention and the quantification of possible damage provoked by destructive earthquakes are directly linked to this kind of prevision. In our paper, we adopt a parametric semi-Markov approach. This model assumes that a sequence of earthquakes is seen as a Markov process and besides it permits to take into consideration the more realistic assumption of events’ dependence in space and time. The elapsed time between two consecutive events is modeled as a general Weibull distribution. We determine then the transition probabilities and the so-called crossing states probabilities. We conclude then with a Monte Carlo simulation and the model is validated through a large database containing real data.     

Motivation, Purpose and Processes in Pension Reform

The worldwide nature of the pension reform debate and the wind of change which seems to prevail justify the search for clear answers to three questions: (1) Why change the legislative and institutional framework of social security? (2) What do governments and society at large hope to achieve through change? and (3) If change is desirable, how can it be achieved without disrupting the country's social and financial order? The motivations which incite reformers fall into a few neat categories. A simple typology, as suggested in this article, should help avoid confusion in the public interpretation of recent policies and trends. A regrettable source of untidiness in the pension reform debate is also the use of ambiguous terminology. This is not merely a semantic concern. It has to do with the political meaning that the term conveys, as it may reflect an ideological stance and thus become a divisive issue. Another advantage of putting pension reform into a clearer conceptual framework is that it introduces and explains five specific goals which are common to all contemporary reformers. They are (1) social acceptability, (2) financial sustainability, (3) political feasibility, (4) coherence with economic and labour market realities, and (5) client-friendly management and administration. Ideally the perfect reform should aim at all five goals. In the real world, however, reformers have to settle for less because political feasibility – one of the five – is likely to limit their ambitions of fully meeting the other four.     

LEANING AGAINST WINDY BANK LENDING

Using an estimated dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with banking, this paper first provides evidence that monetary policy reacted to bank loan growth in the United States during the Great Moderation. It then shows that the optimized simple interest‐rate rule features no response to the growth of bank credit. However, the welfare loss associated to the empirical responsiveness is small. The sources of business cycle fluctuations are crucial in determining whether a “leaning‐against‐the‐wind” policy is optimal or not. In fact, the predominant role of supply shocks in the model gives rise to a trade‐off between inflation and financial stabilization. (JEL E32, E44, E52)     

On the adjudication of conflicting claims: an experimental study

This paper reports an experimental study on three well-known solutions for problems of adjudicating conflicting claims: the constrained equal awards, the proportional, and the constrained equal losses rules. We first let subjects play three games designed such that the unique equilibrium allocation coincides with the recommendation of one of these three rules. In addition, we let subjects play an additional game that has the property that all (and only) strategy profiles in which players coordinate on the same rule constitute a strict Nash equilibrium. While in the first three games subjects’ play easily converges to the unique equilibrium rule, in the last game the proportional rule overwhelmingly prevails as a coordination device, especially when we frame the game as an hypothetical bankruptcy situation. We also administered a questionnaire to a different group of students, asking them to act as impartial arbitrators to solve (among others) the same problems played in the lab. Also in this case, respondents were sensitive to the framing of the questions, but the proportional rule was selected by the vast majority of respondents.     

Bridge closure in the road network of Lombardy: a spatio-temporal analysis of the socio-economic impacts

Statistical Methods & Applications - This paper introduces a methodology to evaluate the socio-economic impacts of closure for maintenance of one or more infrastructures of a large and complex...     

Behavioural Addictions in Adolescents and Young Adults: Results from a Prevalence Study

Our study aims to assess the prevalence of behavioural addictions in an adolescent population, evaluating the effects of gender and age, and to assess the correlations among different behavioural addictions. 2853 high school students were assessed in order to evaluate the prevalence of behavioural addictions such as Pathological Gambling (PG), Compulsive Buying (CB), Exercise Addiction (EA), Internet Addiction (IA), and Work Addiction (WA), in a population of Italian adolescents. The South Oaks Gambling Screen-Revised Adolescent (SOGS-RA), the Compulsive Buying Scale (CBS), the Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI), the Internet Addiction Test (IAT), and the Work Addiction Risk Test (WART), were compiled anonymously by the students. Overall prevalence was 7.0% for PG, 11.3% for CB, 1.2% for IA, 7.6% for WA, 8.5% for EA. PG and EA were more common among boys, while gender had no effect on the other conditions. CB was more common among younger (<18 years old) students. The scores of all of these scales were significantly correlated. The strong correlation among different addictive behaviours is in line with the hypothesis of a common psychopathological dimension underlying these phenomena. Further studies are needed to assess personality traits and other clinical disorders associated with these problems behaviours.