This paper employs recently developed non stationary panel methodologies that assume some cross-section dependence to estimate the production function for Italian regions in the industrial sector over the period 1970-1998. The analysis consists in three steps. First, unit root tests for...

This paper investigates if labour income uncertainty, particularly as related to the development and diffusion of fixed and short-term work contracts, may have played a role in determining the recent decline of the marginal propensity to consume of Italian households. We analyse this issue in...

In this paper we use spatial dependence panel data models to analyse regional growth behaviour in Italy. Controlling for fixed-effects allows us to disentangle the effect of spatial dependence (or spatial interaction) from that of spatial heterogeneity and of omitted variables and, thus, to...

In spite of the huge amount of public aids to poor regions, relative movements in the distribution of income, labor productivity and employment rates across European regions show no positive relation with the distribution of the Structural Funds. Specifically, widening employment gaps and a...

The number and the distribution of non-working days during the year has recently entered the policy debate related to the slow pace of the European economy.The fact that the number of non-working days can affect the quarter to quarter performance of GDP is well known and hardly disputable. It...

Within the E.U. Harmonised project, ISAE has been carrying out the quarterly services survey for Italy, since 1992, on a panel of about 1,000 business firms operating in the service sector. On E.U. suggestion, since the first quarter of 1998, the survey has been based on an updated sample, so as...

Difficulties in finding appropriate financing weigh heavily on the ability to grow of Italy's small enterprises, due to their narrow equity base and limited access to credit markets. The State Fund for guarantees to SMEs is one of the instruments used to overcome such difficulties. This essay...

This paper presents some stylised facts about the book-tax gap, i.e., the difference between book and taxable income, of Italian corporations. This divergence is a reflection of the usage of any tax shields and any applicable credits and rebates which, in turn, implies that the concept of...

The Joint harmonized EU Investment survey, carried out for Italy by the Institute for Studies and Economic Analysis (ISAE), provides quantitative information about investment plans and the structure of investment and qualitative data on the factors influencing firm' behavior. As shown in the...

The answers to qualitative questions put to economic operators can be integrated in standard macro-economic analysis by using a quot;quantificationquot; procedure chosen among the probabilistic approach, the regression methods or the latent factor approach. The first one is the most commonly...