In this paper we propose a two step procedure for modelling the propagation of financial shocks. The first step consists in the estimation, by means of SWARCH models, of the conditional probability of being in a period of high volatility while, in the second step such indicators are included in...

We suggest that the “occupational outcome” of graduates should be considered as an additional dimension in the ranking of Academic Institutions and their Faculties. We measure the occupational outcome through the ISTAT graduate employment national survey. We make an exercise on Humanities...

The paper combines optimal taxation theory with human capital theory and develops a theoretical model with endogenous wages and education decision, in which redistributive policy experiments are carried out and assessed. It is argued that general equilibrium effects of labor income taxation on...

There is a renewed interest in the dynamic effects of tax cuts on government revenue. The possibility of tax cuts paying for themselves over time definitely seems like an attractive option for policy makers. This paper looks at what conditions are required for reductions in capital taxes to be...

This paper modifies the heterogenous firms and trade model by Melitz (2003) by explicitly modelling the beachhead cost of a firm in a new market as a function of market size. This leads to several new predictions compared to the standard model. In particular, the productivity of non exporters...

I introduce distortionary taxes on consumption, labor and capital income into a New Keynesian model with Calvo pricing and nominal bonds. I study the relation between tax instruments and optimal monetary policy by computing simple rules for monetary and fiscal policy when one tax instrument at a...

This paper studies the linkages between the prices of oil futures traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Intercontinental Exchange of London. We estimate a structural BEKK-GARCH model that allows for non-zero correlation between the structural innovations. We identify the structural...

We study the joint movements of the returns on futures for crude oil, heating oil and natural gas at a daily frequency. We model the leptokurtic behavior through the multivariate GARCH with dynamic conditional correlations and elliptical distributions introduced by Pelagatti and Rondena (2004)....

The Millennium Development Goals call for a two-thirds reduction in under-five mortality rate. Can democratic reforms contribute to this goal? The focus of previous studies has mainly been on verifying the existence of a relationship between democracy and child mortality and not on the dynamics...

This paper studies the comovements between the daily returns of forwards on natural gas traded in the NYMEX with maturity of 1, 2 and 3 months. We identify a structural multivariate BEKK model using a recursive assumption whereby shocks to the volatility of the returns are transmitted from the...