This paper investigates the interplay between financial frictions, organizational innovation and managerial restructuring among Italian small and medium-sized enterprises during the Great Financial Crisis. Using firm-level data from the VIII UniCredit survey, we find that financial constraints...

The paper presents a small perturbation two-factor model designed to capture granularity risk, extending the Vasicek Asymptotic Single Risk Factor (ASRF) portfolio loss model. By applying the Lyapunov Central Limit Theorem, we demonstrate that, for small values of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index...

This paper highlights the role of polarization in higher education as a key factor to technological leadership as well as to labor market inequality. Higher education polarization refers to the widening gap between elite and non-elite universities, primarily in two dimensions: institutional...

Mutual trust and confidence are important to succeed not only in business but also in many other activities, which means that people do not necessarily behave totally selfishly, even in profit-maximizing activities. Non-selfish behaviors, in other words, behaviors induced by conscience and...

This paper proposes a new approach to numerically solving a wide class of heterogeneous agent models in continuous time using adaptive sparse grids. I combine the sparse finite difference method with the sparse finite volume method to solve the Hamilton-Jacobian-Bellman equation and Kolmogorov...

I explore the relationship between US-China tensions, US partisan conflict and global oil prices over the last 20 years. Using lag-augmented local projections, I find empirical support for both the scapegoating hypothesis and the “following the flag” hypothesis. For the scapegoating...

South African-born tycoon Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is also a senior advisor to US President Donald Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) since 2025. His influence is growing globally, including in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Both Trump and Musk have their...

South African-born tycoon Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is also a senior advisor to US President Donald Trump and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) since 2025. His influence is growing globally, including in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Both Trump and Musk have their...

Leadership is the most important asset for developing a country. Preparing leadership is fundamental to the African revolution. Africa has been known as the continent of corruption, abuse, sexual violence, self-enrichment, and conflicts. Africa inherited a strong leadership pattern from...

The paper considers 18 OPEC countries that were low-income countries when oil was found. Oil has given the countries a special path to high income. Normally wealth leads to democracy, but in oil countries it leads to a consolidation of the previous authoritarian rule. Thus, in most cases, oil...