This article analyzes the determinants of tobacco expenditures for a sample of Italian households. A Box-Cox double-hurdle model adjusted for heteroscedasticity is estimated to account for separate individual decisions concerning smoking participation and tobacco consumption and to correct for...

In this paper we propose a sequential strategy, based on the microeconomic approach of the demand theory, in order to test for separability between private and public consumption. The aim of the present work is to verify, using a conditional almost ideal demand system, whether the different...

This paper describes the life-cycle alcohol consumption patterns of Italian households by decomposing gender, cohort, age and time effects and estimates the importance of demographic characteristics using a double-hurdle model. The application is based on ISTAT households expenditure survey for...

The paper provides measures of inequality in individual well-being by using a normative multidimensional approach. A distinctive contribution of the study is to consider heterogeneous inequality aversion parameters, estimated on the basis of country-specific tax structures. The empirical...

This article extends the Blinder--Oaxaca decomposition to double-hurdle (DH) models. The proposed methodology focuses on a generalized non-Gaussian DH specification with correlated errors and allows decomposing the gaps in participation probabilities and outcome levels for a wide range of nested...

Distributional patterns evolved quite differently and stabilized at diversified levels across the Central–Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries which underwent transition. In this paper we provide an overview of income inequality dynamics for 22 transition countries from 1989 to...

The literature on firm heterogeneity and trade has highlighted that most trading firms tend to engage in both importing and exporting activities. This paper provides some evidence that helps understanding to what extent this is the result of a two-way relationship. Using firm-level data for a...

type="main" <p>An extensive literature has analyzed the economic effects of transition patterns in Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries. With few recent exceptions, analysis of the impacts of speed and sequencing of reforms has not concerned the dynamics of income...</p>

In this paper we use a Markov-switching vector autoregressive model to analyse the interest rate pass-through between interbank and retail bank rates in the Euro area. Empirical results, based on monthly data for the period 2003–2011, show that during periods of financial distress bank lending...