In Italy, Patti Territoriali (Territorial Pacts) are one of the main government-sponsored programmes to foster growth in disadvantaged areas. A territorial pact is an agreement among the local authorities and representatives of civil society (mainly entrepreneurs and trade unions) of a number of...

The paper evaluates the effectiveness of a major Italian place-based policy (Contratti di Programma), by means of which the state approves and finances industrial projects proposed by private firms. Using the areas to be exposed to the same policy at a later date as counterfactuals, the study...

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of the main determinants of hotel prices in the Italian tourism industry. We pool information from two datasets: i) a database on hotel prices and attributes based on the Touring Club Italia Guide and providing information on about 1,100 hotels located...

This paper measures the impact of wage zones � minimum wage differentials at the province level � on Italy's local labor markets during the 1950s. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design, it finds that for the industrial sectors covered under wage zones there was an increase in...

This paper studies the case of the Marche footwear districts. Statistical evidence and interviews with entrepreneurs suggest that the traditional inter-firm relationships within these districts have significantly changed during the past decade. Some leading firms have been building up more...