Using Belgian microdata, we assess the impact, on a hedonic regression, of the distortions arising from the choice of either a specific zoning system or the delineation of the study area. We also evaluate the biases that arise when spatial effects are not accounted for. Given that the dependent...

Benchmarking methods, and in particular Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), have become well-established and informative tools for economic regulation. DEA is now routinely used by European regulators to set reasonable revenue caps for energy transmission and distribution system operators. The...

As one important form of market circuit breakers, price limits have been often imposed in stock and futures markets. This paper considers modeling the return process of such assets, focusing on the treatment of price limits. As a result, a censored-GARCH model is formulated and a Bayesian...

The aim of this paper is to test the predictions of Sutton's model of independent submarkets for the Italian retail banking industry. This industry, in fact, can be viewed as made of a large number of local markets corresponding to different geographical locations. In order to do that, I first...

A new nonparametric estimator of production frontiers is defined and studied when the data set of production units is contaminated by measurement error. The measurement error is assumed to be an additive normal random variable on the input variable, but its variance is unknown. The estimator is...

The Tobit model (censored regression model) is an important basic model appearing in many applications in economics. In this paper we consider a duration Tobit model in which a duration variable which counts the number of times the data is being censored is included as a covariate. We show that...

As one important form of market circuit breakers, price limits have been often imposed in stock and future mnarkets. This paper considers modelling the return process of such assets, focusing on the treatment of price limits. As a result, a censored-GARCH model is formulated and a Bayesian...

Using a matched employer-employee database for Italy we look at the spatial distribution of wages across provinces. This rich database allows us to contribute at opening the black box of agglomeration economies exploiting the micro dimension of the interaction among economic agents, both...

Economic regions, such as urban agglomerations, face external demand and price shocks that produce income risk. Workers in large and diversified agglomerations may benefit from reduced wage volatility, while firms may outsource the production of intermediate goods and realize benefits from...

We analyze the impacts of labor market integration and migration on skill formation, wage structures, and per capita GDP of host and source countries. To do so, we propose a model in which heterogeneous agents invest in the acquisition of skills, and in which final good production exhibits...