In this paper we investigate the effect of standard and non-standard monetary policy implemented by the ECB on income inequality in Italy. We use for the first time the survey microdata on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, Istat) in a repeated cross-section experiment to build measures of...

In this paper we investigate the effect of a "news-based" policy shock on consumption and investments. To this aim, we construct a new measure of policy announcements, the Policy News Index (PNI), analyzing textual data from the most important Italian business newspaper (Il Sole 24 Ore). To...

In this paper we show how trading rules can generate excess volatility in the exchange rate through repeated entry and exit of currency bears and bulls. This is something of a caricature: but it allows us to show that offcial action can have self-fulfilling effects as market composition shifts...

We investigate the relationship between money and happiness across the waves of the British Household Panel Study by using a latent class approach which accounts for slope heterogeneity, omitted variable bias and departures from normality assumptions. Our findings reveal the presence of a vast...

We provide non experimental evidence of the relevance of sociability on subjective wellbeing by investigating the determinants of life satisfaction on a large sample of Europeans aged above 50. We document that voluntary work, religious attendance, helping friends/neighbours and participation to...

Network and spatial econometric models commonly embody a so-called W matrix which defines the connectivity between nodes of a network. The reason for the existence of W is that it facilitates parsimonious parametrization of inter-nodal interaction which would otherwise be very difficult to...

This paper explores the relationship between survey rating scale and Extreme Response Style (ERS) using experimental data from Understanding Society (Innovation Panel 2008), where a self-assessment questionnaire measuring job satisfaction uses two alternative (7 and 11 points) rating options....

Within the OECD Better Life Initiative, the Better Life Index (BLI) represents a major attempt to measure well-being and societal progress beyond GDP, following up the recommendations outlined in the Stiglitz-Sen-Fitoussi Commission report. Using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach, we...

In this paper, we propose an approach to estimate models with network interactions in the presence of individual unobserved heterogeneity. The latter may impact the formation of ties and/or exogenous effects, thereby undermining identi cation of the associated parameters. In a panel setting, we...

We analyse the macroeconomic effects of a debt consolidation policy in the Euro Area mimicking the Fiscal Compact Rule (FCR). The rule requires the signatory states to target a debt-to-GDP ratio below 60%. Within the context of Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium models (DSGE), we augment a...