We assemble an original panel of 2,500 restaurant prices in Italy over the period 1998-2004 to study whether, and through which channels, the introduction of euro coins and banknotes had an impact on individual pricing behaviour. We reach three conclusions. Firstly, the evidence suggest that the...

The paper analyses the sharp divergence in the nineties between capital formation in the main euro area countries, on the one hand, and the United States, on the other. We have used data from the OECD's International Sectoral Data Base (ISDB), which includes data comparable across a certain...

This paper engages in a critical review of the literature on labour market rigidities, developing a simple theoretical schema that allows unitary treatment of the different issues. It finds little theoretical or empirical support for a simple equation linking rigidities with unemployment....

We study the role of human capital in the restructuring of the Italian economy. The share of university graduates in the population has long been far lower in Italy (12 per cent in 2007) that in the rest of Europe (24 per cent). The 3+2 reform of Italian degree programmes has significantly...