In this paper we analyse the cost structure of a sample of Italian Local Public Transport (LPT) companies operating in large urban centres, so as to extend the evidence of some recent studies focused on small-sized and medium-sized operators. The main focus is to verify the presence and the...

In this paper we investigate the economic rationality of the bed downsizing process, characterising the hospital industry worldwide in the last decades, as a measure to control public health care expenditure. Considering a sample of Italian hospitals, we provide fresh evidence on the factor...

In recent years changes of regulation in European electricity industry have been oriented towards a gradual liberalization of the sector, stressing the issue of energy provision for selling in the open market. Within the Italian regulatory framework, since local public firms cannot compete...

This paper focuses on the diversification strategies of the largest manufacturing groups operating in Italy between 1987 and 1993. The analysis of diversification at the firm level and at the industry level is followed with an empirical investigation on the links between the different areas of...

In this paper the empirical literature on transaction cost motivations of vertical integration strategies is critically reviewed. From the large number of empirical studies on this particular area, it emerges that, notwithstanding a) serious data and measurement limitations; b) the different...

Il presente scritto ha un duplice scopo: presentare le nuove basedati di impresa costruite presso il CERIS e predisporre un manuale d'uso per future ricerche. L'obiettivo ambizioso che ha spinto l'Istituto a investire ancora una volta risorse nell'arduo (e poco remunerativo) compito di...

The new CERIS panel on Italian firms covers the period from 1977 to 1997. The panel is unbalanced and includes 1710 manufacturing firms with at least five consecutive years. It contains condensed balance sheet and profit and loss data (collected from Mediobanca annual directory "Le Principali...

The increasing problems of pollution and traffic congestion require the definition of a model of sustainable mobility -- in particular, in large, urban areas. An indirect control on these negative externalities associated with private transport may be pursued by means of policies aimed at...