In this paper we focus on the beneficial role of random strategies in social sciences by means of simple mathematical and computational models. We briefly review recent results obtained by two of us in previous contributions for the case of the Peter principle and the efficiency of a Parliament....

In this paper, making use of recent statistical physics techniques and models, we address the specific role of randomness in financial markets, both at the micro and the macro level. In particular, we review some recent results obtained about the effectiveness of random strategies of investment,...

Building on similarities between earthquakes and extreme financial events, we use a self-organized criticality-generating model to study herding and avalanche dynamics in financial markets. We consider a community of interacting investors, distributed on a small-world network, who bet on the...

A sustainable growth rate – i.e. a growth rate which allows economy to expand without compromising the equilibrium of the natural system – is one of the most important and stimulating topics in growth literature. In this paper two findings will be presented. First of all, a brief...

This paper aims to survey the literature about the Law of One Price in order to document its failure in terms of actual application. After a brief theoretical overview, which starts from classical economists' thought, the reported literature has been classified on the basis of three main...

Return migration is the positive counterpart of brain drain. Human capital accumulation increases in a country if skilled agents go back home after a period spent working abroad. Effects of brain drain in Italy could be negative as highly skilled migrants decide not to come back to their native...

One of the most recurrent insights about international migration is the link with development and dynamic perspectives of a country. A comprehensive approach to this topic is essential to put migration at the core of any policy-maker's agenda as it must be seen as an opportunity in both origin...

The Brain Drain phenomenon is particularly heterogeneous and is characterized by peculiar specifications. It influences the economic fundamentals of both the country of origin and the host one in terms of human capital accumulation. Here, the brain drain is considered from a microeconomic...

The largest part of available literature on international migration tends to consider migration decision either as permanent or temporary. In this paper we develop a fairly general dynamic model of rational migration, where both the decision to return in the home country and to remain abroad, as...

The environmental impact of touristic production is different from that of other productions. Touristic services are produced the same as every other private good by profit maximising firms, but part of the production itself consists of environmental improvements. The naturalistic resource is...