The Feldstein-Horioka puzzle has been recently included among the six major puzzles of international economics. It is a paradox that belongs to the large group of home biases that have become stylized facts. We investigate the F-H puzzle according to different definitions of Europe and by...

The existence of transport costs among countries makes pricesof tradables diverge. When the market structure is a differentiated oligopoly the prices of tradables increase as a country get larger and/orricher. In a framework of economies of scale-differentiation-monopolistic competition a less...

If an economy runs a current account (CA) deficit and finances it via a corresponding net inflow of equity capital (belonging to foreign direct investment (FDI) or to portfolio investment) the external debt (ED) of the country does not change, i.e.: the CA deficit does not add to ED. This is no...

We model a symmetric duopoly where firms choose whether to be quantity setters or price setters by deciding the optimal capacity; undertake R&D activity to determine the degree of differentiation; and finally compete in the market. Two games are proposed, where investment decisions follow...

We investigate the role of R&D investment in transport and communication (TCRD) in a Cournot duopoly with trade. Our analysis suggests that firms may invest in TCRD at reasonable levels of efficiency of TCRD even when they do not maximize their aggrerate payoffs, i.e., when the game ia s...

Recent literature on trade has emphasized the role of firms' heterogeneities in export performance and trade specialization of countries (Melitz, 2003; Melitz and Ottaviano, 2005). Exporting seems to be a strategy available only to most efficient and productive firms even in a framework with...

One of the main reasons why workers' enterprises (WE) still represent a relevant chunk of the economy may lie in some affinities with conventional profit maximizing firms. To prove this, we compare the entry policies of WEs and conventional firms when they can decide size at entry while having...

From 1997 to 2001 we observe in the Usa a faster growth in the number of Nonemployer firms (NF) vis à vis Employer firms (EF). The diverse speed of net entry may be due to particular internal organisation of the two types of firms and the effect that this has on the reactions to market...

The main aim of the paper is to highlight the relation between flexibility and vertical integration. To this purpose, we go through the selection of the optimal degree of vertical disintegration of a flexible firm which operates in a dynamic uncertain environment. The enterprise we model enjoys...

In many industries it is quite common to observe firms delegating the production of essential inputs to independent ventures jointly established with competing rivals. The diffusion of this arrangement and the favourable stance of competition authorities call for the assessment of the social and...