In this paper we analyse a comprehensive database of 149,378 recovery rates on Italian bank loans. We investigate a new methodology to compute the recovery percentage that we suggest to consider as a mixed random variable. To estimate the probability density function of such a mixture, we...

Although the kurtosis index proposed by Karl Pearson in 1905 is introduced in statistical textbooks at all levels, the measure is not easily interpreted and has been a subject of considerable debate. In this study, the theoretical development of kurtosis is surveyed from a historical perspective...

In this work we have shown that an onverlooked paper by Luigi Faleschini (1948) contains the first intuition of the influence function approach to kurtosis.

Measures of concentration (inequality) are often used in the analysis of income and wage size distributions. Among, them the Gini and Zenga coefficients are of greatest importance. It is well known that income inequality in Poland increased significantly in the period of transformation from a...