A one dimensional diffusion process X={X_t, 0 <= t <= T}, with drift b(x) and diffusion coefficient s(theta, x)=sqrt(theta) s(x) known up to theta>0, is supposed to switch volatility regime at some point t* in (0,T). On the basis of discrete time observations from X, the problem is the one of estimating the instant of change in the volatility structure t* as well as the two values of theta, say...</=>

EU New Member States must comply with the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the investment requirements implied by the Lisbon Agenda. However, the SGP rules may result in underinvestment or distortions in the allocation of public expenditure. This paper provides new evidence on the effects of...

In this study we empirically estimated the role played by attitudes toward risk in insurance decision-making. To this end, we used the Iowa Gambling Task coupled with skin conductance recording, a validated experimental task of decision making under ambiguity which provides two dimensions of...

The telegraph process models a random motion with finite velocity and it is usually proposed as an alternative to diffusion models. The process describes the position of a particle moving on the real line, alternatively with constant velocity +v or -v. The changes of direction are governed by an...

Association rules are one of the most popular unsupervised data mining methods. Once obtained, the list of association rules extractable from a given dataset is compared in order to evaluate their importance level. The measures commonly used to assess the strength of an association rule are the...

In this paper we propose a two step procedure for modelling the propagation of financial shocks. The first step consists in the estimation, by means of SWARCH models, of the conditional probability of being in a period of high volatility while, in the second step such indicators are included in...

We suggest that the “occupational outcome” of graduates should be considered as an additional dimension in the ranking of Academic Institutions and their Faculties. We measure the occupational outcome through the ISTAT graduate employment national survey. We make an exercise on Humanities...

We propose the setting-up of an indicator for classifying European countries with relation to consumers' satisfaction for services of general interest. Services considered are fixed telephone service, electricity supply, railways and postal service. The reference data set is the 2002 Standard...

In this paper we contrast the received view according to which Walras' and Marshall's approaches to price theory, while differing in scope, are basically similar in their aims, presuppositions, and results. By focusing on a special kind of economy (the pure-exchange, two-commodity economy),...

In a brief review of the second edition of Walras’s Eléments, published in 1889, Edgeworth criticizes Walras’s theory of tâtonnement, viewed as a misplaced and misleading attempt at explaining the equilibration process in a multi-market economy. Edgeworth’s attack sets off a controversy,...