Regulating blockchain for sustainability? The critical relationship between digital innovation, regulation, and electricity governance

Abstract Blockchain technology has found several innovative applications in the electricity industry. However, its potential has still to be discovered. This is partly due to the role that regulation plays in electricity markets. To be introduced, experimented with, and eventually adopted on a commercial scale, blockchain-supported innovations need to fit the existing regulatory framework or the rules to be reshaped or updated. We focus on energy regulators' possible responses to the blockchain-enhanced market operations (both from the incumbents and potential newcomers), suggesting a monitoring mechanism that can support innovation.

Economic interest and fair play: evidence from Italian soccer

Estimating determinants of television and stadium revenues by Italian soccer companies

Managerial Ability, Players’ Cultural Diversity, and Sporting and Economic Performance in English Soccer

We use a large homemade database on professional soccer in England to estimate the relevance of managerial ability on performance and the managerial skills in keeping up cultural diversity. The team manager faces a set of very complex tasks. Not only he is the head coach of the soccer team, thus influencing sporting performance, but he can also have an impact on performance, by improving economic efficiency or by limiting the organization innovation in order to foster the creation of organizational routines. The sporting competitive advantage translates into economic and financial performance; therefore the manager is a dominant voice in the financial viability of the club, too. We also mea…

6.1.2. "Analisi dinamica"

The Challenges Underlying Firm Revival and Resilience in the Post-COVID-19 Phase

Covid-19 is an exogenous shock that has deeply modified the basic building blocks and the micro-mechanisms on which socio-economic systems and organizations rest. The vast majority of both factor markets and final markets have been significantly disrupted on a worldwide scale. As all factors that determine severe crises, the Covid-19 pandemic is a low probability and high impact shock which has significantly changed the environment in which firms operate (Grewal and Tansuhaj 2001, Hudecheck et al. 2020). Such changes have nonetheless been asymmetric, whilst they have menaced the survival of a huge number of firms and have brought to their knees many key industries, it has also ignited rapid…

Il Marketing nella gestione dei beni culturali

monografia sulla gestione in chiave di marketing dei musei

Gli incentivi nella corporate governance: il ruolo dell'autoregolazione e dell'autodisciplina

We present a rationale for an indicator based on the Italian corporate governance code to be administered by a self-regulatory organization as a screening device; by doing so both moral hazard and adverse selection problems in corporate governance could be alleviated.

The Media as a Policy Instrument in Influencing the Business Model of Professional Soccer. Evidence from Italy

Italian soccer clubs in the first division have individually sold broadcasting rights for their home matches, until new laws imposed pooling and joint-selling those rights through the league and established a mandatory sharing rule to redistribute revenues in order to improve on-the-pitch competitive balance (CB). This article compares the two institutional designs. While reducing revenue inequality, the new regime distorts allocative efficiency and informational rent appropriation, opens up costly ex post renegotiations and antitrust litigations, and does not improve CB.

Agroalimentare, il lato buono dell’economia siciliana

The Quest for Twelfth Man: Evidence from Italian Professional Soccer

The Role of Public Entity in Coopetiotion and Convergence

We investigate upon the strategic impact of the public entity to catalyze coalition formation among competitors around an essential facility. The public entity is usually represented as if moved by mere political scopes. However, the presence of a publicly-owned asset or infrastructure, which can be termed an essential facility, gives leeway to shed the opportunity to satisfy potentially new and different type of demand or consumer cluster needs. The increase in value stemming from a renewal in the utilization of the facility might loosen up political restraints against the involvement in the management of the facility of a multiplicity of actors. This allows us to add a new dimension to th…

Exploring museum marketing performance: a case study from Italy

The public funding of museums should be linked to performance results in order to reward institutions that are more efficient. Performance measurement tools rely heavily on figures based on visitors numbers and tickets sold. In this paper an indicator is proposed, called PMMP (Performance of Museum as a Marketing Product) consisting of 4 dimensions derived from the four P’s of marketing. The tool is applied to two art and archaeology museums, one private and one public used as case studies in this exploratory phase. Publicly managed facilities could be proving inefficient in performing high levels of marketing performance, thus reducing visitors numbers. The subsequent revenues decrease mak…

Environmental Quality and Entrepreneurial Activity in Rural Tourism in Italy

We estimate the relation between environmental quality and services in rural tourism in Italy. We use the average number of firms per region in 2003-07 to indicate entrepreneurial activity. We suggest that heterogeneity among administrative regions can be tied to environmental quality. Incorporated farms in rural tourism are relatively more common in regions with better environmental quality, and command higher average price from better quality in hospitality. Only 7% of entrepreneurial activity can be attributable to environmental quality. We conclude that rural tourism activity in Italy is not genuinely tied to environmental quality.

“Lo spettatore della serie A di calcio: condivisione dell’esperienza allo stadio o isolamento davanti alla televisione?

Mezzogiorno: sudditi o mantenuti? in Noi e lo Stato. Siamo ancora sudditi? a cura di Serena Sileoni

Il 2 giugno 1946, la maggioranza degli italiani votava per la Repubblica. La parola “sudditi”, presente per due volte nello Statuto albertino, sarebbe di lì a poco scomparsa, per lasciare spazio ai “cittadini” evocati per ben 33 volte nella Costituzione. La promessa di un agire libero e responsabile, da cittadini e non da sudditi, può dirsi oggi, dopo più di settant'anni, compiuta? Come già aveva fatto il libro "Sudditi" - pubblicato nel 2012 da IBL Libri, a cura di Nicola Rossi - "Noi e lo Stato" raccoglie esperienze di subalternità all’imperio e all’arbitrio dello Stato. Studiosi, giornalisti e scrittori raccontano di attitudini, prassi e regole che mostrano una sorta di continuità tra il…

THE EFFECT OF SOCIETAL COMMUNICATION ON CUSTOMER BEHAVIOR: EVIDENCE FROM THE ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE

We present a simple model to estimate the effects on behavior of a group of societal campaigns, aimed at fostering racial equality attitudes. The activity of the Kick it Out is confronted with attendance of English Premier League games. The results support the idea that people weight benefits against results in appraising their willingness to adhere to a campaign. When the foreign player of their own team contributes to results, he is appreciated. At parity of results, the fans prefer players of their own nationality. This indicates that although the campaign may have changed attitudes, it has not changed behavior yet.

Fra Giustizia Sportiva Ed Interesse Economico: L'Impatto Della Retrocessione Della Juventus Sulla Domanda Di Calcio in Italia

Il paper analizza l'impatto della retrocessione della Juventus a seguito dello scandalo di "Calciopoli" attraverso la stima di un modello econometrico della domanda di calcio misurata dagli spettatori allo stadio. I risultati suggeriscono un diverso approccio in termini di giustizia sportiva ed aprono il fronte a studi piu attenti al legame fra utilita personale del cliente e comportamenti eticamente leciti.

Coopetition, Convergence and "Old" Economy, Strategic Patterns and the Role of the Public Sector

Stadium Management in Italy: the Case for Co-opetition"

COVID-19 and Communities. The University of Palermo's Voices and Analyses During the Pandemic

Facility Management nel Settore Pubblico: tre istituzioni siciliane a confronto

L'articolo presenta un'analisi della domanda di Facility Management (FM) da parte del settore pubblico esponendo dei casi relativi alle tre principali istituzioni pubbliche della sicilia occidentale.

Perché il sistema produttivo italiano ha tutto da perdere e nulla da guadagnare in Cosa succede se usciamo dall'euro? Quanto costerà e chi ne pagherà il prezzo

Cosa succede se l’Italia esce dall’euro? Tra piani A, piani B, minibot e pugni sul tavolo, pressoché tutti i partiti politici hanno caldeggiato, esorcizzato, pubblicamente negato e privatamente accarezzato l’ipotesi del ritorno a una moneta sovrana. Questo libro intende presentare – attraverso i punti di vista degli studiosi – le modalità, le conseguenze e i costi di tale prospettiva. I contributi qui raccolti gettano luce sugli aspetti meno conosciuti e più critici: come dovrebbe avvenire l’uscita? Quali implicazioni avrebbe sulla partecipazione italiana al mercato interno? Chi ne trarrebbe vantaggio, e chi ne pagherebbe i costi? La risposta è che per il nostro paese l’uscita dall’euro sar…

Introduction of book "COVID-19 and Communities: Bracing for Impact. Voices and Analyses of the University of Palermo during the COVID-19 Pandemic"

The book COVID-19 and Communities: Bracing for Impact. Voices and Analyses of the University of Palermo during the COVID-19 Pandemic is a contributed volume that brings together academics of the University of Palermo in an interdisciplinary reflection on the SARS-COV-2 pandemic and its consequences. This publication finds its origins in a widely followed online webinar series that the University of Palermo set up at the end of May 2020 on the theme of the current pandemic.

A study on sports activities performed by Palermo football club fans

Introduction: It is known that sport is able to evoke high levels of emotional attachment and identification (Sutton et al., 1997). This phenomenon can be a factor stimulating the practice of football mainly at a young age. The aim of this study was to explore whether Palermo fans do sports activities and especially football. Methods: Several websites and telecasts mainly followed by Palermo fans were used to select the participants for this study and invite them to fill in a questionnaire. The data collected were elaborated by statistical analysis. Results: 899 fans filled in the questionnaire (743 men and 156 women). The average age of women was 32.74 ± 11.13 years; while that of men was …

La povertà energetica delle famiglie italiane

Negli ultimi 15 anni la spesa energetica delle famiglie italiane è significativamente cresciuta, aggravando la difficoltà delle famiglie più vulnerabili ad acquistare un paniere minimo di servizi energetici con ricadute negative sul loro benessere (c.d. povertà energetica). Si stima che nel 2014 tale condizione avrebbe riguardato circa 1,9 milioni di famiglie. Sin dal 2009 esistono dei programmi ad hoc per il contrasto alla povertà energetica, il bonus elettrico e il bonus gas, condizionati a specifiche soglie dell’ISEE. La platea delle famiglie beneficiarie nel 2014 era di circa 1,5 milioni a fronte di 3,9 milioni potenzialmente beneficiarie sulla base dell’ISEE. Tuttavia, vi è evidenza ch…

Academic Spin-Offs and Technological Innovation Diffusion In Less Successful Areas: A Viable System Approach

This paper aims to analyze the role that academic spin offs play in enhancing and speeding up the development and transfer of technological innovation, particularly in less successful areas. The focus on todays’ knowledge-based economy, has increasingly shown that innovation is a social process (Gibbons et al, 1994; Chesbrough, 2003 and 2011) rooted on the interactions and knowledge exchanges among a variety of actors (such as firms, universities, research organizations, government institutions, and so on). Each of these actors is endowed with idiosyncratic and specialized sets of resources, knowledge and capabilities. As a result, the critical determinants of competitive/innovative advanta…

Il traffico di essere umani e i network del contrabbando tra Libia e Italia

La recente diffusione da parte dell’Organizzazione Internazionale per le Migrazioni di nuovi dati sui morti e dispersi nel Mediterraneo, 2.734 nei primi otto mesi del 2016 con oltre 115.000 rifugiati, migranti e richiedenti asilo sbarcati sulle coste italiane nello stesso periodo, conferma come la rotta del Mediterraneo centrale sia tornata a essere la principale via di accesso all’Europa. La questione ha dimensioni mondiali e l’Italia, per la sua posizione e conformazione geografica, con confini di terra con Francia, Svizzera, Austria e Slovenia, e 7.600 chilometri di coste in posizione centrale nel Mar Mediterraneo, è divenuta sin dai primi anni Novanta un territorio di arrivo e di transi…

Fra giustizia sportiva e interesse economico: l’impatto della retrocessione della Juventus sulla domanda di calcio in Italia

Introduzione Il 25 luglio 2006 la corte Federale della F.I.G.C. ha emesso la sentenza di condanna per Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan e Juventus per illecito sportivo commesso con riferimento a 39 partite della stagione sportiva 2005/2006. La società torinese è stata condannata alla revoca dello scudetto della stagione precedente con contestuale annullamento del titolo conquistato in quella oggetto d’indagine e alla retrocessione in serie B (con penalizzazione di 17 punti, ridotti poi a 9 alla fine del procedimento presso la camera di Conciliazione ed Arbitrato del C.O.N.I.). Diversi commentatori si espressero sulla sostanziale mitezza della condanna finale viste le condotte accertate e, secondo m…

Il Cashback di Stato: evidenze empiriche e inquadramento fiscale

I commi da 288 e 290 della Legge di Bilancio per il 2020 (Legge n. 160 del 27 Dicembre 2019) hanno introdotto anche in Italia le “Misure premiali per utilizzo di strumenti di pagamento elettronici”. Si tratta del meccanismo noto come cashback con il quale il governo italiano ha fatto un passo in avanti verso il traguardo di quella cashless society che, nelle intenzioni dei promotori, dovrebbe portare alla scomparsa del contante con effetti benefici sul contrasto all’evasione e ad altre forme di illeciti di natura economica. Le disposizioni normative, anche alla luce delle modifiche apportate dall’articolo 73 del D.L. n. 104 del 14 agosto 2020, prevedono un rimborso in denaro per le persone …

The Quest for the Twelfth Man: Evidence from Italian Professional Soccer

The Role of The Public Entity in Coopetition and Convergence

The impact of corruption on sport demand

PurposeThe article presents an empirical analysis that evaluates the effects of a systemic corruption scandal on the demand in the short and the long run. In 2006, the Calciopoli scandal uncovered the match rigging in the Italian soccer first division. The exemplary sportive sanction of relegating the primary culprit to the second division imposed further negative externalities on the other clubs. Should we prefer the sportive sanction on the team or the monetary fines for the club?Design/methodology/approachWe estimated two log-linear models of the demand side (stadium attendance) using a fixed effect estimator, on two panel data set made of all the Italian soccer clubs in the first and se…

Incentives in Corporate Governance: The Role of Self-Regulation

Corporate governance stems from the interplay of legal norms, security regulation, self-regulation and best practices. Recent scandals and frauds have forced governments to update laws on corporate governance: the legislation process has been very fast in some countries, others have lagged. Law and regulation intervene and become effective only ex-post, when damages have been done and malpractice is self-evident. On the contrary, self-regulation is a quicker and more flexible response to changing market conditions and of great impact on the relationship between firms and their environment. A self-regulatory organization (SRO) such as the stock exchange could administer the screening device,…

You Can Even Walk Alone. Stadium Attendance and Professional Soccer Clubs’ Social Role

The purpose of the paper is to suggest a new perspective on the social role in the community for Italian professional soccer clubs. Our findings loosen the knot between hooligans and clubs and could have important consequences on the club’s corporate social responsibility and marketing strategies. After investigating the impact of stadium attendance on team performance for Serie A and B in seasons 2004/05 through 2006/07, we conclude that crowd plays no role in the winning performance of soccer teams at home. Our proposal consists of two policies hinting at a reconciliation between social and educational role of the sport with the club’s commercial interests. The first policy is to establis…

Managing the liberalization of Italy's retail electricity market: A policy proposal☆

Abstract Italy will phase out electricity retail price regulation by July 1st, 2020. Until then, residential customers and small businesses who do not choose their supplier are served under a regulated tariff named “maggior tutela” (greater protection), supplied by the local distributor at a price set by the regulator. We review the literature on electricity retail competition – with particular regard to its expected effects on prices, innovation, and customer engagement – and the conditions under which competition is expected to deliver benefits. We perform a Structure-Conduct-Performance analysis of Italy's retail electricity market for residential customers, finding two issues potentiall…

Competitive Balance in Italian Soccer: 1929-2007

A Performance indicator to reward museum marketing effort

The Role of Financial and Managerial Variables on the Policy towards Home-grown Players in English Soccer

The training and development of young players both as athletes and individuals is one of the task soccer governing bodies assign to professional soccer team in order to fully exploit the social aspects of sport activities. Recently UEFA imposed new rules to improve the use of home-grown players. We analyze a panel data of English Premier and Championship league clubs for the seasons 2001-02 to 2005-06 in order to understand what clubs characteristics lead to the employment of young players in the team during official matches. Sport commercialization and the employment of star players have been considered harmful to this role. Our findings suggest that, counter-intuitively, economic and comm…

Managing the Liberalization of Italy’s Retail Electricity Market: A Policy Proposal

Italy will phase electricity retail price regulation by July 1st, 2020. This is the last step in the process of electricity market liberalization, that started in 1999. Until then, residential customers and small businesses who do not choose their supplier, will be supplied under a transitional, regulated service named “maggior tutela” (greater protection), which is supplied by the local distributor at a price set by the regulator. This paper reviews the literature on electricity retail competition – with particular regard to its expected effects on prices, innovation and customer engagement – and the condition under which its benefits may be delivered. Then a Structure-Conduct-Performance …

A die-hard aristocracy: competitive balance in Italian soccer, 1929-2009

We will present two measures of the competitive balance in professional Italian soccer, one based on the a club's historical rankings and one based on points scored per season. We will calculate and illustrate their characteristics for the Italian first division (the Serie A) between 1929 and 2009. Using the cumulated rankings of the 60 clubs which have taken part in the Serie A we show that Italian soccer is strongly characterized by a self-reinforcing mechanism of dominance that has created an aristocracy of at most ten strong clubs. We also show that increasing the number of promoted clubs could have an innovative impact. Our results imply that each season is fiercely fought, and this le…

Moral Governance

The migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea: Empirical evidence on policy interventions

Abstract This paper presents a novel set of empirical evidence to explore several hypotheses regarding the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean Sea. The political instability in transit countries, such as Libya, that made pre-existent repatriation policies ineffective, called for several search-and-rescue operations in the Mediterranean, which in turn have been wrongly accused of fostering illegal immigration and increasing deaths at sea. The empirical results show that the main determinants of the departures are several root causes at the departing African countries, underlining the importance of fighting human smuggling networks. The paper suggests a change in migration studies’ perspectiv…

Is more competition better? Retail electricity prices and switching rates in the European Union.

The European Union (EU) promotes the liberalization of retail electricity markets to achieve lower prices, diversified offers, greater customer participation, and sustainable consumption behaviours. While retail competition has been a reality in most EU member states, most studies find that retail competition is suitable for large customers, but the evidence on small customers is inconclusive. We analyze data on electricity prices and switching rates in 27 EU member states and the UK from 2000 to 2019. We find that retail competition is associated with lower prices and that the effect of full liberalization is greater than that of partial liberalization.

Un criterio di ripartizione dei ricavi televisivi per le società di calcio

Coopetition, Convergence and "Old" Economy, Strategic Patterns and the Role of the Public Sector