Effetti territoriali e decisioni di spesa turistica: alcune evidenze sulle famiglie italiane

Regional Disparities in Consumption Behaviour: Italian Households in Time of Crisis

The relevant fact of the severe downturn due to the Great Recession is that declining consumer spending. The extent of the cutbacks in consumption expenditures differs among regions and also the distribution pattern across households differs. This paper examines how the 2008-9 crisis affected regional disparities in household consumption behaviour by analysing the distribution of the real total expenditure. Specifically, a mixture of regression models is used to explore the heterogeneity in total expenditure across regions and households by identifying groups of families with similar consumption behaviour as a function of certain socio-demographic and economic factors. The empirical analysi…

Is Participation in Tourism Market an Opportunity for Everyone? Some Evidence from Italy

Exploring the main determinants of tourism participation at national and international level, the paper investigates if there are differences in tourism consumption behavior among Italian families which reflect disparities in their standard of living. To achieve this a Heckman model has been used on a huge sample of Italian households over the period 1997-2007. Results show that participation in the tourism market is strongly affected by the personal characteristics of individuals and that tourism consumption is an income sensitive good. The analysis reveals that tourism is generally a luxury good reflecting the disparities in the standard of living among Italian families. We have found tha…