Può l’Italia rilanciare il nucleare?

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…

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…

Considerazioni sulla povertà energetica delle famiglie italiane

In the last 15 years households’ energy expenditures have significantly increased causing a reduction of consumption of energy commodities that increased households’ vulnerability in order to buy a minimum set of energy commodities (so called energy poverty). In 2014 almost 1.9 million of households were energy poor. Since 2009 Italy has been running two means-tested programs targeting energy poverty, namely the «bonus elettrico» and the «bonus gas». The estimated eligible population is around 3.9 million of households, with almost 1.5 million effectively benefiting from these policies. However, there is evidence that the programs are only marginally tackling the problem, leading to a revie…

Essays on social capital and space

The idea of specific values and beliefs as, ceteris paribus, the main explanatory of growth differentials, has recently received lot of attention by social scientists. The focus is in particular to specific shared values and beliefs, constituting a social "stock" of good values fostering growth and cooperation, thus the name, social capital. Unfortunately, social capital is an elastic concept. Moreover, to the extent that social interactions type and strength matter, social capital clearly requires attention for the role of space. Thus, this thesis attempts to clarify some of the issues related to social capital and space. In the first chapter we outline the main questions of this thesis, i…

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…

Costi e benefici del rilancio dell'energia nucleare in Italia

Questo studio mira a fornire elementi utili a valutare i costi e i benefici della realizzazione di nuova potenza elettronucleare nel perseguire tre finalità: la sicurezza degli approvvigionamenti, la riduzione dei costi e la sostenibilità ambientale. Lo studio perviene alle seguenti conclusioni: 1) il ricorso all'energia nucleare aumenterebbe la diversificazione del portafoglio energetico e dei partner energetici, accrescendo la sicurezza degli approvvigionamenti, ma non diminuirebbe la nostra dipendenza complessiva dall'estero; 2) non è certo che il ricorso all'energia nucleare possa consentire una riduzione dei costi di generazione, si conterrebbe invece la volatilità di tali costi con be…

Energy poverty in Italy

Despite the existence of two targeted national programmes (�Bonus gas� and �Bonus energia�) in Italy there is no official definition of energy poverty (EP). The purpose of this study is to provide the reader with a set of indicators to fill this gap. We present a range of poverty measures which estimate that between 5 and 20 per cent of households was in EP in 2012. A selection based on qualitative criteria suggests the use of a low-income/high-costs indicator modified to include the economically vulnerable households with no heating expenses. According to this statistic the proportion of households in EP during the period 1997-2012 was broadly stable at around 8 per cent. Our simul…

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 …

Social capital formation across space: proximity and trust in European regions

An extensive economics and regional science literature has discussed the importance of social capital for economic growth and development. Yet, what social capital is and how it is formed are elusive issues, which require further investigation. Here, we refer to social capital in terms of “civic” capital and “good culture,” as rephrased by Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales and Tabellini. The accumulation of this kind of capital allows the emerging of regional informal institutions, which may help explaining differences in regional development. In this article, we take a regional perspective and use exploratory space and space–time methods to assess whether geography, via proximity, contributes…

Un sistema che fa acqua da tutte le parti: la gestione del sistema idrico integrato in Sicilia

Un sistema che fa acqua da tutte le parti: la gestione del sistema idrico integrato in Sicilia