Search results for "Extern"
showing 10 items of 646 documents
School grading and institutional contexts
2011
We study how the relationship between students' cognitive ability and their school grades depends on institutional contexts. In a simple abstract model, we show that unless competence standards are set at above-school level or the variation of competence across schools is low, students' competence valuation will be heterogeneous, with weaker schools inflating grades or flattening their dependence on competence, therefore reducing the information content and comparability of school grades. Using data from the OECD-PISA 2003 Survey, the model is applied to a sample of four countries, namely Australia, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. We find that in Australia, schools' heterogeneity does …
Environmental damage evaluation in a willingness-to-accept scenario: A latent-class approach based on familiarity
2015
In this paper we report on the results of the application of a latent class model that was designed to identify and characterize unobserved preference heterogeneity in the context of a willingness-to-accept (WTA) framework involving negative environmental externalities stemming from the expansion of the Port of Valencia. We investigated the hypothesis that respondents with greater familiarity with the targeted good and any related environmental damage would demand more compensation; that is, they would have a significantly higher WTA. Based on respondents' familiarity with the Port of Valencia and their pre-existing knowledge about the negative consequences of its potential expansion three …
Is external debt sustainable? A probabilistic approach
2020
Abstract We develop a probabilistic approach to measure a country's external debt sustainability. Using data on international investment position and balance of payments from the International Monetary Fund, we estimate a vector autoregressive model for 38 countries (11 developed and 27 developing). Using the estimated parameters, we perform a Monte Carlo simulation to compute the distribution of the capacity to repay for each country. A large portion of the projected distribution to the right of current debt is a warning indicator, signalling the need for devaluation. We provide simulations for each country. One scenario is where the discount factor is lower than 1. According to the litera…
Determinants of sub-central European government debt
2017
Abstract The aim of this paper is to analyze the determinants of sub-central government debt in Europe (Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Belgium and Spain) through estimation for each State based on corresponding panel data from 1996 to 2010. Furthermore, we estimate the debt model using a joint sample, consolidating conclusions on the most influential variables in terms of public debt. A comparative analysis of institutional frameworks in Europe shows that relationships between central and sub-central tax authorities have common traits, although the extent of change in each country remains unknown. In sum, this study shows that sub-sovereign government budgets are counter-cyclical, that ec…
Institutions and geography: Empirical test of spatial growth models for European regions
2010
Abstract This article provides an empirical assessment of the growth experiences of European regions, during the period 1991–2004, by taking into account the spatial effects due to both institutions and geography. These effects have been modelled by means of specific controls and by using a non-conventional spatial weight matrix. Results favour a model dealing with substantive spatial externalities. Within this framework, the country-specific institutions are strongly and positively related to the regional productivity's growth rate. In addition, the geo-institutional proximity increases the spatial dependence of the regional output per worker and raises the speed of convergence. By contras…
The impact of corporate characteristics on the financial decisions of companies: Evidence on funding decisions by Italian SMEs
2015
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) represent a large percentage of the corporate tissue of developed countries, but they do not have adequate attention. In fact, various researchers have focused their studies on larger and well-known companies. This paper aims to investigate the impact of corporate characteristic on the financial choices of SMEs, with a specific focus on agro-food micro companies. Access to finance is vital in business start-up, development and growth for SMEs, all with very different needs and facing different challenges in terms of finance compared to large companies. The lack of equity invested in small enterprises makes them more dependent on other external sources (e.…
The Go2School project for promoting cycling to school: A case study in Palermo
2021
Abstract The identification of transport policy measures able to reduce the use of private cars for home-to-school travel is very relevant to reduce congestion during peak hours and to ensure that the areas around schools have livable environments. An action that policymakers could apply is promoting cycling to school through the introduction of bikesharing programs and creating safe routes to school through the construction of new cycle infrastructure. The aim of the paper has been, therefore, to assess if these policies could lead the high-school students to cycle to school, considering the city of Palermo as a case study. The goal is reached through the calibration of a modal choice mode…
Financial Integration and Fiscal Policy
2011
The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of financial integration on fiscal policy. Using an unbalanced panel of 31 OECD countries from 1970 to 2009, the paper shows that financial integration has significant disciplinary effects by reducing fiscal deficits and (discretionary) spending volatility. In addition, we find that financial integration affects the composition of government debt and enhances risk-sharing by increasing the share of foreign debt to the total. The results are robust to both de jure and de facto measures of financial integration, different measures of budget balance, and different estimation strategies.
Using the U.S.Test of Financial Literacyin Germany—Adaptation and validation
2017
ABSTRACTIn this article, the authors present the adaptation and validation processes conducted to render the American Test of Financial Literacy (TFL) suitable for use in Germany (TFL-G). First, they outline the translation procedure followed and the various cultural adjustments made in line with international standards. Next, they present results from the validation of the TFL-G's content and relations between test scores and external variables, including test takers' prior economic education and interest in economic topics. Preliminary analyses of data gathered from expert interviews and cognitive labs, and the results of the first administration to first-year higher education students (N…
New economic geography and economic history: a survey of recent contributions through the lens of the Spanish industrialization process
2021
This paper aims to provide a synthesis of a number of articles that over the last few years have explored the industrialization process in Spain from the perspective of the new economic geography (NEG). To this end, we present some of the seminal theoretical papers of the NEG literature from which originated the main theoretical predictions that have been tested through empirical analysis applied to the case of Spain. We also look at those papers on the economic history of Spain that through the use of an economic geography framework have analysed how the location and regional concentration of manufacturing has evolved over the years. Altogether, this paper aims not only to present the dete…