The “Bologna Process” and college enrollment decisions

We use survey data on high school graduates before and after the Italian reform of tertiary education implementing the “Bologna Process” to estimate its impact on college enrollment. Individuals leaving school after the reform have a probability of enrollment that is 15% higher compared to otherwise identical individuals. This increase is concentrated among individuals with good school performance and low parental background. We interpret this result as an indication of the existence of constraints – for good students from less advantaged households – on the optimal schooling decision. We also find a small negative impact of the reform on university drop-out.     

Better-reply dynamics and global convergence to Nash equilibrium in aggregative games

We consider n-person games with quasi-concave payoffs that depend on a player's own action and the sum of all players' actions. We show that a discrete-time, stochastic process in which players move towards better replies—the better-reply dynamics—converges globally to a Nash equilibrium if actions are either strategic substitutes or strategic complements for all players around each Nash equilibrium that is asymptotically stable under a deterministic, adjusted best-reply dynamics. We present an example of a 2-person game with a unique equilibrium where the derivatives of the best-reply functions have different signs and the better-reply dynamics does not converge.     

Growth with Unused Capacity and Endogenous Capital Depreciation

The paper contributes to the debate on growth and distribution in a non‐mainstream perspective. It looks at the role that capacity utilization plays in the process of growth under the hypothesis that the rate of capital depreciation is a function of the degree of capacity utilization. Our hypothesis implies results partly different from those obtained by other models in which capacity utilization plays a key role. In particular, a varying rate of depreciation affects the conditions under which distributional changes in favor of wages affect the rate of growth positively.     

Entrepreneurial capacities as antecedents of business performance in Brazilian firms

We investigate the relationship between entrepreneurial capacities and firm performance. More specifically, we investigate the effects of radical innovation and learning orientation on business performance. We test the effects of entrepreneurial orientation on learning orientation and radical innovation. The results suggest that radical product innovation and companies' orientation to learn have a positive effect on organizational performance. Additionally, we find that entrepreneurial orientation positively influences a firm's capability to learn and innovate. Our findings also show a direct effect of learning orientation on radical innovation, which means that companies with a higher proclivity to learn are more likely to create products and processes, representing a major departure from the state of current knowledge. Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selection,Heterogeneity, and Entry in Professional Markets

We analyze two different cases of entry regulation in professional markets: first, when licensing is a requirement for becoming a professional (lawyers); second, when entry and price restrictions are applied on a geographical basis (pharmacists). Both cases are investigated within a circular model of localized competition and heterogeneous players. The analysis reveals that licensing introduces a selection mechanism which is effective in preventing entry of inefficient players in markets with large ex ante heterogeneity. Furthermore, because in the second case excessive entry is reduced as the degree of heterogeneity increases, our analysis lends support to a policy that simultaneously relaxes entry and price restrictions.     

Detecting the relationship between competitive intensity and firm product line length: Evidence from the worldwide mobile phone industry

The way firms lengthen or shorten their product line with respect to rivals is regarded as one of the possible strategies firms can pursue to respond to competition. This article builds and tests hypotheses to study the effect of different levels of competitive intensity on product line length. The empirical analysis of data on 3,527 handset models introduced by 66 mobile phone vendors from 1994 to 2010 shows a consistent inverse U‐shaped relationship between competitive intensity and the firm's product line length. In this way, we pinpoint an interesting link between the product line extension literature and the competitive dynamics and competitive intensity perspectives. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Inter industry and occupational wage differentials in Italy

The vast literture on wage determination in the post-war era extensively documents the existence of large and persistent wage differentials among industries and workers of comparable skills. This paper addresses the issue of wage dispersion in the context of the Italian economy. The stability over time of industry relative wages confirme previous results obtained for the other countries. A wide class of earings equations is estimated using microdata for the Italian manufacturing industry. The results provide little evidence in support of the view that wage dispersion can be explained by either unmeasured workers' charcteristics or by compensating wage differentials. Conversely, the estimated pattern of industry-occupation wage differentials is consistent with the existence of rent sharing mechanisms and fairness considerations.     

Internal and External R&D: A Sample Selection Approach*

This study underlines that the decision to enter into an external R&D relationship is related to an antecedent decision to carry out R&D. This calls for an empirical approach that permits the joint analysis of the determinants of the two decisions, correcting for sample selectivity. Based on a sample of Italian manufacturing firms, the results confirm the need to adopt this approach. Another contribution made by this study is the managerial implications that can be derived from its empirical model, which provide a better understanding of the factors associated with a firm's decision to engage in R&D both independently and with external partners.