Skilled Migration and Business Networks

The role of migrants’ networks in promoting cross border investments has been stressed in the literature, possibly making migration and FDI complements rather than substitutes in the long run. In this paper, we estimate the magnitude of such business network externalities in dynamic empirical models of FDI-funded capital accumulation. We use original data on capital and migration stocks rather than flows. Regarding migrants, we distinguish the total and skilled diasporas abroad. In both cross-sectional and panel frameworks, we find evidence of strong network externalities, mainly associated with the skilled diaspora.     

Pre-commercial procurement,procurement of innovative solutions and innovation partnerships in the EU: rationale and strategy

We discuss public procurement instruments for acquiring innovation, focusing on the European Pre-commercial Procurement, Procurement of Innovative Solutions and Innovation Partnerships. We analyse, in particular, how firms’ innovation incentives are affected by: (i) economies of scope and externalities between R&D and large-scale production; (ii) the degree of specificity of the innovation; (iii) the presence of Small and Medium Enterprises in the market and the level of market competition; (iv) the risk of market foreclosure and supplier lock-in. Our study contributes to the literature on incentives in demand-side innovation policy by tapping into the contractual design features and by offering relevant implications for academics and policy-makers.     

Futures-Style Options on Euro-deposit Futures: Nihil sub Sole Novi?

Euro-deposit futures play a relevant role among the derivative products traded in official markets. As opposed to most futures contracts, the underlying instrument is not represented by a traded asset but by a linear transformation of an interest rate, the Libor. The options written on Euro-deposit futures that are traded at the London International Financial Futures & Options Exchange (LIFFE) are subject to daily marking to market, as the underlying futures; thus, they are called futures-style options or pure futures options. These options are often priced with the Black (1976) formula, whose use entails several shortcomings. A more realistic alternative is represented by the univariate Cox, Ingersoll and Ross (1985) model. The closed-form solutions for the prices of Euro-deposit futures and futures-style options on Euro-deposit futures obtained in the CIR model are two major original contributions presented in this paper. Other original contributions involve the determination of the relation between futures rates and forward rates and the derivation of the equivalent portfolio for the hedging of futures-style options on Euro-deposit futures.     

Improving rural livelihoods through the conservation and use of underutilized species: evidence from a community research project in Yemen

The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of a set of interventions related to conservation and use of neglected and underutilized species (NUS) on people's livelihoods. Specifically, a simultaneous three-equation model of households' participation on underutilized crops conservation and income generation activities is applied to evaluate the outcome of a pilot research project implemented by Bioversity International in Yemen between 2002 and 2005. Results generated show a relation between project participation and the perceived yield increase demonstrating the importance for farmers to actively participate in the project's activities and subsequently apply agronomic practices learnt to improve their livelihood. The generated benefits incentivized farmers to continue to apply the interventions beyond the lifetime of the project ensuring thus a sustainable process in which exogenous interventions, once adopted by farmers become integrant part of farmer's agronomic practices.     

New development: Where there's a will,there's a way—acting beyond cutbacks

A sustainable solution to the recent financial crisis requires a sea-change in governments' thinking, rather than just cutting expenses. Governments need to re-examine the managerial and cultural factors that lie beyond the crisis: the way budgets are prepared, the (lack of) strategic management, the limited room left for innovation, and excessive reliance on public entities for the solution of social problems.     

Leader–member exchange,affective commitment,engagement, wellbeing,and intention to leave: public versus private sector Italian nurses

In the context of nurse shortages and budget constraints in hospitals, retaining skilled nurses is crucial. This paper investigates the impact of supervisor–nurse relationships on engagement, wellbeing, affective commitment and turnover intention for Italian private and public sector nurses. Private sector nurses in Italy were found to be more committed, engaged and had higher perceptions of wellbeing than public sector nurses. Based on these results, public managers need to do more to sustain the motivation of nurses in public sector hospitals.     

Pandemetrics: systematically assessing,monitoring, and controlling the evolution of a pandemic

Quality & Quantity - The still ongoing pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease, affecting the population worldwide, has demonstrated the need of more accurate methodologies for...     

Home gardens,household nutrition and income in rural farm households in Odisha,India

Home gardens have been an integral part of the recent food-based interventions aimed at stimulating changes in dietary patterns and improving nutrition. However, evidence of their effects on food security, dietary quality, child anthropometry and incomes is limited, particularly among vulnerable populations groups. Using panel data from a sample of approximately 1900 households from vulnerable population groups in Odisha, India, difference-in-differences and other econometric techniques, we analyse the effects of home gardens on food security, dietary quality, child anthropometry and income. On average, home gardens contribute to better household food security, higher dietary quality of men and women but do not contribute to higher children's dietary quality and anthropometry. Also, home gardens increase monthly per adult equivalent incomes by 37% and reduce the prevalence of poverty by 11.7 percentage points. Quantile regression results suggest that home gardens enhance food security and incomes in all quantiles, but richer farmers benefit more than poorer farmers. Overall, home gardens can enhance household food security, dietary quality of men and women, and income gains among vulnerable farming population groups, but they may not suffice to improve child dietary quality and anthropometry.