Regional airport choice: Consumer behaviour and policy implications

The analysis of origin airports in multi-airport regions has a well established tradition in transportation and regional economics. The main goal of the paper is to estimate the importance of the different attributes that determine origin airport choice. In our case we adopt a stated preference approach to study this problem and evaluate the effects of possible policy interventions. We also perform a detailed segmentation of the sample studied according to the socio-economic variables that prove statistically relevant when interacted with the attributes used to characterise airport choice. Moreover, in order to test for the presence of heterogeneity in agents’ preferences we estimate several mixed logit models with different specifications, including heteroscedasticity and error component. With respect to previous studies we develop and extend the traditional SP approach by also analysing the role and relevance of attribute cut-offs in this research field. The policy simulations produced are based on the estimation of airport-specific attributes. The study concentrates on a multi-airport region in central Italy where four competing airports are located.     

TAX‐LIMITED REACTION FUNCTIONS

This paper models for the first time a spatial process in local tax policies in the presence of centrally imposed fiscal limitations. Focusing on the frequently encountered case of a tax rate cap, we evaluate three empirical approaches to the analysis of spatially dependent limited tax policies: (i) a Bayesian spatial approach for censored dependent variables; (ii) a Tobit corner solution model augmented with a spatial lag; (iii) a spatial discrete hazard model. The evidence arising from an investigation of severely state‐constrained local vehicle taxes in Italy suggests that ignoring tax limitations can lead to substantial underestimation of inter‐jurisdictional fiscal interaction. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How diverse are national banking systems? An analysis on banking business models,profitability, and riskiness

In this paper, we apply an algorithm developed by Martin Weitzman to quantify the extent of diversity among the business models of financial intermediaries at an international level. In particular, we investigate the relationship between the diversity of the business models of EU national banking systems and their profitability and riskiness. We show how Weitzman's approach can be generally applied to the issue at hand; as a by-product, the analysis allows us to assess whether the diversity among banking systems was affected by the imported systemic financial crises of 2007/8 as well as its domestic sequel centered on the sovereign debt crisis that occurred in 2010–12. The motivation for this paper is twofold. First, we provide an operational measure of the diversity of business models among banking sectors. Second, we enrich the economic literature relating to banking business models by providing a macro-founded analysis. To this end, we highlight the range of diversity of national banking business models correlated with high performances in terms of profitability and riskiness.     

Effects of intra-brand competition between private labels and manufacturer brands: Empirical results from the Italian market

A proliferation of private labels in European food retailing has been evident for several years now. The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of competition between manufacturer brands and private labels on assortment and pricing practices by Italian grocery retailers. Previous studies emphasized both pro-competitive and anti-competitive effects of private label development. In this study, within an empirical analysis based on scanner data from Symphony IRI Group, all fast moving consumer goods product categories are investigated over a period of two years (from September 2008 to September 2010). The empirical results indicate that in Italy there is no clear and strong evidence of decreases in manufacturer brands' assortments, prices, and turnover caused by a proliferation of private labels. In particular, analyzing at the same time all categories and all retailers' data in the Italian Market there is not much evidence for the existence of a strategic trade-off between manufacturer's and retailer's brands.     

The influence of retailing-mix levers on private label market share: The case of the Italian FMCG market

An in-depth analysis of the impact of retailing-mix levers on private label market share in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods sector in Italy is made. The direction and intensity of the impact of assortment, price and sales promotion is measured for different product categories. OLS and GMM regressions run on an IRI Group dataset indicate a strong positive effect of product range, which can be considered as a proxy of on-shelf brand visibility. Increasing private label assortment share thus appears to constitute the key supply-side factor in augmenting sales share on the Italian grocery retailing market.     

Drivers of Autonomy of Public Agencies in Italy

The creation of agencies has been and still is a widespread trend in the public sector: governments in many countries often establish semi‐autonomous single‐purpose organizations to carry out a wide range of functions and tasks. The trend to autonomization is problematic as it affects public sector's governance: several bodies operate partly autonomously from the core elective government, and are sometimes loosely coupled with their ‘parent’ administration. Consequently, analysing the drivers of agencies’ autonomy is a crucial issue for public management. This paper, in the light of some major contributions in organizational science, assumes that agencies’ autonomy is influenced by factors that affect post‐delegation relationships: agencies’ structure, culture and nature of the tasks executed. The study was aimed at testing a range of hypotheses about the autonomy of public agencies, using for this purpose the so‐far not investigated case of Italy–much in the spirit of the accumulation of knowledge in an area of public management. Results do not provide any strikingly counter‐intuitive finding, but a mix of confirmations and disconfirmations of previous findings that allow a finer‐grained analysis on the determinants of agency autonomy.     

Representing the Politics of Borders: Unorthodox Maps in Reclus,Mackinder and Others

The relationship between cartography and power has aroused much interest in recent years, stimulated by innovative critical approaches. The empiricist and neo-positivist paradigms, no longer satisfactory, have been abandoned, while the analysis has been extended to include not only state-sponsored, but also popular cartography. Regardless of the character of the map or its source, it continues to be inserted in the context of the modern territorial state, as it is perceived as a key instrument for conveying the state’s narrative. Seen in this light, cartography inevitably comes out on the subordinate end of this relationship, since it fully conforms to the orthodox state-centred world view that has dominated modernity. Overturning this mechanically deconstructionist approach, this paper proposes, instead, to apply a concept introduced by John Brian Harley, the father of critical cartography – that of the map’s internal power. This concept, usually considered a given and rarely tested in empirical studies, is evaluated here through an analysis of the border sign in a series of unorthodox maps (in the work of Reclus, Mackinder, Renner, Spykman, Horrabin, Radó, Ratzel, Kjèllen, Haushofer) which have received little scientific attention to date.     

Mobile Internet: Moving Beyond E–business

First there was e–business, now comes mobile business. Industry insider Edoardo Narduzzi looks at the different opportunities and challenges posed by data on the move.     

Land Markets, Risk and Distress Sales in Nicaragua: The Impact of Income Shocks on Rural Differentiation

Farmers in the Nicaragua countryside face substantial risk due to legal uncertainty regarding property rights, price fluctuations and limited access to rural financial markets. Income shocks can lead to obligations to sell land, can fuel differentiation processes, and can drive people into poverty. We review empirical evidence on income shocks and related distress sales by households of different wealth endowments. From panel data of the 1995 and 2000 land market surveys, estimates are made to identify relevant farm household characteristics and the market forces that determine distress sales. Results show that small farms are most affected by idiosyncratic shocks and usually try to adopt a defensive strategy based on reduced consumption to retain their land resources. In the long run, this strategy occasionally succeeds in preserving land ownership and maintaining income at higher levels than those enjoyed by landless peasants. But the pressures towards distress sales can, nevertheless, be powerful, and different responses to income shocks by poor, middle and rich peasants are likely to increase rural differentiation.