A firm level perspective on migration: the role of extra-EU workers in Italian manufacturing

A production-theory approach to migration is adopted in this paper to address the role of migrant workers from extra-EU countries in Italian manufacturing firms. The adoption of flexible functional forms to model firm-level technology lets us directly derive different measures of elasticity from the coefficients of the estimated production and cost functions. The use of foreign labour is shown to affect the industry composition in favour of low skill intensive sectors and the estimated cross demand elasticities confirm the complementarity between migrant and native workers found in previous studies. However, the two labour inputs prove to be substitutes in terms of the Morishima elasticity of substitution: in general, firms tend to increase the foreign labour intensity of production in response to a decline in migrants’ wage, while the migrant to domestic labour ratio responds to changes in the domestic workers’ wage only for firms in low skill intensive sectors.     

China’s Outward FDI: An Industry-Level Analysis of Host-Country Determinants

We use disaggregated data by country and industry to empirically analyze the host country determinants of Chinese outward foreign direct investment (FDI) for the years 2003 to 2011. Our results suggest that the host-country determinants of Chinese FDI differ between high- and low-income countries. While all Chinese FDI is invariably market seeking, other motivations stand out for differing sectors in specific country groups. The resource seeking motivation is relevant for manufacturing FDI to high-income countries with relatively high fuel abundance, and to low-income countries with primary resource abundance (other than fuels). Differently, the strategic-asset seeking motivation, measured by the level of R&D spending on GDP, only positively and significantly affects Chinese manufacturing and service FDI to OECD countries, while higher education levels are an attraction factor for all investing firms. Natural resource is an important attraction factor for Chinese FDI, not only in resource-related sectors, but also in manufacturing and service sectors. Finally, Chinese FDI tends to follow exports (rather than foster them), especially in service sectors.     

How to cope with dissonant heritage: a way towards sustainable tourism development

The UNESCO World Summit at Johannesburg in 2002, can be considered a watershed moment for promoting cultural diversity and defining cultural sustainability. Involving community residents is often regarded as best practice when fostering sustainability, though dissonant heritage problems may arise. We connect the issue of dissonance with contrasting interpretations of the past, specifically in the context of promoting heritage places linked to ideologies that are contrary to the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We focus on buildings constructed during the interwar years in Predappio and Forlì, which are closely tied to Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and now represent an “ambivalent and largely unwanted past”. Using a LISREL (Linear Structural Relations) model to analyse residents’ attitude towards tourism around these dissonant heritage sites, we show that without a proper cultural policy as the creation of the European cultural route named ATRIUM (Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes of the 20th Century in Europe's Urban Memory Route), residents view tourism unfavourably, rendering it unsustainable.     

The how and why of integrated reporting in a public health care organization: The stakeholders' perspective

Despite the widespread calls for in‐depth case studies on adoption of the International Integrated Reporting Council Framework, in practice, it appears to be underexplored, above all in the public sector. Our aim is to explore how and why a public health care organization (PHO) has chosen to adopt the practice of integrated reporting, and we then delve into whether the PHO's perception of the document's value coincides with that of the stakeholders, who are its recipients. Often, society's perception of value can differ considerably from an organization's. Thus, for our research purposes, a case study was examined, adopting a qualitative approach and action research methodology. Our findings demonstrate the centrality of the value created for patients and of the “normative” scenario that takes place during the implementation of an integrated report in a PHO. Moreover, the concept of legitimacy was found to be virtually synonymous with institutionalization.     

On the Role of Imports in Enhancing Manufacturing Exports

Making use of a large panel data set on Italian manufacturing firms, we provide evidence on the effect of imports on the firm's export performance. We distinguish imports of intermediates according to their origin, and we find that inputs sourced from low labour cost countries promote the firm's export activity. Imports from high‐income countries do not significantly contribute to the export orientation of firms, especially when both persistence in export and the possible endogeneity of the import measures are accounted for via system generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation of a linear probability model. Our evidence suggests that the impact of imports on the firms’ export activity works through the cost‐saving channel rather than the technology channel.     

The demand for skills and labour costs in partner countries

We analyse the consequences of trade integration in Europe (1995–2005) detecting how the labour costs in partner countries affect the domestic demand for high‐ and low‐skilled labour in ‘Old’ (EU‐15) and five ‘New’ EU member states. In general, independently of the skill level of workers, the results suggest complementarity between domestic and foreign labour. However, when we take into account the typology of sectors, the demand for the high skilled in low skill intensive sectors in ‘New’ EU members is boosted by the increase of the average labour cost in ‘Old’ EU members. Thus in low skill intensive sectors, the high skilled in ‘New’ member countries can substitute for employment in EU‐15 countries.     

Effects of Islamic religiosity on bilateral trust in trade: The case of Turkish exports

Using a rich firm level data set for Turkish manufacturing, we test whether sharing similar religious beliefs with potential contracting parties drives a firm’s first time entry into export markets. We exploit variation in the practice of Islam across Turkish NUTS3 regions and we find that firms located in regions characterised by stronger religiousness are more likely to enter export destinations with a higher share of Muslims among their population. This result is robust to the control for past trade, common language, cultural and migration ties as well as for selective trade policy in favour of politically connected religious business groups. In particular, religious proximity eases export entry for producers of “trust intensive” goods, it favours subsequent foreign market entries and reduces the export exit probability. All in all, our evidence supports an export enhancing effect of religious proximity working through export sunk costs reduction rather than through similarity in preferences.     

Cost and economic burden of adverse events associated with metastatic melanoma treatments in five countries

Objective: To estimate per-event cost and economic burden associated with managing the most common and/or severe metastatic melanoma (MM) treatment-related adverse events (AEs) in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK.

Methods: AEs associated with chemotherapy (dacarbazine, paclitaxel, fotemustine), immunotherapy (ipilimumab), and targeted therapy (vemurafenib) were identified by literature review. Medical resource use data associated with managing AEs were collected through two blinded Delphi panel cycles in each of the five countries. Published costs were used to estimate per-event costs and combined with AEs incidence, treatment usage, and MM prevalence to estimate the economic burden for each country.

Results: The costliest AEs were grade 3/4 events due to immunotherapy (Australia/France: colitis; UK: diarrhea) and chemotherapy (Germany/Italy: neutropenia/leukopenia). Treatment of AEs specific to chemotherapy (Australia/Germany/Italy/France: neutropenia/leukopenia) and targeted therapy (UK: squamous cell carcinoma) contributed heavily to country-specific economic burden.

Limitations: Economic burden was estimated assuming that each patient experienced an AE only once. In addition, the context of settings was heterogeneous and the number of Delphi panel experts was limited.

Conclusions: Management costs for MM treatment-associated AEs can be substantial. Results could be incorporated in economic models that support reimbursement dossiers. With the availability of newer treatments, establishment of a baseline measure of the economic burden of AEs will be crucial for assessing their impact on patients and regional healthcare systems.     

The effect of minimum wages on employment in emerging economies: a survey and meta-analysis

Using both qualitative and quantitative (meta-analysis) methods, this paper reviews the growing evidence on the impact of minimum wages on employment in 14 major emerging economies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey). Overall, minimum wages are found to have only a minimal impact on employment, and there is evidence of reporting bias towards statistically significant negative results. More vulnerable groups (e.g. youth and the low-skilled) are marginally more negatively affected, and there is some indication that higher minimum wages lead to more informal employment.     

Modelling dynamic lapse with survival analysis and machine learning in CPI

Decisions in Economics and Finance - In this paper, we will focus our attention on describing and predicting policyholder behaviour dynamically within the specific context of credit protection...