The Codes of Ethics of S&P/MIB Italian Companies: An Investigation of Their Contents and the Main Factors that Influence Their Adoption

This article introduces and discusses the initial results of a survey focused on the contents, role and effectiveness of company codes of ethics. The article examines the contents of the codes of ethics of companies operating in the private sector in Italy, quoted on the Italian Stock Exchange (Standard&Poor/Mib-Milano Indice Borsa). The purpose of this investigation was to identify any correlations between sector characteristics and the contents of the codes of ethics, which would enable us to map out the main principles followed in writing the companies’ codes of ethics. The analysis was conducted in order to ascertain whether there were common factors deriving from the shared ethical questions faced by the companies operating in the same sector of activity. As the first step, the 40 companies were subdivided into three main economic categories – Industrial, Financial and Service. Then the contents of each code of ethics were evaluated and classified in accordance with different criteria. The main categories of classification were based on – general principles, social values, rules of conduct, relationships with third parties, implementation and sanctions. The next objective was to investigate whether these characteristics were due to the regulation of the sector of reference, the existence of sector benchmarks for best practice, or simply companies’ voluntary stance on ethical issues. The main conclusions were that the codes of ethics of the Italian companies that we analysed do not seem to show relevant differences traceable to sector of activity, and their adoption is affected by several reasons other than intentionally ethical considerations.     

Place of origin and internal migration decisions in Mexico

This paper investigates internal migration decisions in Mexico. It analyses, first, the associations between migration decisions and pre-migration individual characteristics, testing the hypothesis of positive selection; second, whether and how the characteristics of the place of origin affect migration decisions; and third, whether the relationship between place characteristics and migration decisions varies depending on individual traits. Results indicate positive selection of emigrants in terms of both quantity and quality of human capital; and an important role of origin characteristics, consistent with migration transition theory.     

Using a distance measure to operationalise patent originality

We introduce a distance measure to operationalise Trajtenberg, Henderson, and Jaffe’s [1997. “University Versus Corporate Patents: A Window on the Basicness of Invention.” Economics of Innovation and New Technology 5: 19–50] originality construct (an ex-ante indicator of firms’ technological capabilities). Our measure captures (1) technological diversity, (2) technology distance from patent antecedents, and (3) degree of novelty per each patented innovation. The V-score measure uses the Derwent World Patent Index system to classify technologies hierarchically – making similarities and differences pronounced. Power is gained by using all of the technology-classification codes describing a focal patent’s claims when calculating whether its technology space was incrementally different or radical from those of its antecedent patents (and identifying whether its technology-class code combinations were commonplace at the time when the patent application was made). Our V-score’s prediction of firms’ performance is contrasted with Hall, Jaffe, and Trajtenberg’s [2001. Hall, B. H., A. B. Jaffe, and M. Trajtenberg. 2001. The NBER Patent Citations Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools. NBER Working Paper No. 8498] Herfindahl measure of the same originality construct. Results indicate that the distance measure of technological content produces differently signed results when evaluating patents’ performance effects or predicting a firm’s trajectory.     

On Monetary Analysis of Derivatives

Financial derivatives are products whose price is linked with that of an underlying asset. The relationship between these two prices has been studied in depth, and the following conclusions have been reached: (1) the volatility of underlying asset's price decreases after the introduction of derivatives, (2) the price discovery effect improves, (3) the liquidity of the underlying asset's market increases, (4) the bid-ask spread decreases together, and (5) the noise component of prices decreases. Those results are microeconomic and are not coherent with a macroeconomic analysis of derivatives. Derivatives tend to change the effectiveness of monetary policy actions by modifying the instruments that can be used. Derivatives have a monetary nature that has not been yet recognized by central banks and international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and the Bank for International Settlements. This monetary nature can be evident by testing the relationship between derivatives and the interest rate. The consciousness of the monetary nature of derivatives would impose the quantification of transactions at least by the institutions that hold them, such as banks and other financial operators, and consequently by national authorities.     

Capital requirements and business cycle regimes: Forward-looking modelling of default probabilities

This paper proposes a forward-looking model for time-varying capital requirements, which finds application within Basel II. The model rests on the relationship between default rates and the business cycle: by positing two regimes, expansion and recession, and by forecasting the associated probabilities, the default probability for each rating class is defined as the expected value of a default rate whose distribution is a mixture of an expansion and a recession distribution. The application to US data over the forecasting period 1971–2002 provides evidence that the model makes it possible to preserve the risk sensitivity of the capital requirement and at the same time to dampen procyclicality.     

The Gender Impact of Social Protection Policies: A Critical Review of the Evidence

Abstract

Over the course of the neoliberal era, social protection policies have been transformed dramatically; these changes have had profound gender implications. Since the early 1980s, welfare state regimes around the world have shifted away from ‘universalism' towards ‘targeting'. More recently, there has been a further shift—especially in industrialized countries—away from the male-breadwinner to the adult worker model. Despite the progressivity implied by this latter shift, important issues of gender inequality remain unresolved (even in Nordic countries where levels of gender equity are higher than elsewhere). This paper presents a critical review of social protection policies, examined from a gender perspective. The analysis presents a conceptual framework on gender and the welfare state, and examines the experience of major industrialized and developing countries in engendering social policy. In particular, this paper provides a careful examination of care-related programs, since this domain is particularly important to understanding the gendered effects of social protection policies. Finally, the gendered implications of the global crisis and subsequent policy measures are examined.     

IMP studies: A bridge between tradition and innovation

“Combining the Social and Technological Aspects of Innovation: Relationships and Networks” was the title of the 28th IMP Conference held in Rome, at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in 2012.     

The expectations hypothesis of the term structure of interest rates and monetary policy: some evidence from Asian countries

This article outlines a panel data approach to modelling the term structure of interest rates in the short and in the long run. We find robust evidence supporting the expectations hypothesis of the term structure (EHTS) for a small sample of Asian emerging markets. Furthermore, we detect some relevant differences in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, and the existence of a McCallum (2005) rule (no exogeneity of monetary policy to the yield curve) in some countries. Finally, we document the influence of an international global factor (i.e. a time-varying global risk premium) on the yield curve, while local country-specific factors are not statistically significant.     

Liberalization Only at the Margins? Analysing the Growth of Temporary Work in German Core Manufacturing Sectors

Drawing on workers’ surveys and workplace interviews, this article investigates the growth of temporary work in German manufacturing sectors since the 1980s. Findings partly confirm a ‘dualization’ scenario as workers without industry‐specific vocational training are more likely to be on a temporary contract than skilled workers, and the gap has widened over time. However, also skilled workers have become increasingly vulnerable to casualization due to job routine and the erosion of industrial relations. Evidence confirms the crucial role of institutions in supporting the linkage between specific skills and employment stability, and suggests that the liberalization of the employment relationship has the potential to advance also in the core of the German economy.