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This paper explores the components of aggregate labour productivity inequality between Italian regions from 2000 to 2013. The Gini index of inequality in aggregate labour productivity is decomposed, showing the extent to which sector productivity differentials and differences in industry‐mix contribute to regional productivity inequality. In addition, the contribution of the interaction between differences in industry‐mix and sector productivity differentials is revealed by the decomposition. Each of these contributions to inequality is measured by considering the spatial dimension of regional inequality, since the contributions of inequality between non‐neighbouring regions and inequality between neighbouring regions are separated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates inequality in energy intensity between EU-28 member countries over the 2007-2012 period. Inequality in energy intensity is measured by using the Zenga inequality index. The analysis is carried out by measuring inequality from the bottom of the energy intensity distribution to the top. This approach enables to identify the most unequal portions of the energy intensity distribution. To provide information on the causes of inequality at every point of the distribution, we show that inequality can be broken down into three components explaining the roles played by energy transformation, final energy intensity and their interaction in determining inequality in energy intensity. This decomposition reveals the impact of each component of inequality from the bottom of energy intensity distribution to the top. Results show that final energy intensity plays a major role in explaining inequality in the energy intensity distribution. The interaction component explains that EU-28 countries with low energy intensity are more efficient in energy transformation and less energy-intensive in enduse sectors than EU-28 countries with high energy intensity. The energy transformation component is higher when measuring inequality between the countries at the bottom of the distribution and those in the rest of the distribution, suggesting that disparities in energy transformation efficiency play an important role in determining inequality in energy intensity between the least energy-intensive countries and the other countries. The high inequality at the top of the distribution is due to the lower efficiency in energy transformation in the most energy-intensive countries, which reinforces the effect of disparity in final energy intensity between the countries at the top of the distribution and the other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the changes in inequality and welfare between EU regions at the NUTS 3 level over the 2003-2011 period. Changes in absolute and relative inequalities are broken down into components explaining the effects of population change, re-ranking of regions and income growth between regional per capita incomes. Each component of inequality change is further decomposed by subgroup, revealing the contributions arising from changes within subgroups and from changes between subgroups. The decomposition of the change in absolute inequality is used to develop a decomposition of the change in welfare between EU regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Energy intensity convergence is examined by using inequality decomposition. • Energy intensity convergence in the European Union is explored over the 2003–2014 period. • Results show that convergence mainly occurs in the first years of the period considered. Disparities in energy intensity across the European Union member countries are large, especially after the enlargement that took place in 2004 when Central and Eastern European countries with high energy intensities accessed the European Union. All member countries have committed themselves to the target of reducing energy intensity, however the rate of change in energy intensity differs across countries. In this context, monitoring the convergence process among member countries is crucial to assess the progress in achieving the energy saving targets stated by the European Union. In this article, the convergence process in energy intensity is examined by using an approach based on inequality decomposition. The change in inequality is broken down into two components measuring β -convergence in energy intensity and the re-ranking of countries within the energy intensity distribution, respectively. Since the change in inequality measures the relative variation of energy intensity dispersion, the inequality change in itself is a measure of σ -convergence. Moreover, the inequality change and its components are further decomposed to detect the spatial components of convergence and re-ranking. The convergence in energy intensity in the European Union from 2003 to 2014 is investigated. Results show that convergence mainly occurs in the first years of the period considered, whereas there is a slowdown of the convergence process in the following years. In this second phase, spatial effects on convergence and re-ranking are more evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the roles of job requirements in Italian labour demand for the information technology sector are examined. For this purpose, a new data set collecting information on new hires in the sector is created by combining data from administrative and statistical sources. A conjoint analysis is used to estimate the partial utilities of job requirements in the labour matching. Moreover, using this approach a measure of importance for each job requirement is obtained. After estimating total utilities for alternative professional profiles, we check whether total utility and some features of the job vacancy affect the type of employment contract and occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]