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This paper presents new perspectives and methodological instruments for verifying the validity of Benford’s law for a large given dataset. To this aim, we first propose new general tests for checking the statistical conformity of a given dataset with a generic target distribution, we also provide the explicit representation of the asymptotic distributions of the relevant test statistics. Then, we discuss the applicability of such novel devices to the case of Benford’s law. We implement extensive Monte Carlo simulations to investigate the size and the power of the introduced tests. Finally, we discuss the challenging theme of interpreting, in a statistically reliable way, the conformity between two distributions in the presence of a large number of observations.

This paper explores the relation between vertical disintegration and the co-localization of knowledge intensive business service (Kibs) firms in the metropolitan region of Milan, using micro-geographic data and nonparametric methods. Our main results are that: (i) compared to other manufacturing and service industries, Kibs firms show a “natural tendency” to cluster; (ii) this tendency increases with the degree of vertical disintegration of Kibs firms.

This paper investigates the order of integration of inflation and interest rates in a panel of 19 countries. The results show that once multiple endogenous breaks are allowed for and appropriate critical values are used, the series appear to be I (0).

In this paper we estimate the Italian NAIRU using annual data for the period 1951-96. We find evidence consistent with aggregate wage setting in Italy depending only on the rate of unemployment prevailing in the Northern and Central areas of the country. There is evidence supporting the presence of a long-run cointegrating relationship among unemployment in the Northern and Central areas, the tax wedge, the real interest rate and a measure of union power. The response of unemployment to exogenous shocks is sluggish, suggesting that persistence is an important feature of the Italian labor market. Copyright 2000 by Oxford University Press.

A theoretical two-stage bargaining model for wage drift and minimum contractual wage is discussed and its implication in terms of Granger-causality between the two variables is tested by using Italian aggregate time series. Empirical evidence suggests rejecting the independence of the two series. This result has, in turn, implications for policy analysis. Our findings seem to indicate the appropriateness of a policy oriented towards decentralized wage setting.

The Italian labour market is characterized by large and persistent regional unemployment differentials. This study uses recent panel unit root and cointegration tests to derive the long-run properties of the Italian regional unemployment disparities. The empirical evidence suggests that the stochastic convergence hypothesis can be rejected. However, the existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship among regional unemployment rates cannot be excluded. Some possible implications of this finding are sketched.

Individual wage expectations of Italian unemployed are studied. The analysis is carried out separately for the North‐Central and southern Italian regions using semiparametric additive models. Results show a marked difference in expectations formation across regions. We argue that as far as the labour market information in the South is less diffuse and more ambiguous than in the North, the divergence between the econometric model based on a utility‐maximisation mainstream theory and the actual wage expectation mechanism may be large. A tentative explanation based on psychological and social factors is offered.

This paper studies some features of unemployment in Italy using cross section individual micro data. Since unemployment is particularly harsh with respect to youths, interest is focused on 15-29-year-old youngsters. The analysis is carried out using standard logit models and the results show that personal and family characteristics play an essential role in shaping youth activity and unemployment rates of short and long duration, together with product market conditions and labour market features. In particular, the income effect seems relevant for participation decisions, while the family wealth helps in reducing youth unemployment. Various policy instruments might be able to reduce youth unemployment, especially if these instruments are targeted through means-testing on family income and wealth and through a proper distinction between the first job seekers and the strictly unemployed.

Regional unemployment differentials among Italian regions have widened since the mid 1980s, especially between the leading Northern and Central areas and the less developed South. We suggest that the following elements are important to explain the observed phenomenon: (a) employment performance in the South has worsened considerably in the presence of sustained labor force growth; (b) labor mobility from the South to the North–Central areas has sensibly declined with the reduction in earnings differentials and with the increase in social transfers per head; (c) real wages in the South are not affected by local unemployment conditions but depend on the unemployment rate prevailing in the leading areas; (d) the labor share increased particularly fast in the South during the 1970s, mainly as a consequence of the elimination of institutions that allowed the presence of significant wage differentials; (e) a parsimonious description of the increase in regional unemployment differentials is that the Northern and the Southern areas responded in an asymmetric way both to the increase in real social transfers per head and to the reduction in the real price of energy.

By focusing on the Italian experience, we ask whether the relationship between labour taxes and unemployment varies across regions. In spite of similar national labour market institutions, we show that this relationship is significantly stronger in the highly industrialised North than in the underdeveloped South, where unemployment is much higher. An important source of variation in the regional responsiveness of unemployment originates from the fact that regional gross wages in the North increase more than in the South in response to a hike in labour taxes. Regional wage setting affects regional employment (and unemployment) both directly and indirectly, via its impact on regional profits and the capital stock.

Regional unemployment differentials among Italian regions have widened since the mid 1980s, especially between the leading Northern and Central areas and the underdeveloped South. We suggest that the following elements are important to explain the observed phenomenon: a) employment performance in the South has worsened considerably in the presence of sustained labour force growth; b) labour mobility from the South to the NC areas has sensibly declined with the reduction in earnings differentials and with the increase in social transfers per head; c) real wages in the South are not affected by local unemployment conditions but depend on the unemployment rate prevailing in the leading areas; d) the labour share increase particularly fast in the South during the 1970s, mainly as a consequence of the elimination of institutions that allowed the presence of significant wage differentials; e) a parsimonious description of the increase in regional unemployment differentials is that the Northern and Southern areas responded in an asymmetric way both to the increase in real social transfers per head and to the reduction in the real price of energy.