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This study adopts a spatial dynamic panel data model with common factors and a connectivity matrix based on cross-province population flows to help explain the spread of COVID-19 infections across Italian provinces during the period 2020–21. We find that an increase in the infections in a province has a positive and statistically significant effect on neighbours' infections, which highlights the relevance of spatial spillover effects. This finding is robust to several robustness checks. Furthermore, we investigate cross-provincial transmission heterogeneity using a heterogeneous spatial dynamic panel, which provides novel insights into the diffusion patterns of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Cost of Italian Municipal Waste Management grew constantly between 2011 and 2019. • Panel data analysis at provincial level, focus on 2015–2018. • Separation without Waste Hierarchy increases total waste management costs. This work investigates the role of waste treatment methods and separation policies in explaining the Total Waste Management Costs (TWMC) at NUTS 3 level, Italy, between 2015 and 2018. In this context, northern provinces generally have high efficiency and circularity, while central and southern provinces lag behind. It is unclear how much of the difference is motivated by socioeconomic factors and how much by political entrenchment in low circularity policies. Panel data models have been estimated using provincial and regional fixed effects targeting TWMC as the dependent variable. Two main independent variables are considered as drivers. One is a composite policy indicator that gives higher weight to circular methods and waste-to-energy treatments. Lower weights have been given to increase landfill, generic incineration, and biological and mixed treatments. The second independent variable is the ratio between separated waste and total municipal waste flow. The estimations' results indicate that the composite indicator of circular policies reduces TWMC while separation policies increase them. Furthermore, it is estimated that provinces need to improve their composite performance significantly to offset the cost increases derived by separation policies. Thus, perseverance in pursuing an incomplete circular policy might be a driver of TWMC at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study over Municipal Solid Waste-Income, dataset 103×18, Italian provinces. • Panel threshold, rolling Chow test for structural breaks. • The rolling chow test signs structural breaks in 2008, 2011 and 2013. • 71 provinces have decoupled economic activity from waste production in 2018. Municipal solid waste prevention represents a topical point in circular economy policies within the European Union. It is therefore paramount to assess its state of decoupling from economic activity. There is weak evidence from empirical research that Italy managed to achieve this structural change locally. Decoupling is not arising homogenously in the waste generation-income relationship in Italy over the last two decades. The heterogeneity in economic performances and waste policies could be an explanation. However, it is possible to find common patterns between decoupler against non-decoupler provinces. This paper involves panel data of 103 provinces during eighteen years (2001–2018) of Italian Provinces (NUTS3) to assess the drivers of structural changes in the income-waste relation. The innovation consists of the use of a threshold model to assess the minimal requirements of socio-economic performances to decouple economic activity to non-separated waste. The threshold point differs from the tipping point as it is always observable in the panel. Previous studies mostly estimated the latter involving panel data analysis. This often resulted in fallacious interpretation, especially due to spurious regressions. The observability is a relevant criterion, as several provinces have achieved the decoupling state. Results indicate that economic activity and tourist are relevant threshold variables in waste prevention. Both are sources of local financing; thus, it is probable that circular practices are dependent on the volume of potential expenditure rather than structural characteristics such as population density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We find evidence that air pollution influences internal migration acting as a push factor to move to less polluted provinces. • Our results highlight that education, unemployment, demographic and geographic factors are also relevant matters. • Central and Northern regions appear to attract people more than the Southern regions, other factors being equal. • Policymakers may find these insights useful for the creation of policies designed to cope with environmental degradation. • The development of more uniform territorial strategies of quality-of-life standards are likely desirable in Italy. This research analyzes the role that air pollution plays, controlling for other socio-economic factors, in the movement of the population among Italian provinces. In spite of the increased prominence of environmental degradation in the public policy debate, empirical evidence on the effects of air quality on the attraction or retention of people is still limited in Italy. This study aims at partly filling this gap. Specific attention is paid to the environmental risks presented in provinces contaminated by air pollution. We investigate whether population moves away from provinces with higher levels of air pollution emissions toward those characterized by lower levels, net of the other contextual factors associated with migration streams. While many factors can come into play on mobility decisions, it is suggested that the increased concerns with environmental risks may be influential in shaping internal migration choices. We discuss the implications of our findings for future policy options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional analysis of tourism demand has been mainly based on the consideration of economic variables aiming at explaining the evolution of either tourists' expenditure or overnight stays or arrivals. This study is based on a collection of both economic variables and non-economic factors surveyed since 1998-2013 for 99 Italian NUTS3 (Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics) regions (provinces). It is the first study in which such a wide array of non-economic and economic variables has been investigated for a panel data at this geographical level by using a simultaneous equations model. The analysis shows that all considered variables are significant for the evolution of tourism demand and that climate, tourism supply and entrepreneurial capabilities have the largest impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the huge amount of studies and researches focused on the dogana della mena delle pecore di Foggia, the custom house that managed the transhumance from Abruzzi to Apulia between the fifteenth and the nineteenth century, few scholars have accurately turned their attention to the varied typology of written records released by kings, viceroys and officials in Naples and Foggia in order to administrate and reform one of the most important and profitable institutions of the kingdom. This paper closely considers the surviving documentation from the Magnanimous reorganization of the dogana (forties of the fifteenth century) to the reintegra (cadastral inquiry) carried on roughly one hundred years later (1548- 1555), throwing new light on the intricate process of drafting and archiving records in Foggia and Naples and, in general, on the functioning of the dogana during its first century of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the territorial disparities between Italian provinces through an alternative measure (well-being composite index) as opposed to traditional ones (value added), in order to assess the possible industrial district (ID) effect on growth performance. The analysis shows that the ID effect is absent when considering (per capita) value added growth, which confirms recent empirical evidence, while it is significant when considering well-being. Furthermore, 'highly ID provinces' show a relatively better performance in terms of population growth rates, which, combined with their better socio-economic conditions, sheds new light on the explanation of the persistence of Italian disparities and gives interesting insights for the design of sounder local policy measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on suicide and homicide rates has neglected an integrated model seeking to explain social variation in the direction of lethal violence. The present investigation explores the association between measures of social deprivation on the relative incidence of suicide over homicide in Italian provinces. Data refer to official government sources on lethal violence rates and measures of social deprivation. The central dependent variable (SHR) is the tendency towards suicide measured as the suicide rate divided by the sum of the suicide and homicide rates. Data were available for 102 Italian provinces in the Census year 2001. The percentage of the population marked by two indicators of deprivation (low education, household population density) were negatively associated with the SHR. The results are largely consistent with a stream of previous research that connects deprivation with a relatively high probability for disadvantaged populations to direct aggression outwardly in the form of homicide rather than inwardly in the form of suicide. The present study specifies which elements of deprivation best predict the direction of violence and is the first study for the Italian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New entrepreneurial ventures may represent a viable and effective mechanism to transform academic knowledge into regional economic growth. We test this notion for the Italian provinces between 2001 and 2006. We evaluate three outputs of academic activities: teaching, research and intellectual property rights activities. New ventures may be able to transform the mentioned outputs into improved economic performance. The findings show that the effects of academic outputs on provincial economic growth (all sectors) are appreciable when they are associated with sustained entrepreneurial activities in the province. It suggests that academic inquiry may provide new ventures with valuable commercial opportunities overseen by established companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study we go back to examine the economic and sociological changes throughout the local contexts and divisions of our country. The instrument used is a research strategy that combines a two-phase principal component analysis developed by Di Franco and Marradi with multiple linear regression. From data inherent to four key moments in the recent history of Southern Italy and the whole country - 1951, 1971, 1991 and 2007 - we obtain four «photographs» of dimensions that clarify the structure of the selected variables. We then propose two models of path analysis that underline the causal links between the factors emerged from the PCA, in order to reconstruct the socio-economic changes in the Italian provinces from 1951 to 2007. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is considerable variation in the firm exit rate across the 103 provinces in Italy. This paper investigates a range of determinants of the exit rate for twelve different sectors in the Italian provinces for a period of eleven years. The analysis shows that the exit rate is positively affected by entry in the previous year (displacement) in the same sector. Previous exit has a different effect for the manufacturing industry as compared to the business services. More specifically, exit persists in manufacturing while in the business services it is rather exit in related sectors in the same province that leads to increased exit, probably due to the loss of clients or suppliers. The presence of industrial districts diminishes exit, especially in two manufacturing sectors (Food and Clothing), Commerce and Transport. Provinces with strong trademark activity appear to have lower exit rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of crime on foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows in the Italian provinces. The incidence of organized crime is measured by the number of complaints regarding criminal offences of different kinds traditionally related to the mafia organizations. The results show how the correlation between organized crime and FDI is both negative and significant, even when an indicator of financial incentives for investment is included in the regressions. Our analysis shows that crime represents a deterrent for foreign investors, suggesting that high levels of (certain) crimes may be perceived as a signal of a local socio-institutional environment unfavourable for FDI. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article analyzes to what extent gender culture affects gender gap in employment. Drawing on Italian data, we measure culture by building two indices: one based on individuals’ attitudes, as done in the existing literature; one based on firms’ attitudes. Firms’ beliefs, which express their set of ideas, values and norms, though generally neglected, are as important as individuals’ attitudes to explain female labor market outcomes. Using an instrumental variable analysis, we show that our index of gender culture based on firms’ attitudes is significant in explaining gender gap in employment in Italian provinces. We show that the same holds when culture is measured with reference to individual attitudes. (JEL code: J16) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the Mafia Index (MI), an index measuring the presence of mafias at the provincial level. In the abundant literature on Italian mafias, relatively few studies have attempted to measure the presence of mafias across the country. A review of previous attempts points out the limitations and methodological shortcomings of existing measurements. The study provides an operational definition of 'mafia' and selects the most appropriate indicators and variables according to multiple criteria. The MI combines data on mafia-type associations, mafia murders, city councils dissolved for infiltration by organised crime, and assets confiscated from organised crime and covers the period between 1983 and 2009. The MI highlights not only the strong concentration of the mafias in their original territories but also their significant presence in the central and northern provinces. This confirms that mafias should not be regarded as typically Southern Italian phenomena, but rather as a national problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper applies a relational perspective to patent data in order to investigate the characteristics of innovation flows within and across 103 Italian NUTS3 regions (province). In this way it is possible to use the CRENoS database on regional patenting-built on EPO data spanning from 1978 to 2003-to investigate the scientific and technological 'relations' among 'invention-creating ' and 'invention-adopting ' territories. In particular, patents are used as relational data connecting inventors and applicants along a dual interpretation of a 'knowledge production' and a 'knowledge utilization' function. In addition a gravity model is used to identify frictions and attractions of the Italian innovation system. Analytical tools, such as social network analysis, spatial econometrics and negative binomial estimation procedures, are used to map and measure the structure and the evolution of a series of innovation sub-systems, both at territorial level (i.e. province) and at the industry level (i.e. five specific industries, chosen according to the Pavitt's taxonomy, Footwear, Textiles, Machinery, Personal Computers and Chemicals). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present publication reports the findings of a research carried out on the issues of early childhood professionalism in some Italian province. The study, that is predominantly qualitative, aims to investigate the relation between care practices and professional development within institutions. In particular this paper's purpose is detecting those who take care of the teaching profession in relation with the most significant actions and initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present publication report the findings of a research carried out on the issues of early childhood professionalism in some Italian province. The study, that is predominantly qualitative, aims to investigate the relation between care practices and professional development within institutions. Specifically this article discusses the research findings emerging from a critical reflection on the categories identified through the data analysis. Within this discussion early childhood professionalism is conceptualized as a process which is sustained by 'formation', collegiality and reflective practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present publication reports the findings of a research carried out on the issues of early childhood professionalism in some Italian province. The study, that is predominantly qualitative, aims to investigate the relation between care practices and professional development within institutions. This study focuses on teachers' perceptions on their professionalism conceived as situated construction and of their professional Self. It considers the arrival of a teacher in a new working context as a crucial moment for professional growth and conceptualizes welcoming practices as in-service training opportunities in the framework of collaborative research sustaining reflection at team level . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present publication report the findings of a research carried out on issues of early childhood professionalism in some Italian province. The study, that is pre- dominantly qualitative, aims to investigate the relation between care practices and professional development within institutions. The research methodology used by all three contributions is all of a qualitative nature and is inspired by a problemati- cist/phenomenological approach. The following procedures were used to gather data: focus groups, questionnaires with open-ended questions and observations of conversational contexts. The first and second strategy, one immediately following on from the other, represented two phases of the research. This was followed by a third stage involving the socialisation of the collected data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of infrastructure as a factor of growth and development of countries and regions is often considered to be crucial. Among the various types of transport infrastructure, airports are considered as particularly strategic because of the increasing importance of air transport in connecting territories. This paper studies the impact of airports on Italian provinces. To this end, it builds on the framework proposed by Brueckner, where sectoral employment is regressed on a series of controls and on airline traffic. That framework is extended to take account of selection bias due to the location choices of airports and spatial spillover effects. It is found that the elasticity of service sector employment to airport passengers is 0.045 and that of spillover effects due to neighbouring airports is almost 0.017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Obtaining quantitative information about the recovery of fire-affected ecosystems is of utmost importance from the management and decision-making point of view. Nowadays the concern about natural environment protection and recovery is much greater than in the past. However, the resources and tools available for its management are still not sufficient. Thus, attention and precision is needed when decisions must be taken. Quantitative estimates on how the vegetation is recovering after a fire can be of help for evaluating the necessity of human intervention on the fire-affected ecosystem, and their importance will grow as the problem of forest fires, climate change and desertification increases. This article performs a comparison of methods to extract quantitative estimates of vegetation cover regrowth with Landsat TM and ETM+ data in an area that burned during the summer of 1998 in the Liguria region (Italy). In order to eliminate possible sources of error, a thorough pre-processing was carried out, including a careful geometric correction (reaching RMSE lower than 0.3pixels), a topographic correction by means of a constrained Minnaert model and a combination of absolute and relative atmospheric correction methods. Pseudo Invariant Features (PIF) were identified by implementing an automated selection method based in temporal Principal Component Analysis (PCA), which has been called multi-Temporal n-Dimensional Principal Component Analysis (mT-nD-PCA). Spectral Mixture Analysis (SMA) was compared against quantitative vegetation indices which are based on well known traditional vegetation indices like Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI). Accuracy assessment was performed by regressing vegetation cover results obtained with each method against field data gathered during the fieldwork campaign carried out in the study area. Results obtained showed how vegetation cover fractions extracted from the NDVI based quantitative index were the most accurate, being superior to the rest of the techniques applied, including SMA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Waste disposal is an issue that is becoming increasingly important in policy terms in the European Union, and in Italy, a country showing strong geographical heterogeneity in waste management. This paper analyses the process of decoupling/delinking between economic growth and landfilling trends in a framework where economic, policy, geographical elements and spatial issues are all considered as drivers behind the phenomenon. We exploit an original and very rich provincial panel dataset over 1999–2005 for the 103 Italian provinces. Evidence shows that the observed ‘absolute’ decoupling between economic growth and landfilling is driven by a mix of structural factors. Among the main factors, population density, more than the provincial income level, emerges as a crucial driver: local opportunity costs and landfill externalities matter in shaping waste policies and local commitment to a transition away from landfilling of waste (landfill diversion). However, not only structural factors are relevant. If on the one hand landfill taxes are not a significant driver of the phenomenon, waste management tools, such as separated collection for recycling, and the tariff system connected to waste services, bring about significant effect on the amount of landfilled waste. Moreover, regarding the analysis of spatial interrelations across provinces, we note that the presence of incinerators in nearby provinces increases landfill diversion, due probably to free riding behaviour or intra-provinces ‘agreements’ on waste management; this is not true for nearby landfill sites, that cause for a given province a strong lock in effect. Future research could strengthen the analysis of policy effectiveness at regional level, focusing on policy endogeneity, and the full investigation of spatial correlations in waste disposal performances. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article presents a study that explores the impact of several factors, including policy initiatives, on new businesses in manufacturing, retailing and wholesaling, hotels and restaurants in Italy. The results show that regions with industrial districts are with higher rates in manufacturing industry while firm entry seems to be higher in large cities with strong economic progress. Moreover, it highlights the significance of tourism for new formation for hotels and restaurants.

The article discusses the situation of the Italian community of Sondrio during World War II under the Fascist regime and the region's subsequent role after the armistice of September 1943 by which the Fascists capitulated to the Allies. Fascist agricultural policies hampered the mountainous province, which was unsuited for cereal production and subsequently turned to avoiding agrarian quotas and to building stockpiles. Following the armistice, the local resistance is described as involving draft-dodging, in giving aid to fugitive soldiers, Jews, captives, and partisans, and in avoidance of forced labor in Germany.

Organic waste is often indicative of the amount of food waste, and it primarily reflects the consumption habits of households. As underlined by the applicable principles of the Circular Economy (CE), prevention is always the first choice when dealing with waste but evaluating the prevention framework without considering the application of waste separation policies appears to be a complex task. Considering Italian municipal waste management, the implementation of separation policies has been delayed in several provinces. It is difficult to assess the effectiveness of prevention policies established by international and national authorities in this context. The lack of organic waste separation is registered as a missing value in datasets: such instances are often non-random. The research objective of this work is to assess whether economic activity affects organic waste generation and, once the selection bias has been investigated, try to assess the overall implications. Initial findings corroborate the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis under biased and unbiased estimations. The tipping point is relatively lower when the inverse Mills Ratio is considered, which is positive. Hence, an increase of the expected economic activity requirement could result in a cost that municipalities incur when delaying the enforcement of separation policies. The missing information undermines the potential feedback from practitioners and other stakeholders capable of steering expectations: the unobserved flows have to reach a certain level before being collected. • Lag in separation policy limits the possibility to test organic waste prevention. • Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis under Heckman model. • Organic waste, socioeconomic drivers of 103 Italian provinces from 1999 to 2019. • Selection bias reveals a hidden cost of delaying separation policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the evolution of the local development partnerships in Italy. In particular, we focus on a specific aspect of these cooperative experiences, i.e. their consolidation as governance instruments of territorial development policy. The main aim is to reconstruct the internal processes that characterize the partnership experiences before and after their creation and to single out the main factors that affect them. On the basis of the empirical evidence provided by the study of the Territorial Pacts of the Province of Turin, the article presents an -analysis of the political dynamics that have accompanied the evolution of these partnerships, focusing at the same time on the conditions that seem to facilitate or impede the persistence of the cooperation among public and private actors in local development policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teenage births are seen as a problem in modern societies, because of the serious negative consequences for the mother, for her child, and for society in general. The children of teenage mothers have been seen to display difficulty in socialisation, hyperactivity, poor impulse control and aggression, failure to complete school, higher incarceration rates. Many studies carried out in different countries show that the rates of adolescent mothers are linked to a pattern of cultural, political, historical and economic aspects that interact in a complex way, and are not easy to interpret. We intended to ascertain the connections between teenage birth rate and territorial characteristics inside a country, Italy, using the 95 Italian provinces as units of analysis. We found that the rates of adolescent motherhood were predicted by unemployment, low school achievement, urbanization, high infant mortality, and low civicness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this article is to merge together two strands of the literature regarding, either directly or indirectly, inflation—specifically, the purchasing power parity and the Phillips curve ones. To accomplish this task, this contribution applies the tools of Dynamic Panel Data estimation on a sample of eighty one Italian provinces from the year 1986 to the year 1998, exploiting cross-sectional variation to avoid using instruments not directly connected with the inflation-generating process. This research strategy allows us to conclude that inflation is characterized by a low degree of persistence and by conditional ß-convergence across provinces. Its most suitable driving variable is the unemployment rate, and there are long-term nonneutralities at the regional level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent years witnessed a growing interest in the concept of well-being and quality of life, as alternative to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The determinants of well-being, especially at the regional and provincial levels, is understudied in a macro perspective, as opposed to a micro perspective (individuals, survey data) that has been the dominant approach until recently. In this paper, we estimate an empirical model for the Italian NUTS-3 provinces to evaluate the role of social capital on well-being by using aggregated (provincial) data. Our findings suggest that social capital, social security programs, income, and grant-making activities by Bank Foundations, even though not uniformly distributed across Italy, positively affect well-being, thus contributing to explain the persistent dualism that characterizes the Italian economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]