Relationships In Italy Research Articles

Interplay in management practices, innovation, business environment, degree of competition and environmental policies: a comparative study

PurposeThe study aims to examine the impacts of management practices on innovation along with the mediating and moderating role of degree of competition, business environment and environmental policies.Design/methodology/approachData were derived from the World Bank Enterprise Survey 2019 for Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan and analyzed by using PLS-SEM to find results.FindingsFindings revealed that management practices have positive significant relationship with the innovation among firms for Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan but surprisingly insignificant relationship in Italy. Further, management practices have positive significant relationship with the environmental policies, business environment and degree of competition among firms in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan. In addition, environmental policies, business environment and degree of competition have positive significant relationship with innovation among firms in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Portugal and Jordan.Practical implicationsThese useful insights would enable practitioners and policy makers to develop and apply more influential management practices to boost up the level of innovation among firms.Originality/valueAlthough the topics of management practices and innovation have received a great concern of academia, but this is the first study that offers a comprehensive model of the relationship in these domains.

Municipal Solid Waste generation dynamics. Breaks and thresholds analysis in the Italian context

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.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Family Relationships in Italy: Withdrawal on the Nuclear Family

The health emergency linked to the spread of COVID-19 has profoundly transformed people’s lives, both from the point of view of family and significant relationships, and at work, substantially modifying the relationship between these two significant areas. This contribution is aimed at assessing how Italian families are facing the current situation in dealing with work and care responsibilities using data from a CAWI study done during Phase 1 of the emergency (full lockdown, from March to April 2020) that surveyed over 1,391 participants, 73% women, (M age = 47; SD = 11.3). Findings from this study will contribute to a more thorough understanding of how people have reconciled work and care responsibilities during the lockdown, as well as their coping strategies. Findings from multivariate analysis have shown how health emergency and the related containment measures impact both personal/parental and work spheres, producing negative effects on the specific group of working parents, especially women. The 78% of respondents indicated that they continued to work mostly from home (62%) while simultaneously taking care of children. Moreover, married women and young people, and those without children, performed more effective coping strategies. Such results reveal the challenges of a nuclear family unit, wherein parents are separated from parental networks and time between family and work must be reconciled. Such problems are particularly challenging for women.

Nuove forme di contrattazione sindacale nelle relazioni industriali su piattaforma

The essay is focused on the introduction of the so called “digitalization” of the employment relationships in Italy, as well as on the related implications under labour law perspectives.After a short introduction about the idea of “Industry 4.0”, the essay proceeds and analyses if the actual collective bargaining could be a valid instrument to carry out the “Industry 4.0” process. Then, the essay focuses the attention on the search for new kinds of collective bargaining, due to the difficulties which may characterize the communications and relationships between trade unions and employers in the high-digitalized industries.Amongst these new kinds of collective bargaining is included the so called “blockchain” technology, whose features may be applied also to the actual collective bargaining, even so as to correct some malfunctions of Italian industrial relations (one of these: the dissent of some trade unions during the bargaining and the repercussions of such dissent towards the workers).Finally, the essay asks itself if our society would be saved from a sort of “dictatorship of algorithms” through the direct involvement of workers in co-decisional processes.

The banking-industry relationship in Italy: large national banks and small local banks compared (1913–1936)

Using a large dataset of Italian joint-stock companies, this article analyses the networks of corporate interlocks of the major universal banks and 20 most ‘central’ local banks in a critical period of Italian industrialisation. The networks of the two types of banks were largely independent, with universal banks being affiliated principally to larger concerns in electricity, transport and storage, and financials; and local banks to riskier, younger and smaller firms in light manufacturing. The article then explores whether the bank-industry relationship in Italy reflected the hegemony of banks and followed a bank-control model. Our analysis does not support that view. It rather indicates that interlocking directorates were driven principally by a convergence of interests between banks (monitoring customers) and industrial firms (interested in tapping capital and credit flows), with the latter exerting a slightly higher influence over the former. This significantly differentiates Italy from Germany and the USA, where banks had a more dominant position in the corporate system.

The Kintsugi Art of Care: Unraveling Consent in Ethical Non-Monogamies

Making a contribution to the sociology of intimacy, this article aims to present how lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, and queer people live their ethical non-monogamous relationships in Italy. Giving great space to the concept of consent through the literature on the ethics of care, I will refer to different conceptualizations of critical consent given by feminist and BDSM communities, spaces in which ethics is based on unveiling power structures through the focus on consent. In fact, the centrality of the collective dimension in embracing ethical non-monogamies appears fundamental, challenging the self-help – and neoliberal – literature according to which polyamory is just a personal choice. Afterwards, I will deepen the concept of care, developing it through its means of communication, attentiveness, responsibility, and responsiveness within relationships. Presented this way, care recognizes us all as interdependent: at the same time, care-givers and care-receivers. I suggest that this interdependency is symbolized by the kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a mix of golden powder, a representation of the manifold matrix of care, composed of care-giving, care-receiving, and care for oneself.

Trade Unions and Political Parties in Italy (1946–2014): Ideological Positions and Critical Junctures

The paper investigates party-union relationships in Italy (1946–2014) by hand-coding parties’ parliamentary speeches and trade unions’ congress motions. In line with the cartel party thesis, a time series analysis shows that the ideological closeness between the left-wing Italian General Confederation of Labour and left-wing parties deteriorated when the Italian Socialist Party (1980) and the heirs of the Italian Communist Party (1998) converged toward the centre of the ideological spectrum. Conversely, the closeness between the Catholic-inspired Italian Confederation of Workers’ Unions and the heirs of Christian Democracy increased after 1994, when the former party’s leftist factions became the major part of the Italian Popular Party.

Credit Misallocation During the European Financial Crisis

Do banks with low capital extend excessive credit to weak firms, and does this matter for aggregate efficiency? Using a unique data set that covers almost all bank-firm relationships in Italy in the period 2004-2013, we find that, during the Eurozone financial crisis: (i) Under-capitalized banks were less likely to cut credit to non-viable firms. (ii) Credit misallocation increased the failure rate of healthy firms and reduced the failure rate of non viable firms. (iii) Nevertheless, the adverse effects of credit misallocation on the growth rate of healthier firms were negligible, and so were the effects on TFP dispersion. This goes against previous influential findings that, we argue, face serious identification problems. Thus, while banks with low capital can be an important source of aggregate inefficiency in the long run, their contribution to the severity of the great recession via capital misallocation was modest.

Credit Misallocation During the European Financial Crisis

Do banks with low capital extend excessive credit to weak firms, and does this matter for aggregate efficiency? Using a unique data set that covers almost all bank-firm relationships in Italy in the period 2004-2013, we find that, during the Eurozone financial crisis: (i) Under-capitalized banks were less likely to cut credit to non-viable firms. (ii) Credit misallocation increased the failure rate of healthy firms and reduced the failure rate of non viable firms. (iii) Nevertheless, the adverse effects of credit misallocation on the growth rate of healthier firms were negligible, and so were the effects on TFP dispersion. This goes against previous influential findings that, we argue, face serious identification problems. Thus, while banks with low capital can be an important source of aggregate inefficiency in the long run, their contribution to the severity of the great recession via capital misallocation was modest.

CULTURA TECNICO-SCIENTIFICA E RISORGIMENTO “ECONOMICO”

The focus of this essay is on the relationship in Italy between scientific and technical culture on the one hand and “economic Risorgimento” on the other hand (the latter to be understood as the condition and the driving force of the “political Risorgimento”). In the first part this relationship is shown to be linked to the more general idea of bringing Italy back into “modern European civilization”, which in the first half of the XIX century was expressed both in heightened technological innovation and production, and in the rise of national movements for emancipation and independence. In the second part of the essay the measures are considered which were taken by the ruling classes after Unification in the face of remarkable difficulties and resistance. Thanks to such measures, the cultural conditions were created which enabled the subsequent industrial take-off between the XIX and XX century.

PER UNA STORIA DI DUE SECOLI DEL LOMBARDO E DI 150 ANNI DEL POLITECNICO

The focus of this essay is on the relationship in Italy between scientific and technical culture on the one hand and “economic Risorgimento” on the other hand (the latter to be understood as the condition and the driving force of the “political Risorgimento”). In the first part this relationship is shown to be linked to the more general idea of bringing Italy back into “modern European civilization”, which in the first half of the XIX century was expressed both in heightened technological innovation and production, and in the rise of national movements for emancipation and independence. In the second part of the essay the measures are considered which were taken by the ruling classes after Unification in the face of remarkable difficulties and resistances. Thanks to such measures, the cultural conditions were created which enabled the subsequent industrial take-off between the XIX and XX century.

The Association of Board Composition, Intellectual Capital and Firm Performance in a High Ownership Concentration Context: Evidence from Italy

<p>The association of Corporate Governance (CG) with Firm Performance (FP) has always been an issue relevant to management literature. Nevertheless, the notable heterogeneity of studies and their mixed results highlight the opportuneness of continuing to investigate the association of CG with FP. The article aims to contribute to this research by building and employing a sophisticated model to take into account beyond the board composition ownership structure and firm efficiency in using its intellectual capital (as measured by VAIC<sup>TM</sup>). The findings provide evidence that the board composition, the ownership concentration and the efficiency of intellectual capital increases firm efficiency in producing profits (as measured by ROA). Furthermore, our findings add knowledge to the relationship between CG and FP, by confirming a positive relationship in Italy, a continental European capital market under-investigated on this issue.</p>

The determinants of firm–bank relationships in Italy: bank ownership type, diversification and multiple banking relationships

This paper investigates the main features of the relationships between banks and non-financial firms in Italy. Based on detailed firm-level data, we analyse the role of firm-level characteristics, decision-making factors and local credit market indicators in shaping various aspects of corporate banking choices. Empirical results show that young and small firms have a higher probability of relationships with local banks, confirming the advantage of local credit institutions in dealing with informationally opaque firms. Large and internationally active firms tend to establish relationships with national and foreign banks, as they are able to provide more complex banking services that are crucial to access foreign markets. Moreover, firms that are more dependent on external financing are more likely to use multiple and differentiated banking relationships, as a way to diversify external financing sources and alleviate credit constraints.

Reassessing the bank–industry relationship in Italy, 1913–1936: a counterfactual analysis

Until the banking reform in 1936, banks and industrial companies in Italy were strongly intertwined (both in terms of ownership and interlocking directorates). Using Imita.db—a large dataset containing data on over 300,000 directors of Italian joint-stock companies—this paper analyzes what would have happened to the Italian corporate network in the years 1913, 1921, 1927 and 1936 if the German-type universal banks and their directors would have not been there. Our test shows that new centers of the system would have emerged (financial, electricity, and phone companies), confirming the interconnected nature of the Italian capitalism. We also analyze two industries (textiles and iron and steel) characterized by different labor-to-capital intensities to check for sectoral differences. Contrary to conventional wisdom, we find that local banks were important in funding both industries.

The relationship between unemployment and fertility in Italy

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.)1. PremiseDuring the last four decades of the 20th century, the average total fertility rate (TFR) has continuously dropped in Europe, as it generally has in Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The aggregate trend covers considerable differences across Europe, with the main differences appearing between northern and southern European countries (Eurostat 2012).During the same period, important changes have also occurred in the labour market arrangements of both men and women, with changes in individuals' and couples' economic conditions. Whereas by the 1980s the fall in fertility was coupled with a rise in female employment, since the late 1980s the fall has been accompanied by a rise in unemployment, particularly among women.Explaining the determinants of such a fall in fertility and the links with changes in the labour market statuses of both men and women has become a major topic over the last years (D'Addio and Mira d'Ercole 2005; Kreyenfeld 2010).The rise in unemployment for women and men in southern and central European countries that occurred during the 1990s has been proposed as an explanation for the more pronounced decrease in the TFR in these countries, as in other countries with low female labour force participation rates (Ahn and Mira 2002; Adsera 2005; Engelhardt and Prskawetz 2004). This evidence highlights the need to further examine the role of unemployment in fertility behaviour.This paper seeks to describe the connections between fertility and unemployment in Italy from a gender-based and geographic perspective. Italian workers have experienced a rising trend of unemployment - with gender and regional differences - since the mid-nineties, resulting in a feeling of uncertainty about the future. We are in agreement with the hypothesis that macro-level economic conditions are likely to be related to fertility (Brewster and Rindfuss 2000): in particular, economic uncertainty can induce a short-term reduction in fertility that is presumably due to the postponement of decisions to have an (additional) child until the economy recovers.We utilised time series of aggregate data on fertility and unemployment during the interval 1995-2012, which includes the period of economic downturn that began at the end of 2007.We began from the hypothesis that the connection between unemployment and fertility differs among the various Italian regions, and we used a regression dynamic model to evaluate whether changes in fertility in different Italian geographic areas are more related to changes in male or female unemployment, as well as the strength of the link. Moreover, we paid particular attention to specific temporal links between the two series in different geographical areas.The structure of the paper is as follows:- Discussion of the literature and previous research on the relationship between fertility and unemployment of both men and women. We utilised aggregate data, but we also referred to studies of individual-level data to understand how the issue has been addressed by different approaches;- Discussion of these relationships in Italy within the European context;- Methodological approach and analysis of aggregate trends of fertility and unemployment in Italy by gender and geographic area; and- Discussion of the results.2. Unemployment and fertility: A complex relationshipA modern discussion on fertility in developed countries began in the 1960s and focused on the importance of socio-economic factors at the community or country level, 4 the incompatibility between work and family, increasing female education, and the roles of women in different contexts related to specific welfare policies (Oppenheimer 1988; McDonald 2006; Pison 2009).The decrease in fertility rates in the 1960s and 1970s in most industrialised economies was correlated with an increase in female employment (Adsera 2004). …

REDUCTION IN INFORMATION ASYMMETRY AND CREDIT ACCESS FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM‐SIZED ENTERPRISES

AbstractWe examine the relation between the quality, quantity, completeness, and timeliness of the information loan managers obtain from small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and the amount of short‐term credit provided to them by looking at 828 loan–manager–SME relationships in Italy. The result suggests that a reduction in information asymmetry is associated with a greater amount of credit. Moreover, the reduction in information asymmetry has a relevant economic impact on the amount of short‐term credit obtained: the amount of credit provided increases by 12% when asymmetry reduces by one notch. Our results are robust to alternative specifications and to endogeneity.

Authority, Sincerity, Commitment: A Comparative Case Study of Narrative Relationships in Italy in the Era of Digital Media

This paper explores some of the opportunities and hazards related to the circulation of texts in the context of facilitated communication promoted by contemporary technology with a particular focus on an increased public access to the figure of the author.By means of case studies of two contemporary Italian writers, Andrea Camilleri and Roberto Saviano, both known as much for their public personas and social interventions as for their literary texts, the reader-writer-text relationship in the age of digital communication and social media is considered from a narratological perspective.Contemporary narrative relationships and their impact on the idea of the book are shown to be reflective of the fluidity and immediacy of today’s communication networks.

Party-group disentanglement in the Italian case: an introduction

This symposium is focused on the recent changes in party-group relationships in Italy. The analysis looks at the disentanglement of interest groups from parties and the autonomous role of the former in policy making. As in other European countries, since the 1980s, in Italy an accelerating decline of parties has been observed, along with a growing empowerment of interest groups. Furthermore, in the first part of the 1990s, the Italian party system collapsed giving rise to a ‘political transition’ which represented a window of opportunity for substantial turn-over in the political elite, a majoritarian electoral reform, devolution, privatization, and policy reforms in a range of important sectors. The articles in the symposium start from a policy studies perspective and analyse the expected changes in party-group relationships in three different policy areas: agriculture, pensions and transport. On the basis of a brief literature review, this introductory essay presents some general considerations on the issue of party-group relations. It then looks at their evolution and features in the Italian case, focusing on the disentanglement of parties and groups in recent years. Afterwards it outlines the common analytical framework for the subsequent contributions on different policy areas. An interesting but varied picture comes to light about the effective dynamics of party-group relations in the fragmented process of Italian policy making. Firstly we observe specific arrangements related to the number of interest organisations operating within different policy areas. Secondly, common dynamics are registered with regard to the privileged and routine relationships between groups and ministerial bureaucracies. Thirdly, the parties are no longer the gatekeepers for interest groups’ access to decision making; they no longer control the policy-making process. Within the different policy areas the authors have looked at variable configurations of factors (the salience and politicisation of issues, external inputs and Europeanization, the policy legacy) and policy-making actors in order to understand the changing relationships between new political parties and more numerous interest groups.

From a Technocratic Solution to a Fragile Grand Coalition: The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Parliamentary Government in Italy

Italy is an interesting case to be included in a comparative analysis of the effects determined by the recent financial crisis on the European political systems, because of the distinctiveness characterising the recent development of this parliamentary democracy. The processes of making and breaking governments, in particular, have been particularly unusual: the end of the governmental experience of Silvio Berlusconi and the formation of the technical government led by Mario Monti have been strongly influenced by external factors, as well as the recent formation of the government guided by Enrico Letta, supported by a broad coalition including the former competing centre-right and centre-left cartels. The paper focuses on the practices of executive–legislative relationships in Italy between 2008 and the 2013 elections. Its basic puzzle is to understand the effective impact determined by the economic crisis over the core mechanisms of parliamentary democracy. Comparing the impact of the governmental policy agenda set by the technocratic cabinet vis-à-vis the previous ‘political’ executives, and measuring the reactions of the different parliamentary actors, it is possible to test a number of empirical propositions concerning the transformation of the adversarial mode that emerged in past years into a more or less consensual parliamentary atmosphere.

Moretti’s Children: The Next Generation?

Nanni Moretti’s La stanza del figlio/The Son’s Room (2001) reveals the effects of a child’s death on the protagonist Giovanni (a psycoanalyst played by Moretti) and his family. This film appears after Aprile/April (1998), which narrates both the birth of the director’s son Pietro as well as the Italian electoral campaign in 1996 in the month of the title. The arrival of a biological son followed by the death of a fictional one in Moretti’s oeuvre suggests greater implications for the parent-child relationship in Italy. This phenomenon also comments on the relationship between generations of Italian directors. An examination of Moretti’s earlier autobiographical film Caro diario/Dear Diary (1994) gives insight into this director’s relationship to other artists and also suggests implications for the future of Italian filmmaking.