Molecular Biology, Biophysics, Periodicals as Topic
Banks, firms, and jobs
January 2018
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Journal article
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Review of Financial Studies
We analyze the heterogeneous employment effects of financial shocks using a rich data set of job contracts, matched with the universe of firms and their lending banks in one Italian region. To isolate the effect of the financial shock, we construct a firm-specific timevarying measure of credit supply. The preferred estimate indicates that the average elasticity of employment to a credit supply shock is 0.36. Adjustment affects both the extensive and the intensive margins and is concentrated among workers with temporary contracts. We also examine the heterogeneous effects of the credit crunch by education, age, gender and nationality.
Female Labour Force Projections Using Microsimulation for Six EU Countries
January 2018
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Journal article
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International Journal of Microsimulation
Female Labour Force Projections Using Microsimulation for Six EU Countries APPENDIX
January 2018
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Journal article
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International Journal of Microsimulation
The role of museums in bilateral tourist flows: evidence from Italy
September 2017
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Journal article
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Oxford Economic Papers
This paper estimates the causal relationship of supply of art on domestic tourist flows. To this aim, we use aggregate bilateral data on tourist flows and various data on museums in the twenty Italian regions. To solve the potential endogeneity of the supply of museums, we use three different empirical strategies: we use a fixed effects model controlling for bilateral macro-area dummies, we compute the degree of selection on unobservables relative to observables which would be necessary to drive the result to zero and, finally, we adopt a two-stage least squares approach that uses a measure of historical patronage, the number of noble families, as an instrument for the number of museums. For each empirical strategy, there is strong evidence of a positive effect of the number of ‘net-museums’ on bilateral tourist flows.
cultural tourism, museums, demand for the art, causality, noble families
Editorial
June 2017
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Journal article
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International Journal of Microsimulation
JAS-mine: A new platform for microsimulation and agent-based modelling
April 2017
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Journal article
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International Journal of Microsimulation
We introduce JAS-mine, a new Java-based computational platform that features tools to support the development of large-scale, data-driven, discrete-event simulations. JAS-mine is specifically designed for both agent-based and microsimulation modelling, anticipating a convergence between the two approaches. An embedded relational database management system provides tools for sophisticated input-output communications and data storage, allowing the power of relational databases to be used within an object-oriented framework. The JAS-mine philosophy encourages the separation of distinct concepts, objects and functionalities of the simulation model, and advocates and supports transparency, flexibility and modularity in model design. For instance, JAS-mine allows to store the list of regressors and their estimated coefficients externally to code, making it easy to change the specification of regression models used in the simulation and achieving a complete parallelisation between the tasks of the econometricians and those of the programmers. Moreover, tools for uncertainty analysis and search over the parameter space are also built in.
JAS-mine: A new platform for microsimulation and agent-based modelling
March 2017
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Scholarly edition
Bayesian estimation of agent-based models
February 2017
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Journal article
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Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
We consider Bayesian inference techniques for agent-based (AB) models, as an alternative to simulated minimum distance (SMD). Three computationally heavy steps are involved: (i) simulating the model, (ii) estimating the likelihood and (iii) sampling from the posterior distribution of the parameters. Computational complexity of AB models implies that efficient techniques have to be used with respect to points (ii) and (iii), possibly involving approximations. We first discuss non-parametric (kernel density) estimation of the likelihood, coupled with Markov chain Monte Carlo sampling schemes. We then turn to parametric approximations of the likelihood, which can be derived by observing the distribution of the simulation outcomes around the statistical equilibria, or by assuming a specific form for the distribution of external deviations in the data. Finally, we introduce Approximate Bayesian Computation techniques for likelihood-free estimation. These allow embedding SMD methods in a Bayesian framework, and are particularly suited when robust estimation is needed. These techniques are first tested in a simple price discovery model with one parameter, and then employed to estimate the behavioural macroeconomic model of De Grauwe (2012), with nine unknown parameters.
Agent-based computational demography and microsimulation using JAS-mine
January 2017
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Chapter
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Agent-Based Modelling in Population Studies: Concepts, Methods, and Applications
<p>In this chapter we provide a hands-on guide on how to build a microsimulation using JAS-mine, a Java-based platform that provides unique simulation tools for discrete-event simulations, including both agent-based and microsimulation models. After presenting the rationale for the recent developments of the JAS-mine project and the main architectural choices made, we illustrate a step-by-step implementation of a rich dynamic microsimulation, which includes demographic processes (birth, death, household formation and dissolution) and other life course events (educational choices, labour market participation and employment outcomes).</p>
3801 Applied Economics, 3802 Econometrics, 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services, 38 Economics, 3502 Banking, Finance and Investment, 3507 Strategy, Management and Organisational Behaviour, 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
The future of Agent-Based modeling
October 2016
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Journal article
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Eastern Economic Journal
In this paper, I elaborate on the role of agent-based (AB) modelling for macroeconomic research. My main tenet is that the full potential of the AB approach has not been realized yet. This potential lies in the modular nature of the models, which is bought by abandoning the straitjacket of rational expectations and embracing an evolutionary perspective. I envisage the foundation of a Modular Macroeconomic Science, where new models with heterogeneous interacting agents, endowed with partial information and limited computational ability, can be created by recombining and extending existing models in a unified computational framework.
Is labor flexibility a substitute to offshoring? Evidence from Italian manufacturing
August 2015
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Journal article
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International Economics
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics
Is labor flexibility a substitute to offshoring? Evidence from Italian manufacturing
August 2015
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Journal article
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International Economics
We test whether labor flexibility acts as a substitute to delocalization. Using Italian survey data, we show that a higher share of temporary workers appears to reduce the likelihood of future offshoring. However, once reverse causality and spurious correlation are controlled for with IV techniques, the relationship vanishes. This finding suggests that a solid argument that labor flexibility and offshoring are substitutes has still to be made.
We ran one billion agents. Scaling in simulation models
June 2015
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Scholarly edition
We provide a clarification of scaling issues in simulation models, distinguishing between sample size
determination, discovery of emergent properties involving a qualitative change in the behaviour of the system
at an aggregate level, and ‘true’ scaling, the dependence of the quantitative behaviour of the system at any
given level of aggregation, to its size. Scaling issues arise because we want to understand what happens when
we run one billion agents, without actually having to run one billion agents. We discuss how we can use the
Buckingham Pi theorem, a key tool in dimensional analysis, to provide guidance on the nature and structure
of scaling relationships in agent-based models.
X-Classification-JEL:
X-Keywords:
Non-standard work, low-paid work and employment dynamics in Italy: evidence from an occupational perspective
March 2015
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Chapter
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Non-Standard Employment in Post-Industrial Labour Markets
Estimation of ergodic agent-based models by simulated minimum distance
February 2015
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Journal article
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Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control
38 Economics, 3802 Econometrics
The Missing Link: AB Models and Dynamic Microsimulation
January 2014
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Journal article
38 Economics, 3803 Economic Theory
Sequential teamwork in competitive environments: Theory and evidence from swimming data
October 2013
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Journal article
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European Economic Review
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics, Clinical Research
Reconsidering the effect of welfare stigma on unemployment
September 2012
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Journal article
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Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics, Clinical Research
The political economy of work security and flexibility: Italy in comparative perspective
May 2012
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Book
The economic crisis has revealed the dark side of deregulation in the labour market: rising unemployment, limited access to social security and, due to low wages, no savings to count upon in bad times. This book casts light on the empirical relationship between labour market deregulation through non-standard contracts and the three main dimensions of worker security: employment, income and social security. Focusing on individual work histories, it looks at how labour market dynamics interact with the social protection system in bringing about inequality and insecurity. In this context Italy is put forward as the epitome of flexibility through non-standard work and compared with three similar countries: Germany, Spain and Japan. Results show that when flexibility is carried out as a mere cost-reduction device and social security only relies on insurance principles, deregulation leads to insecurity. 'The political economy of work security and flexibility' is essential reading for academics, students, practitioners and policy makers interested in the outcomes of labour market developments in advanced economies over the past twenty years.
Agent-based computational economics: a short introduction
April 2012
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Journal article
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The Knowledge Engineering Review
46 Information and Computing Sciences, 4602 Artificial Intelligence
Small sample bias in MSM estimation of agent-based models
January 2012
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Journal article
38 Economics, 3802 Econometrics, 44 Human Society, Sexual and Gender Minorities (SGM/LGBT*)
[Life expectancy, strenuous work and pension system's fairness. First evidence from the Work Histories Italian Panel].
July 2010
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Journal article
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Epidemiologia e prevenzione
Objectivethe study aims to estimate the differentials in life expectancy by income and work history in Italy during the 2000's, in order to evaluate the level of actuarial equity of the recent Italian retirement reform in computing benefits proportional to the contributions paid.Designretrospective cohort study.Setting and participantsmortality follow up of a 1% sample of the Italian workforce employed or self employed in the private sector, retired between 1985 and 2003 (about 63,000 people), whose work history and income since 1985 is registered in the National Institute for Social Insurance (INPS) data base.Main outcome measuremortality differentials computed through Cox model.Resultssocial inequalities in survival in favour of the more advantaged categories of income and occupational classes are observed.Conclusionthe principle of actuarial equity assumes that life expectancy varies only according to age and birth cohort; nevertheless inequalities in life expectancy exist also along other dimensions, like income and occupational class: this means that the system is producing an opposite redistribution, from the careers more socially disadvantaged to the less disadvantaged ones.
Humans, Life Expectancy, Retrospective Studies, Cohort Studies, Social Justice, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Middle Aged, Pensions, Workload, Italy, Female, Male
Should (and Could) We Ban Prescriptions?
January 2009
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Journal article
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The B E Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics, 3803 Economic Theory
The Asymmetric Effect of Diffusion Processes: Risk Sharing and Contagion
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics, 3802 Econometrics, 3803 Economic Theory, Basic Behavioral and Social Science, Behavioral and Social Science, 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
Introduction
February 2006
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Journal article
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Computational Economics
38 Economics, 3502 Banking, Finance and Investment, 3801 Applied Economics, 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services
LABORsim: An Agent-Based Microsimulation of Labour Supply – An Application to Italy
February 2006
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Journal article
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Computational Economics
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics
Toward a Non-Equilibrium Unemployment Theory
February 2006
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Journal article
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Computational Economics
38 Economics, 3801 Applied Economics, 3802 Econometrics, 3803 Economic Theory, Basic Behavioral and Social Science, Behavioral and Social Science, 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
A common protocol for agent-based social simulation
3509 Transportation, Logistics and Supply Chains, 35 Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services, 3 Good Health and Well Being
A SEARCH MODEL OF UNEMPLOYMENT AND FIRM DYNAMICS
June 2004
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Journal article
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Advances in Complex Systems
4901 Applied Mathematics, 49 Mathematical Sciences, 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
Generalizing Gibrat: Reasonable multiplicative models of firm dynamics
January 2004
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Journal article
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JASSS
Multiplicative models of firm dynamics á la Gibrat have become a standard reference in industrial organization. However, some unpleasant properties of their implied dynamics - namely, their explosive or implosive behaviour (firm size and number collapsing to zero or increasing indefinitely) - have been given only very little attention. In this paper I investigate using simulations which modifications to the standard multiplicative model of firm dynamics lead to stable (and reasonable) distributions of firm size. I show that in order to obtain stable systems for a wide range of average growth rate, either heteroskedasticity in the growth rates has to be assumed, or entry and exit mechanisms included. In particular I show that combining the broad class of threshold entry mechanisms and the more restricted class of threshold exit mechanisms with overcapacity penalizing all firms (where entry and exit are determined with reference to an exogenously defined total capacity of the market), lead to stable distributions even in the case of growth rate homoskedasticity, given a non-zero minimum threshold for firm size.