Social media campaigns have an important role in raising public awareness to define the extent, t... more Social media campaigns have an important role in raising public awareness to define the extent, the diffusion and the evolution of harassment and in developing social support for changes as a fundamental component of primary prevention strategies. The main findings of this chapter indicate that: a) the social media campaign engagement against sexual harassment is higher with its locally translated hashtag than the international version; b) the social media campaign is polarised between an individual, more introspective level of sharing experiences (such as in France with #balancetonporc) and a collective awareness, active grassroots movement at workplaces (such as in Sweden with #sistabriefen); c) in order to understand how to foster a positive social engagement encouraging survivors to speak and share their experiences and to embrace social support for change, the “sentiments” in social media deserve further attention
Quest'opera è distribuita con licenza internazionale Creative Commons Attribuzione Non commer... more Quest'opera è distribuita con licenza internazionale Creative Commons Attribuzione Non commerciale Non opere derivate 4.0. Copia della licenza è disponibile alla URL http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Nel corso degli ultimi trent'anni il mondo dello sviluppo internazionale è stato dominato da un movimento globale di intermediari finanziari non convenzionali, conosciuto con il termine di "microcredito" o "microfinanza", 1 impegnato nel migliorare l'accesso a prestiti, strumenti di risparmio, assicurazioni ed altri servizi finanziari in scala ridotta per individui e comunità povere o a basso reddito. L'esclusione finanziaria, che nella sua accezione minima è misurata in termini di accesso a un conto corrente presso un'istituzione finanziaria (o a un servizio di mobile banking), riguarda 2 miliardi di persone a livello globale, in particolare donne (solo il 58% delle donne ha un conto, contro il 65% degli uomini) e poveri (più dell...
Since 2004, with the aim to provide a consistent picture of the European microfinance sector, the... more Since 2004, with the aim to provide a consistent picture of the European microfinance sector, the European Microfinance Network (EMN) carried out, on a biennial basis, a survey of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Europe. The MFIs surveyed by EMN self-report data mainly about their mission, target, social and financial impact; an overview of the main results of these surveys are reported on EMN overview publications1. The surveys covered a growing and changing group of participants in terms of institutional types and geographical coverage (from 394 microlenders from 16 European countries in 2006 to 195 institutions from 29 countries in 2014) through a survey questionnaire subject to adjustments throughout the different editions.The last survey (run in 2016 with reference to the years 2014-2015) has been jointly managed by the EMN and the Microfinance Center (MFC2) and it included a wider participation of Eastern European MFIs members of the MFC.The significant volatility of observ...
The present study contributes to the literature on the economics of discrimination by considering... more The present study contributes to the literature on the economics of discrimination by considering some consequences of sexual orientation discrimination. Specifically, we analyse LGB people's decision to "come out" within an identity utility theoretical framework, and estimate the model on a representative sample of the EU population. We aim to investigate the factors that systematically affect a person's inclusion in competing definitions of LGB people and the potential role of sample selection biases, such as the one leading to the commonplace mistaken assumption of the affluence of gay men. Interval regression estimates of the risk attitude coefficient within the choice to come out suggest that heterogeneity in the objective dimensions of socio-economic welfare may explain a sample selection between "out" and "closeted" LGB people, which lies behind the "myth of gay affluence".
With the European Commission’s “Third Energy Package”, the challenges posed by energy poverty hav... more With the European Commission’s “Third Energy Package”, the challenges posed by energy poverty have been recently acknowledged by European legislation. The paper develops a synthetic indicator of energy poverty for the purpose of assessing households’ well-being across different domains of inequality in access to energy services and to a healthy domestic environment. These dimensions are broadly defined in terms of energy affordability and thermal efficiency, two of the main manifestations of energy poverty. The analysis focuses on Europe and expands on existing economic literature by employing a fuzzy analysis for the definition of a multidimensional energy poverty index, which is then used to investigate the role of individual and household characteristics in shaping energy poverty. We find that during the European crisis energy poverty has been more stable than monetary poverty, and that thermal efficiency plays a crucial role in shaping individual and countries’ average degrees...
<b>Italian Abstract:</b> Analizziamo il ruolo dello Stato negli investimenti sociali ... more <b>Italian Abstract:</b> Analizziamo il ruolo dello Stato negli investimenti sociali (istruzione, servizi sanitari, ecc.), diversi da quelli delle infrastrutture. Lo facciamo perché, nell'attuale situazione economica e sociale, questo tipo di investimento, oltre a rafforzare il modello sociale europeo, potrebbe essere particolarmente efficace nella creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro. Per testare il legame tra investimento sociale e occupazione modifichiamo il modello dell'equazione occupazionale di Paolo Sylos Labini (MOSYL), inserendo nel modello l'investimento sociale anziché quelli nelle infrastrutture. L'implementazione quantitativa si basa sui dati Eurostat per i 28 paesi dell'UE, ei risultati sono incoraggianti: il tasso di occupazione è fortemente influenzato da fattori esterni al mercato del lavoro, che influenzano non solo il contesto economico generale (rappresentato dal PIL), ma anche da elementi legati al contesto sociale, riguardanti le nuove forme di benessere. Testo del discorso tenuto alla conferenza "Paolo Sylos Labini e la politica delle riforme", tenutasi all'Università La Sapienza di Roma il 4 dicembre 2015, organizzata dall'Accademia dei Lincei con Economia Civile. <b>English Abstract:</b> We analyze the role of the State in social investment (education, health services, etc.), different from those in infrastructures. We do so because, in the current economic and social situation, this type of investment, in addition to strengthening the European social model, could be particularly effective in creating new jobs. To test the link between social investment and employment we modify the Paolo Sylos Labini’s employment equation model (MOSYL), inserting in the model social investment instead of those in infrastructures. The quantitative implementation is based on Eurostat data for the 28 EU countries, and the results are encouraging: the employment rate is strongly influenced by factors outside the labor market, which affect not only the general economic environment (represented by GDP), but also by elements linked to the social context, concerning the new forms of welfare. Text of the speech given at the conference "Paolo Sylos Labini e la politica delle riforme", held at Sapienza University of Rome on 04 December 2015, organized by the Accademia dei Lincei with Economia Civile.
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world when judged by any of the major indicators. It ... more Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world when judged by any of the major indicators. It ranks 174 out of 177 countries in terms of the Human Development Indicator. Both absolute and relative income-based poverty indicators are staggering: the proportions of the population living with less than one and two dollars a day, are 72.3 and 90.6 percent respectively, which are the highest in the world.1 These figures mask important differences among the poor themselves, which, as discussed below, represent a major challenge for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
ABSTRACT This study attempts to empirically investigate the determinants of the supply side of se... more ABSTRACT This study attempts to empirically investigate the determinants of the supply side of sex work beyond the dichotomy between coerced and freewill participation. It does so by focusing on a very stigmatized and discriminated-against population: transsexual and transgender people. We collected original data on trans people through nonrandom sampling within a study aimed at assessing gender-identity discrimination in Italy. A multivariate analysis of the determinants of falling into sex work confirms that within the trans population, “pull” factors – specifically, prospective income – positively affect the decision to supply sex services. Even more relevant are “push” factors, such as low employability and past experiences of discrimination. The resulting sex-work trap calls for policy initiatives to enhance the employability of marginalized individuals as well as an effective fight against stigma and discrimination in the labor market.
Microfinance promise to serve low-income or disadvantaged beneficiaries excluded from the formal ... more Microfinance promise to serve low-income or disadvantaged beneficiaries excluded from the formal banking sector in a financially sustainable way (thus to achieve the so called “double bottom line” of financial and social performance) built excitement around the development of a global industry. However, for a long time an anti-subsidy position embedded in the international key donor community have shown little concern of social performance data and information on beneficiaries profiles in terms of various dimension of social and financial exclusion. Until recently, most of the emphasis of microfinance advocates has been devoted to MFIs financial performance following the “win-win” proposition, according to which financial viability should be sufficient to show social impact, a view that is supported by a controversial evidence and is based on a selective understanding of conceptual facts. Nevertheless, several initiatives recently translated into the Social Performance Task Force (S...
Lo studio teorico ed empirico delle determinanti delle scelte individuali in condizione di incert... more Lo studio teorico ed empirico delle determinanti delle scelte individuali in condizione di incertezza uno dei temi pi affascinanti e pi irrisolti in economia e le sue implicazioni sono assai rilevanti in quanto riguardano la maggioranza delle nostre decisioni. Assai numerose sono nella realtˆ le violazioni degli assiomi della teoria dellÕutilitˆ attesa e numerosi sono i tentativi a livello teorico di formulare una pi generale teoria dellÕincertezza che le includa. Le verifiche sperimentali offrono un valido supporto al tentativo di individuare il modello teorico pi adatto a descrivere ed interpretare il comportamento effettivo degli individui, il loro grado di avversione al rischio, le eventuali differenze di genere o gli effetti di apprendimento in contesti statici e dinamici, in presenza di scelte rischiose. Gli esperimenti creano in effetti il contesto ceteris paribus che permette agli studiosi di controllare se le suddette violazioni sono connesse alle complicazioni di calcolo, ...
The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2008
We use data from 298 showings of the television program "Affari Tuoi," which involves c... more We use data from 298 showings of the television program "Affari Tuoi," which involves contestants making decisions between risky prospects with possible prizes of up to half a million euros, to estimate three models of decision-making under risk: Expected Utility, Rank-Dependent Expected Utility and Regret-Rejoice. We find that Regret-Rejoice does not significantly improve upon Expected Utility, while Rank-Dependent outperforms it. Interestingly, we find that the CARA specification fits significantly better than the conventionally-adopted CRRA specification. Crucially, we find a significant role for unobserved heterogeneity, implying that our estimates provide more superior estimates of risk attitude and of probability weighting than other studies.
This work explores the role of discrimination in shaping individuals' lives and opportunitie... more This work explores the role of discrimination in shaping individuals' lives and opportunities, with specific respect to sexual orientation. The role of sexual orientation in explaining earning differences has been increasingly emphasized in empirical literature on discrimination mainly as a result of the growing availability of data sources on gays and lesbian populations. Available evidence predominantly converges on the one hand on the identification of discrimination treatments for gays and positive wage differential for ...
Active ageing strategies have so far strongly focussed on increasing senior workers employment ra... more Active ageing strategies have so far strongly focussed on increasing senior workers employment rates through pension reforms to develop incentives to retire later on the one hand, and labour market policies on the other hand. Most measures are based on the dominant male trajectory of work and retirement and they are not explicitly gender mainstreamed. By contrast, a gender approach would prove fundamental to the labour market inclusion of elderly people, because in old age women suffer from the ...
Social media campaigns have an important role in raising public awareness to define the extent, t... more Social media campaigns have an important role in raising public awareness to define the extent, the diffusion and the evolution of harassment and in developing social support for changes as a fundamental component of primary prevention strategies. The main findings of this chapter indicate that: a) the social media campaign engagement against sexual harassment is higher with its locally translated hashtag than the international version; b) the social media campaign is polarised between an individual, more introspective level of sharing experiences (such as in France with #balancetonporc) and a collective awareness, active grassroots movement at workplaces (such as in Sweden with #sistabriefen); c) in order to understand how to foster a positive social engagement encouraging survivors to speak and share their experiences and to embrace social support for change, the “sentiments” in social media deserve further attention
Quest'opera è distribuita con licenza internazionale Creative Commons Attribuzione Non commer... more Quest'opera è distribuita con licenza internazionale Creative Commons Attribuzione Non commerciale Non opere derivate 4.0. Copia della licenza è disponibile alla URL http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Nel corso degli ultimi trent'anni il mondo dello sviluppo internazionale è stato dominato da un movimento globale di intermediari finanziari non convenzionali, conosciuto con il termine di "microcredito" o "microfinanza", 1 impegnato nel migliorare l'accesso a prestiti, strumenti di risparmio, assicurazioni ed altri servizi finanziari in scala ridotta per individui e comunità povere o a basso reddito. L'esclusione finanziaria, che nella sua accezione minima è misurata in termini di accesso a un conto corrente presso un'istituzione finanziaria (o a un servizio di mobile banking), riguarda 2 miliardi di persone a livello globale, in particolare donne (solo il 58% delle donne ha un conto, contro il 65% degli uomini) e poveri (più dell...
Since 2004, with the aim to provide a consistent picture of the European microfinance sector, the... more Since 2004, with the aim to provide a consistent picture of the European microfinance sector, the European Microfinance Network (EMN) carried out, on a biennial basis, a survey of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Europe. The MFIs surveyed by EMN self-report data mainly about their mission, target, social and financial impact; an overview of the main results of these surveys are reported on EMN overview publications1. The surveys covered a growing and changing group of participants in terms of institutional types and geographical coverage (from 394 microlenders from 16 European countries in 2006 to 195 institutions from 29 countries in 2014) through a survey questionnaire subject to adjustments throughout the different editions.The last survey (run in 2016 with reference to the years 2014-2015) has been jointly managed by the EMN and the Microfinance Center (MFC2) and it included a wider participation of Eastern European MFIs members of the MFC.The significant volatility of observ...
The present study contributes to the literature on the economics of discrimination by considering... more The present study contributes to the literature on the economics of discrimination by considering some consequences of sexual orientation discrimination. Specifically, we analyse LGB people's decision to "come out" within an identity utility theoretical framework, and estimate the model on a representative sample of the EU population. We aim to investigate the factors that systematically affect a person's inclusion in competing definitions of LGB people and the potential role of sample selection biases, such as the one leading to the commonplace mistaken assumption of the affluence of gay men. Interval regression estimates of the risk attitude coefficient within the choice to come out suggest that heterogeneity in the objective dimensions of socio-economic welfare may explain a sample selection between "out" and "closeted" LGB people, which lies behind the "myth of gay affluence".
With the European Commission’s “Third Energy Package”, the challenges posed by energy poverty hav... more With the European Commission’s “Third Energy Package”, the challenges posed by energy poverty have been recently acknowledged by European legislation. The paper develops a synthetic indicator of energy poverty for the purpose of assessing households’ well-being across different domains of inequality in access to energy services and to a healthy domestic environment. These dimensions are broadly defined in terms of energy affordability and thermal efficiency, two of the main manifestations of energy poverty. The analysis focuses on Europe and expands on existing economic literature by employing a fuzzy analysis for the definition of a multidimensional energy poverty index, which is then used to investigate the role of individual and household characteristics in shaping energy poverty. We find that during the European crisis energy poverty has been more stable than monetary poverty, and that thermal efficiency plays a crucial role in shaping individual and countries’ average degrees...
<b>Italian Abstract:</b> Analizziamo il ruolo dello Stato negli investimenti sociali ... more <b>Italian Abstract:</b> Analizziamo il ruolo dello Stato negli investimenti sociali (istruzione, servizi sanitari, ecc.), diversi da quelli delle infrastrutture. Lo facciamo perché, nell'attuale situazione economica e sociale, questo tipo di investimento, oltre a rafforzare il modello sociale europeo, potrebbe essere particolarmente efficace nella creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro. Per testare il legame tra investimento sociale e occupazione modifichiamo il modello dell'equazione occupazionale di Paolo Sylos Labini (MOSYL), inserendo nel modello l'investimento sociale anziché quelli nelle infrastrutture. L'implementazione quantitativa si basa sui dati Eurostat per i 28 paesi dell'UE, ei risultati sono incoraggianti: il tasso di occupazione è fortemente influenzato da fattori esterni al mercato del lavoro, che influenzano non solo il contesto economico generale (rappresentato dal PIL), ma anche da elementi legati al contesto sociale, riguardanti le nuove forme di benessere. Testo del discorso tenuto alla conferenza "Paolo Sylos Labini e la politica delle riforme", tenutasi all'Università La Sapienza di Roma il 4 dicembre 2015, organizzata dall'Accademia dei Lincei con Economia Civile. <b>English Abstract:</b> We analyze the role of the State in social investment (education, health services, etc.), different from those in infrastructures. We do so because, in the current economic and social situation, this type of investment, in addition to strengthening the European social model, could be particularly effective in creating new jobs. To test the link between social investment and employment we modify the Paolo Sylos Labini’s employment equation model (MOSYL), inserting in the model social investment instead of those in infrastructures. The quantitative implementation is based on Eurostat data for the 28 EU countries, and the results are encouraging: the employment rate is strongly influenced by factors outside the labor market, which affect not only the general economic environment (represented by GDP), but also by elements linked to the social context, concerning the new forms of welfare. Text of the speech given at the conference "Paolo Sylos Labini e la politica delle riforme", held at Sapienza University of Rome on 04 December 2015, organized by the Accademia dei Lincei with Economia Civile.
Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world when judged by any of the major indicators. It ... more Mali is one of the poorest countries in the world when judged by any of the major indicators. It ranks 174 out of 177 countries in terms of the Human Development Indicator. Both absolute and relative income-based poverty indicators are staggering: the proportions of the population living with less than one and two dollars a day, are 72.3 and 90.6 percent respectively, which are the highest in the world.1 These figures mask important differences among the poor themselves, which, as discussed below, represent a major challenge for microfinance institutions (MFIs).
ABSTRACT This study attempts to empirically investigate the determinants of the supply side of se... more ABSTRACT This study attempts to empirically investigate the determinants of the supply side of sex work beyond the dichotomy between coerced and freewill participation. It does so by focusing on a very stigmatized and discriminated-against population: transsexual and transgender people. We collected original data on trans people through nonrandom sampling within a study aimed at assessing gender-identity discrimination in Italy. A multivariate analysis of the determinants of falling into sex work confirms that within the trans population, “pull” factors – specifically, prospective income – positively affect the decision to supply sex services. Even more relevant are “push” factors, such as low employability and past experiences of discrimination. The resulting sex-work trap calls for policy initiatives to enhance the employability of marginalized individuals as well as an effective fight against stigma and discrimination in the labor market.
Microfinance promise to serve low-income or disadvantaged beneficiaries excluded from the formal ... more Microfinance promise to serve low-income or disadvantaged beneficiaries excluded from the formal banking sector in a financially sustainable way (thus to achieve the so called “double bottom line” of financial and social performance) built excitement around the development of a global industry. However, for a long time an anti-subsidy position embedded in the international key donor community have shown little concern of social performance data and information on beneficiaries profiles in terms of various dimension of social and financial exclusion. Until recently, most of the emphasis of microfinance advocates has been devoted to MFIs financial performance following the “win-win” proposition, according to which financial viability should be sufficient to show social impact, a view that is supported by a controversial evidence and is based on a selective understanding of conceptual facts. Nevertheless, several initiatives recently translated into the Social Performance Task Force (S...
Lo studio teorico ed empirico delle determinanti delle scelte individuali in condizione di incert... more Lo studio teorico ed empirico delle determinanti delle scelte individuali in condizione di incertezza uno dei temi pi affascinanti e pi irrisolti in economia e le sue implicazioni sono assai rilevanti in quanto riguardano la maggioranza delle nostre decisioni. Assai numerose sono nella realtˆ le violazioni degli assiomi della teoria dellÕutilitˆ attesa e numerosi sono i tentativi a livello teorico di formulare una pi generale teoria dellÕincertezza che le includa. Le verifiche sperimentali offrono un valido supporto al tentativo di individuare il modello teorico pi adatto a descrivere ed interpretare il comportamento effettivo degli individui, il loro grado di avversione al rischio, le eventuali differenze di genere o gli effetti di apprendimento in contesti statici e dinamici, in presenza di scelte rischiose. Gli esperimenti creano in effetti il contesto ceteris paribus che permette agli studiosi di controllare se le suddette violazioni sono connesse alle complicazioni di calcolo, ...
The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 2008
We use data from 298 showings of the television program "Affari Tuoi," which involves c... more We use data from 298 showings of the television program "Affari Tuoi," which involves contestants making decisions between risky prospects with possible prizes of up to half a million euros, to estimate three models of decision-making under risk: Expected Utility, Rank-Dependent Expected Utility and Regret-Rejoice. We find that Regret-Rejoice does not significantly improve upon Expected Utility, while Rank-Dependent outperforms it. Interestingly, we find that the CARA specification fits significantly better than the conventionally-adopted CRRA specification. Crucially, we find a significant role for unobserved heterogeneity, implying that our estimates provide more superior estimates of risk attitude and of probability weighting than other studies.
This work explores the role of discrimination in shaping individuals' lives and opportunitie... more This work explores the role of discrimination in shaping individuals' lives and opportunities, with specific respect to sexual orientation. The role of sexual orientation in explaining earning differences has been increasingly emphasized in empirical literature on discrimination mainly as a result of the growing availability of data sources on gays and lesbian populations. Available evidence predominantly converges on the one hand on the identification of discrimination treatments for gays and positive wage differential for ...
Active ageing strategies have so far strongly focussed on increasing senior workers employment ra... more Active ageing strategies have so far strongly focussed on increasing senior workers employment rates through pension reforms to develop incentives to retire later on the one hand, and labour market policies on the other hand. Most measures are based on the dominant male trajectory of work and retirement and they are not explicitly gender mainstreamed. By contrast, a gender approach would prove fundamental to the labour market inclusion of elderly people, because in old age women suffer from the ...
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