This collection of essays examines various aspects of regional development and the issues of internationalization. The first essay investigates the implications of the impressive growth of China from a rural-urban perspective and addresses the topic of convergence in China by employing a non-parametrical approach to study the distribution dynamics of per capita income at province, rural and urban levels. To better understand the degree of inequality characterizing China and the long-term predictions of convergence or divergence of its different territorial aggregations, the second essay formulates a composite indicator of Regional Development (RDI) to benchmark development at province and sub-province level. The RDI goes beyond the uni-dimensional concept of development, generally proxied by the GDP per capita, and gives attention to the rural-urban dimension. The third essay “Internationalization and Trade Specialization in Italy. The role of China in the international intra-firm trade of the Italian regions” - deals with another aspect of regional economic development: the progressive de-industrialisation and de-localization of the local production. This essay looks at the trade specialization of selected Italian regions (those regions specialized in manufacturing) and the fragmentation of the local production on a global scale. China represents in this context an important stakeholder and the paper documents the importance of this country in the regional intra-firm trade.

Analysts, politicians and international players from all over the world look at China as one of the most powerful countries on the international scenario, and as a country whose economic development can significantly impact on the economies of the rest of the world. However many aspects of this country have still to be investigated. First the still fundamental role played by Chinese rural areas for the general development of the country from a political, economic and social point of view. In particular, the way in which the rural areas have influenced the social stability of the whole country has been widely discussed due to their strict relationship with the urban areas where most people from the countryside emigrate searching for a job and a better life. In recent years many studies have mostly focused on the urbanization phenomenon with little interest in the living conditions in rural areas and in the deep changes which have occurred in some, mainly agricultural provinces. An analysis of the level of infrastructure is one of the main aspects which highlights the principal differences in terms of living conditions between rural and urban areas. In this thesis, I first carried out the analysis through the multivariate statistics approach (Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis) in order to define the new map of rural areas based on the analysis of living conditions. In the second part I elaborated an index (Living Conditions Index) through the Fuzzy Expert/Inference System. Finally I compared this index (LCI) to the results obtained from the cluster analysis drawing geographic maps. The data source is the second national agricultural census of China carried out in 2006. In particular, I analysed the data refer to villages but aggregated at province level. / La Cina è sicuramente uno dei più potenti paesi del mondo la cui economia può influenzare quella degli altri paesi. Tuttavia ci sono molti aspetti poco indagati di questo paese che necesiterebbero di ulteriori approfondimenti. Primo fra tutti il ruolo fondamentale delle aree rurali sia in termini politici che economici e sociali. Di particolare rilevanza l'influenza che le aree rurali hanno sulla stabilità dell'intero paese. Molti studi recenti si sono concentrati sul fenomeno dell'urbanizzazione tralasciando l'analisi delle condizioni di vita e dei profondi cambiamenti avvenuti nelle zone rurali. In questa tesi ho condotto prima un'analisi attraverso due metodologie di statistica multivariata (PCA e CA). Nella seconda parte ho invece elaborato un indice basato sull'approccio Fuzzy Logic. Infine ho comparato i risultati così ottenuti riportandoli su mappe. I dati utilizzati sono quelli del secondo censimento dell'agricoltura condotto nel 2006. In particolare ho analizzato i dati riferiti ai villaggi e aggregati a livello di provincia.

This thesis contributes to the current debate in literature about local economic development by considering two different topics: quality of institutions, and the role of clusters in innovation and productivity growth. The research is built upon three papers. The first paper deals with the analysis of the effect of administrative continuity on administrative efficiency. The analysis underlines the importance of different typologies of social capital. Findings reveal a positive impact on administrative efficiency (AE) by administrative continuity (AC) when it is coupled by bridging and linking social capital. On the contrary, bonding social capital influences negatively the effect by AC on AE. The second paper investigates the spatial interaction in levels of quality of government (QoG) among European regions. Notwithstanding the largely recognised role by institutions in the design of regional policies, no study has been conducted about the mechanisms of interaction and diffusion of QoG at regional level. This research wants to overcome this knowledge gap in literature. Findings reveal a heterogeneity in spatial interaction among groups of regions, i.e. ‘leader regions’ (Northern regions) and ‘lagging regions’ (Southern regions), when considering different mechanisms of interaction (learning / imitating competition and pure competition). Moreover, the effect of wealth on the levels of QoG is nonlinear. Finally, the third paper analyses the relation among specialization and productivity within the agricultural sector. In literature, the study of clusters dynamics has long neglected agriculture. The analysis describes the changes in sectorial specialization for eight main crop groups in Italian regions (NUTS 3), assessing the existence of spatial autocorrelations by using an exploratory data analysis. Furthermore, the effect of specialization on productivity is analysed within the main crop groups using a spatial panel data model. Findings reveal a marked tendency to specialization in the Italian agriculture, and a heterogeneous effect by specialization on productivity.

The advances that have been characterizing spatial econometrics in recent years are mostly theoretical and have not found an extensive empirical application yet. In this work we aim at supplying a review of the main tools of spatial econometrics and to show an empirical application for one of the most recently introduced estimators. Despite the numerous alternatives that the econometric theory provides for the treatment of spatial (and spatiotemporal) data, empirical analyses are still limited by the lack of availability of the correspondent routines in statistical and econometric software. Spatiotemporal modeling represents one of the most recent developments in spatial econometric theory and the finite sample properties of the estimators that have been proposed are currently being tested in the literature. We provide a comparison between some estimators (a quasi-maximum likelihood, QML, estimator and some GMM-type estimators) for a fixed effects dynamic panel data model under certain conditions, by means of a Monte Carlo simulation analysis. We focus on different settings, which are characterized either by fully stable or quasi-unit root series. We also investigate the extent of the bias that is caused by a non-spatial estimation of a model when the data are characterized by different degrees of spatial dependence. Finally, we provide an empirical application of a QML estimator for a time-space dynamic model which includes a temporal, a spatial and a spatiotemporal lag of the dependent variable. This is done by choosing a relevant and prolific field of analysis, in which spatial econometrics has only found limited space so far, in order to explore the value-added of considering the spatial dimension of the data. In particular, we study the determinants of cropland value in Midwestern U.S.A. in the years 1971-2009, by taking the present value model (PVM) as the theoretical framework of analysis.

The dissertation is structured in three parts. The first part compares US and EU agricultural policies since the end of WWII. There is not enough evidence for claiming that agricultural support has a negative impact on obesity trends. I discuss the possibility of an exchange in best practices to fight obesity. There are relevant economic, societal and legal differences between the US and the EU. However, partnerships against obesity are welcomed. The second part presents a socio-ecological model of the determinants of obesity. I employ an interdisciplinary model because it captures the simultaneous influence of several variables. Obesity is an interaction of pre-birth, primary and secondary socialization factors. To test the significance of each factor, I use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health. I compare the average body mass index across different populations. Differences in means are statistically significant. In the last part I use the National Survey of Children Health. I analyze the effect that family characteristics, built environment, cultural norms and individual factors have on the body mass index (BMI). I use Ordered Probit models and I calculate the marginal effects. I use State and ethnicity fixed effects to control for unobserved heterogeneity. I find that southern US States tend have on average a higher probability of being obese. On the ethnicity side, White Americans have a lower BMI respect to Black Americans, Hispanics and American Indians Native Islanders; being Asian is associated with a lower probability of being obese. In neighborhoods where trust level and safety perception are higher, children are less overweight and obese. Similar results are shown for higher level of parental income and education. Breastfeeding has a negative impact. Higher values of measures of behavioral disorders have a positive and significant impact on obesity, as predicted by the theory.

The objective of this study is to measure the impact of the national subsidy scheme on the olive and fruit sector in two regions of Albania, Shkodra and Fier. From the methodological point of view, we use a non- parametric approach based on the propensity score matching. This method overcomes problem of the missing data, by creating a counterfactual scenario. In the first step, the conditional probability to participate in the program was computed. Afterwards, different matching estimators were applied to establish whether the subsidies have affected sectors performance. One of the strengths of this study stays in the data. Cross-sectional primary data was gathered through about 250 interviews.. We have not found empirical evidence of significant effects of government aid program on production. Differences in production found between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries disappear after adjustment by the conditional probability of participating into the program. This suggests that subsidized farmers would have performed better than the subsidized households even in the absence of production grants, revealing program self-selection. On the other hand, the scheme has affected positively the farm structure increasing the area under cultivation, but yields has not increased for beneficiaries compared to non beneficiaries. These combined results shed light on the reason of the missed impact. It could be reasonable to believe that the new plantation, in particular in the case of olives, has not yet reached full production. Therefore, we have reasons to believe on positive impacts in the future. Concerning some qualitative results, the extension of area under cultivation is strongly conditioned by the small farm size. This together with a thin land market makes extremely difficult the expansion beyond farm boundaries.

A 7 anni dall’avvio dell’ attuazione della Politica di Coesione dell’Unione Europea 2007- 2013, l’Italia ha il tasso di assorbimento dei Fondi Strutturali più basso d’Europa, insieme alla Romania, e rischia di subire un disimpegno delle risorse, che rappresenterebbe un gravissimo fallimento economico e politico. Il contributo di questo lavoro al dibattito sull’uso dei Fondi strutturali in Italia è duplice. Da una parte, per la prima volta, si propone uno studio sistematico delle criticità nella gestione del periodo 2007-2013, che hanno causato l’attuale ritardo nella spesa. Dall’altra, si affronta il problema italiano sia da una prospettiva europea sia nella sua dimensione nazionale, indagando le differenze regionali nella performance di spesa e proponendo un’analisi basata su tre dimensioni principali delle criticità: finanziaria, politica, amministrativa. L’approccio della ricerca consiste nella convergenza di dati quantitativi e qualitativi, raccolti durante un periodo di ricerca a Bruxelles e presso le Autorità di Gestione dei Programmi Operativi cofinanziati dal FESR. La questione dell’assorbimento finanziario e del ritardo nell’attuazione è stata indagata da tre punti di vista. Una prospettiva “storica”, che ha raccontato il ritardo strutturale nell’utilizzo dei Fondi Strutturali in Italia e che ha chiarito come il problema italiano, prima dell’attuale ciclo 2007-2013, sia stato non di quantità, ma di qualità della spesa. La seconda prospettiva è stata di respiro europeo, ed è servita a indagare le cause del basso livello di assorbimento finanziario dell’Italia suggerendo alcuni elementi utili a comprendere le ragioni di un simile divario con gli altri Paesi. Infine, la prospettiva nazionale e regionale ha svelato l’esistenza di un mix complesso, e micidiale, che ha letteralmente paralizzato la spesa italiana dei Fondi. Un mix di fattori finanziari, politici e amministrativi che non ha avuto eguali negli altri Paesi, e che si è concentrato soprattutto, ma non esclusivamente, nelle regioni dell’Obiettivo Convergenza. / After 7 years of EU Cohesion Policy 2007-2013 implementation, Italy has the Europe’s lowest financial absorption rate of Structural Funds, together with Romania, and risks losing part of its money because of the “decommitment” under the n+2 rule, that would represent a great economic and political failure. The contribution of this thesis to the debate on the use of Structural Funds in Italy is twofold. On the one hand, for the first time, it proposes a systematic study on the 2007-2013 management problems, that generated the current delay in expenditure. On the other hand, it faces the Italian problemboth from a European and national perspective, exploring the regional differences in the expenditure performance, and proposing an analysis based on three main dimensions: financial, political, administrative. The core of the methodology is the convergence between quantitative and qualitative data, gathered during a research period in Brussels (DG Regio) and in the Managing Authorities of the Italian Operational Programmes co- financed by ERDF. The issue of “financial absorption capacity” and the delay of the implementation are investigated from three complementary points of view. An “historical” perspective, that showed the structural delay of the Italian implementation and the qualitative, rather than quantitative, problem. The European perspective, that served to explore the causes of the Italian low absorption rate, suggesting some useful elements to understand the reasons of the wide gap between Italy and the other Member States. Finally, the national and regional perspective unveiled the existence of a complex, and deadly, mix of factors that paralysed the Italian expenditure of Structural Funds. A unique mix of financial, political and administrative factors, concentrated mainly, but not exclusively, in Convergence regions.

In my thesis I apply the ethical model developed by John Rawls (1999) to three systems which have an economic dimension: European Union, tax compliance and environmental sustainability. With this task my purpose is to answer to the following overarching research question: is an impartial and non-binding agreement, conceived in a Rawlsian frame, sufficient to generate fair and stable redistributive institutions? This general research question is then addressed and inflected according to the specific economic domains mentioned above.

Though cotton only represents a very small share in world merchandise trade, it is an indispensable commodity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Productivity and profitability of cotton production and processing are key determinants of growth in cotton producing countries. This study analyses the SSA cotton sector. The first section will use value chain analysis to trace the value creation process from the raw material stage to final retail products. The second section analyses the sector from an industrial organizational perspective, highlighting how the sector’s specific features have influenced reforms outcomes and comparing experiences to other reformed SSA crop sectors. The purpose of section three is to shed light on Research and Development in cotton in SSA, framed in a broader picture of agricultural research in SSA. The final section analyses the issue of quality in cotton and tests the assertion that fully implemented reforms have undermined quality performance of the cotton sector in SSA. Keywords sub-Saharan Africa Cotton Sector, Cotton Liberalization, Cotton R&D, Cotton Quality

The main purpose of this thesis is to identify the role of sustainable development in Laos, based on the integration of three factors, economic growth, social development, and the environmental dimension. Annual time series data are used for the period 1980-2010. In order to generate the most appropriate regression, relevant theoretical and empirical studies are reviewed. This thesis contributes to the on-going research issue about key determinants influencing sustainable development in developing countries. Firstly, this study uses the first different of logarithm form to identify the determinants of economic growth, the impacts of growth on poverty and environmental conditions in Laos. However, using the multiple regressions, serious problems of multicollinearity were encountered and those results became less reliable. Principal components analysis (PCA) is a technique to handle the problem of multicollinearity and produce stable and meaningful estimates for regression coefficients. This thesis concludes that there are several variables, both internal and external factors, which have influenced the current economic growth of Laos. Particularly the internal factors (domestic investment, government expenditure, and industry) show their strong correlation with economic growth, while the external factor (participation in ASEAN) also plays an important role in economic growth. On the other hand, the other external factors (FDI, AID and OPEN) show a weaker link to domestic growth of Laos. In the long run, to ensure the effectiveness of external factors on domestic growth, this research suggests exploiting more effectively the opportunities provided by foreign direct investment, through the openness of the system to globalization and international trade, together with better management of aid allocation. The impacts of economic growth on poverty and environmental conditions are then considered, questioning whether economic growth leads to the reduction of poverty and whether it produces a pressure on environmental conditions. This study found that those determinants not only have been dominant in economic growth, but they do indeed correlate with a reduction in the level of poverty. On the other hand, the increase in economic activities leads to increased environmental damage. This research supports continuing the adjustment of domestic activity investment, government expenditure, improving trade openness system, foreign direct investment, aid allocation, ASEAN, and so on. These factors can help the country to grow and poverty to diminish but we have also to pay attention to their impacts on the environment. Sustainable development would achieve its goal only if these internal and external factors contribute to economic growth, where this growth is distributed across the entire population, together with environmental protection conditions. In order to attain the goal of sustainable development, strong environmental and natural resource protection policies are suggested. To maintain a high rate of economic growth, this study suggests considering the natural resources and the areas with the greatest potential to be utilized for growth; such as tourism sustainability, human resource improvement and trade policy improvement. To improve social development, reduce the development gap and eradicate extreme poverty, it is suggested that community participation development, gender promotion, and investment in social services be increased especially in rural areas.