This thesis aims to fill the gap in the literature by examining the relationship between technological trajectories and environmental policy in the automotive industry, focusing on the role of environmental policies in unlocking the industry from fossil fuel path-dependence. It first explores the inducement mechanism that underpins the interaction between environmental policy and green technological advances, investigating under what conditions the European environmental transport policy portfolio and the intrinsic characteristics of assignees' knowledge boost worldwide green patent production. Subsequently, the thesis empirically analyses the dynamics of technological knowledge involved in technological trajectories assessing evolution patterns such as variation, selection and retention, in order to study the impact of policy implementation on technological knowledge related to electric and hybrid vehicle technologies. Finally, the thesis sheds light on the drivers that encourage a shift from incumbent internal combustion engine technologies towards low-emission vehicle technologies. This analysis tests whether tax-inclusive fuel prices and technological proximity between technological fields induce a shift from non-environmental inventions to environmentally friendly inventive activities and if they impact the competition between alternative vehicle technologies. The findings provide insights into the effectiveness of environmental policy in triggering inventive activities related to the development of alternative vehicle technologies. In addition, there is evidence that environmental policy redirects technological efforts towards a sustainable path and impacts the competition between low-emission vehicles.

This dissertation consists of three papers. The first paper "Ethnicity, Migration and Conflict: Evidence from Contemporary South Africa” exploits some of the institutional changes intervened in South Africa during the end of apartheid to investigate the relationship between ethnic diversity and conflict. I find within-ethnic polarization to be significantly related to the intensity of armed confrontations among black-dominated groups. My investigation thus gives strong and robust empirical support to the theoretical arguments which identify ethnic diversity as one of the determinants of civil conflict. The second chapter, "Pre-Colonial Centralization, Colonial Activities and Development in Latin America", investigates the hypothesis that pre-colonial ethnic institutions shaped contemporary regional development in Latin America. I document a strong and positive relationship between pre-colonial centralization and regional development. Results are in line with the view that highly centralized pre-colonial societies acted as a persistent force of agglomeration of economic activities and a strong predictor of colonial state capacity. The results provide a first evidence of the existence of a link between pre-colonial centralization, colonial institutional arrangements and contemporary economic development. The third paper "Bite and Divide: Malaria and Ethnic Diversity” investigates the role of malaria as a fundamental determinant of modern ethnic diversity. This paper explores the hypothesis, that a large exposure to malaria has fostered differential interactions that reduced contacts between groups and increased interactions within them Results document that malaria increases the number of ethnic groups at all levels of spatial disaggregation and time periods (exploiting historical and current ethnic diversity). Regressions' results show that endogamous marriages are more frequent in areas with higher geographic suitability to malaria. The results are in line with the view that malaria increases intra-ethnic interactions while decreasing inter-ethnic ones.

This thesis consists of three self-contained papers. In the first paper I analyze the labor supply behavior of Bologna Pizza Delivery Vendors. Recent influential papers analyze labor supply behavior of taxi drivers (Camerer et al., 1997; and Crawford and Meng, 2011) and suggest that reference-dependence preferences have an important influence on drivers’ labor-supply decisions. Unlike previous papers, I am able to identify an exogenous and transitory change in labor demand. Using high frequency data on orders and rainfall as an exogenous demand shifter, I invariably find that reference-dependent preferences play no role in their labor’ supply decisions and the behavior of pizza vendors is perfectly consistent with the predictions of the standard model of labor’ supply. In the second paper, I investigate how the voting behavior of Members of Parliament is influenced by the Members seating nearby. By exploiting the random seating arrangements in the Icelandic Parliament, I show that being seated next to Members of a different party increases the probability of not being aligned with one’s own party. Using the exact spatial orientation of the peers, I provide evidence that supports the hypothesis that interaction is the main channel that explain these results. In the third paper, I provide an estimate of the trade flows that there would have been between the UK and Europe if the UK had joined the Euro. As an alternative approach to the standard log-linear gravity equation I employ the synthetic control method. I show that the aggregate trade flows between Britain and Europe would have been 13% higher if the UK had adopted the Euro.

The thesis comprises four essays. The first essay provides a comprehensive survey of the implications of the theories of individual decision making most frequently used in behavioral economics for the optimal pricing strategy of the firm. The second essay focuses on habit forming behavior, namely the behavior when the valuation of the good in each period is affected by whether consumption occurred in preceding periods. It studies how consumers' habit formation affects the pricing policy of firms. Two types of consumers are considered, sophisticated and naive. The latter do not realize that their current consumption is affecting future consumption. Our main result is that under naive habit formation, the optimal pricing pattern is a three part tariff, namely a fixed fee, an amount of units for free and after their end pricing above marginal cost. The firm exploits naivety charging high price towards the end, and low in the beginning triggering the consumption of a forward looking consumer. The third essay studies a market that consists of one firm and habit forming consumers of different degrees of sophistication. The firm cannot observe the sophistication so it screens between the different types of consumers. The menu of contract offered consists of the frequently observed menu of a two-part tariff and a three-part tariff. Finally, the fourth essay proposes a second explanation of three part tariffs, based on the assumption that consumers are forward-looking but impatient. In a dynamic stochastic setting, prices that apply to large volumes tend to be paid towards the end of the contracting period and so are more heavily discounted by consumers. As a result, high prices for large volumes represent an efficient way of extracting surplus. Low prices for small volumes serve to stimulate early consumption, making it more likely that high marginal prices will apply later.

The detection of communities of agents that interacted over time through regional innovation policies is analyzed through the application of three methodologies: Clique Percolation Method (CPM) by Palla et al. (2005), Infomap by Rosvall and Bergstrom (2008), and Dynamic Cluster Index analysis (DCI) by Villani et al. (2013). The case study regards the policy interventions implemented by region Tuscany (Italy) in 2000-2006 with the aim of supporting innovative network projects among local actors. In a context of analysis centered on such a complex object as innovation, and affected by discontinuous temporal dynamics and changing configurations of partnerships of agents, the three methodologies are applied to investigate different specific aspects of community organizations aimed at developing innovative activities. For every methodology three models are developed. In CPM, the elaboration of three models following the observation of the features of all possible partitions makes it possible to overcome the problematic definition of the value of k. In Infomap, the observation of the chronological order in which funded projects were carried out is used to impose different restrictions on the circulation of simulated flows. Finally, the application of DCI analysis to a socio-economic context is developed through the elaboration of different variables describing agents’ behavioral profiles, and through an original contribution in using a cluster analysis aimed at coping with the large quantity of results that the algorithm produces. The investigation of relational structures (through CPM), of shared processes (through Infomap) and of integrated behaviors (through DCI analysis) allowed the identification of communities that reveal, respectively, meaningful characterizations in terms of agents’ participations in specific waves of the policy, of agents’ participations in projects operating in particular technological domains, and in terms of agents’ institutional typologies. / Per individuare comunità di agenti che nel tempo hanno interagito in politiche regionali a sostegno dell’innovazione, si propone l’utilizzo di tre metodologie: Clique Percolation Method (CPM) (Palla et al. 2005), Infomap (Rosvall e Bergstrom 2008), e la Dynamic Cluster Index analysis (DCI) (Villani et al. 2013). Il caso di studio riguarda la serie di politiche messe in atto dalla regione Toscana, nel ciclo di programmazione 2000-2006, con lo scopo di sostenere progetti di reti innovative nel territorio. Nell’analisi di un contesto che riguarda attività innovative, caratterizzato da forti discontinuità temporali nell’implementazione delle politiche e da mutevoli configurazioni nelle collaborazioni, sono state applicate le metodologie citate al fine di indagare tre specifici aspetti che caratterizzano le comunità di agenti con riferimento alla capacità di sviluppare processi innovativi. Lo studio delle strutture relazionali presenti (attraverso il CPM), dei processi di interazione osservati (attraverso Infomap), e dell’integrazione dei comportamenti degli agenti (attraverso la DCI analysis) hanno condotto all’elaborazione di tre modelli di analisi distinti per ciascuna di queste metodologie. Nell’ambito del CPM, la problematica definizione del valore di k è stata affrontata attraverso l’approfondimento delle caratteristiche delle possibili partizioni. Per l’applicazione di Infomap sono state elaborate simulazioni di flussi informativi in grado di tenere conto della sequenza temporale dei progetti finanziati. Infine, nell’ambito del DCI, un primo processo esplorativo, necessario per comprendere come applicare in modo coerente tale metodologia ad un contesto di tipo socio-economico, è stato seguito da due ulteriori modelli in cui l’originale introduzione di una analisi cluster ha consentito di gestire l’enorme mole di output prodotta dall’algoritmo. I risultati mostrano, rispettivamente, partizioni con comunità caratterizzate in termini di partecipazioni a specifici bandi (CPM), in termini di partecipazioni a progetti in specifici ambiti tecnologici (Infomap), e in termini di tipologia degli agenti coinvolti (DCI).

This thesis is primarily based on three core chapters, focused on the fundamental issues of trade secrets law. The goal of this thesis is to come up with policy recommendations to improve legal structure governing trade secrets. The focal points of this research are the following. What is the optimal scope of trade secrets law? How does it depend on the market characteristics such as degree of product differentiation between competing products? What factors need to be considered to balance the contradicting objectives of promoting innovation and knowledge diffusion? The second strand of this research focuses on the desirability of lost profits or unjust enrichment damage regimes in case of misappropriation of a trade secret. A comparison between these regimes is made and simple policy implications are extracted from the analysis. The last part of this research is an empirical analysis of a possible relationship between trade secrets sharing and misappropriation instances faced by firms.

Il capitale sociale e la qualità istituzionale sono due fenomeni che, da circa venti anni, hanno assunto il ruolo di protagonisti all’interno delle scienze sociali. Anche se per molto tempo sono stati analizzati separatamente, già dalla loro definizione è possibile intuire come essi rappresentino due facce della stessa medaglia. Questo lavoro ha l’obiettivo di comprendere quale è le relazione che lega il capitale sociale e la qualità istituzionale all’interno delle regioni dell’Unione Europea. Nonostante buona parte della letteratura si sia maggiormente dedicata all’analisi dei due fenomeni a livello nazionale, in questo elaborato si ritiene che la dimensione territoriale regionale sia l’unità di misura più idonea per analizzarli entrambi. La prima parte del lavoro analizza il capitale sociale sia da un punto di vista definitorio che da un punto di vista più prettamente empirico, suddividendolo in diversi elementi. Il capitale sociale è un fenomeno estremamente multidimensionale, analizzarne solo una parte condurrebbe ad un’analisi parziale ed approssimativa. All’interno del testo vengono individuate cinque dimensioni, utilizzate successivamente per la creazione di un nuovo indice di capitale sociale regionale. Nella seconda parte si affronta il tema delle istituzioni e della qualità istituzionale. Dopo aver definito le istituzioni, si provvede ad effettuare una rassegna degli indici più comunemente utilizzati per misurarne la qualità, selezionando l’European Quality of Government Index del Quality of Government Institute di Göteborg come il più appropriato, sia per la sua definizione di governance che per l’unità di analisi prescelta. Nella terza parte, infine, in seguito ad un’analisi di quella parte di letteratura che ritiene i due fenomeni indissolubilmente legati ed utilizzando l’indice di capitale sociale regionale sviluppato nel primo capitolo, si propone una risposta, sicuramente parziale e non definitiva, alla domanda che da vent’anni anima questo interessante filone di ricerca: che relazione sussiste tra qualità istituzionale e capitale sociale? / In the last 20 years, the concepts of governance and social capital assumed a pivotal role within social science. Even if previous scholars tended to deal with them separately, it is straightforward to notice that the two phenomena are actually highly connected. The aim of this work is to explore the existing relation between social capital and quality of institutions in several European Union's regions. Albeit the majority of the scholars are focused on the national level, this thesis considers the regional dimension, deemed to be the most suitable territorial unit to look at the two phenomena jointly. The first section is devoted to the analysis of the social capital, with the purposes of providing a theoretical definition and illustrating its empirical implications. Social capital is a multidimensional phenomenon, and to deal with just one of these two aspects would have led to a shallow and partial analysis. Moreover, within this section, we are going to individuate five dimensions, used to create a new index of regional social capital. The second part of this contribution is aimed at scrutinizing institutions and their quality. Soon after a preliminary definition, this section is going to provide a review concerning the most common indexes measuring the quality of institutions. Taking into consideration the definition of governance as well as the selected unit of analysis, the European Quality of Government Index, is deemed to be the most suitable for our analysis. Lastly, a final section is going to deal with the body of literature conceiving the two phenomena as highly connected. Employing the new regional social capital index, this conclusive section is going to propose a preliminary answer to the question that, in the last 20 years, has stimulated this interesting debate: what is the type of relation existing between governance and social capital?

Il presente lavoro si compone di tre capitoli, tra loro autonomi e allo stesso tempo intrinsecamente collegati. Nel primo capitolo si è voluto offrire una panoramica dello scenario agroalimentare italiano e della sua rilevanza nel sistema economico nazionale. Per fare ciò si è partiti da una disamina del contesto economico mondiale per poi centrare il discorso sull’andamento congiunturale dell’agroalimentare nazionale, analizzato secondo i principali indicatori macroeconomici. Successivamente vengono presentati gli attori del sistema agroalimentare, rilevando per ciascuno di essi le proprie specificità e tendenze. L’ultima parte del primo capitolo è un focus specifico sul ruolo giocato dall’agroalimentare italiano nel commercio e nei mercati internazionali. Nel secondo capitolo si è approntata una mappatura territoriale e per comparti delle principali specializzazioni commerciali del settore agroalimentare delle regioni italiane. Tramite l'utilizzo di appositi indici di specializzazione si è analizzata la realtà agroalimentare delle regioni italiane, mettendone in evidenza la struttura competitiva e approssimandola tramite l’analisi dei vantaggi comparati di cui gode. Infine, nel terzo capitolo, si è ampliato il campo d'analisi tentando di misurare il livello di internazionalizzazione delle regioni italiane, non solo in ambito agroalimentare, ma considerando l'intero sistema territoriale regionale. Si è tentato di fare ciò tramite tre strumenti: l’analisi delle componenti principali (PCA o ACP), il Mazziotta-Pareto Index e il Wroclaw taxonomic method. I risultati ottenuti tramite le tre modalità di elaborazione hanno permesso di approfondire la conoscenza del livello di internazionalizzazione registrato dalle regioni italiane, mettendo in luce ulteriori filoni di ricerca della tematica osservata. / This work is based upon three chapters, strictly linked to each other. In the first chapter we offer an overview of italian agrifood sector and its importance in the national economy. In order to describe the sector, we started from analyzing the global economic environment, then focusing on agrifood economic trends investigated according to the main macroeconomic indicators. Afterwards, we focused on agrifood system's actors of the analyzing their own specific characteristics and trends. The last part of the first chapter is focused on the role played by italian agrifood sector in the italian and international markets. In the second chapter we tried to map the main agrifood specializations of the Italian regions in a territorial and sector-based perspective. Through indices of specialization we analyzed the reality of regional agrifood sector, highlighting the competitive structure and comparative advantages for each italian region. Finally, in the third chapter, the scope of analysis switched to measure the internationalization level of the italian regions, not only in the food industry, but in a whole regional territorial system perspective. Three main tools helped to gain this scope: Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Pareto-Mazziotta Index and Wroclaw taxonomic method. Results obtained using those methods helped to deepen the knowledge about the level of internationalization of the italian regions, highlighting additional areas of research.

No description available.

Questa tesi di dottorato verte sull'individuazione di politiche industriali atte ad implementare il mercato dei prodotti a denominazione di origine. Inevitabilmente, l’analisi economica dei prodotti agroalimentari tipici di qualità implica anche l’approfondimento e l’individuazione, delle problematiche connesse con la creazione di un valore addizionale per il consumatore, rispetto a quello dei prodotti standardizzati. Questo approccio richiama l’attenzione, da una parte, sulle caratteristiche della domanda e sulla disponibilità del consumatore a riconoscere e apprezzare questo plus-valore, dall’altra sulle strategie che l’offerta può attivare per conseguire un premium price rispetto al prodotto standardizzato. Le certificazioni comunitarie Dop, Igp e Stg oltre che il marchio di prodotto biologico racchiudono, solitamente, tali dinamiche valoriali ma sono tutt’oggi poco conosciute dai consumatori. Diversi studi internazionali dimostrano, infatti, che la maggioranza dei cittadini comunitari ignorano il significato delle certificazioni di qualità. L’ipotesi di fondo di questo studio si basa sulla possibilità di fidelizzare questi marchi con i brand della grande distribuzione già affermati, come quello di Coop. Analizzare gli effetti dell’introduzione di prodotti private label a denominazione di origine nel mercato della grande distribuzione organizzata italiana ci permetterebbe di comprendere se questo segmento di mercato può aiutare il settore delle Dop/Igp. Questo studio ha cercato di verificare se il prodotto private label a denominazione di origine, riesca a sfruttare il doppio binario di fiducia rappresentato dal marchio comunitario unito a quello dell’impresa di distribuzione. Per comprendere la propensione del consumatore a spendere di più per questi prodotti, abbiamo utilizzato l’analisi dell’elasticità della domanda sul prezzo dei dati scanner fornitici da Coop Adriatica. Siamo riusciti a dimostrare tale positivo connubio confermato anche da una indagine demoscopica effettuata ad hoc sui consumatori. / This doctoral thesis focuses on the identification of industrial policies designed to implement the market for products with designation of origin. Inevitably, the economic analysis of typical food quality also implies the study and identification, of the problems associated with the creation of additional value for the consumer, compared to that of standardized products. This approach draws attention, on the one hand, the characteristics of demand and consumer willingness to recognize and appreciate this added value, the other on strategies that can activate the offer in order to achieve a premium price compared to the standardized product. The certifications Community PDO, PGI and TSG as well as the brand of organic products contain, usually, value-but these dynamics are still poorly understood by consumers. Several international studies have shown, in fact, that the majority of EU citizens are ignorant of the meaning of quality certifications. The basic hypothesis of this study is based on the ability to retain these brands with brands of large retailers already established, such as Coop. To analyze the effects of the introduction of private label products with a designation of origin in the Italian market supermarket chains would allow us to understand whether this segment of the market can help the field of PDO / PGI. This study sought to determine whether the private label product designation of origin, is able to take advantage of the dual track of confidence represented by the European certification brand combined with that of the distribution. To understand the propensity of consumers to spend more for these products, we used the analysis of the elasticity of demand on the price of scanner data supplied to us by Coop Adriatica. We were able to demonstrate that positive union also confirmed by an opinion poll carried out ad hoc on consumers.