Franco Peracchi - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Franco Peracchi

This paper considers estimation of a linear regression model using data where some covariate valu... more This paper considers estimation of a linear regression model using data where some covariate values are missing but imputations are available to fill-in the missing values. The availability of imputations generates a trade-off between bias and precision in the estimators of the regression parameters: the complete cases are often too few, so precision is lost, but filling-in the missing values with imputations may lead to bias. We provide the new Stata command gmi which allows handling such bias-precision trade-off using either model reduction or model averaging techniques in the context of the generalized missing-indicator approach recently proposed by Dardanoni et al.(2011). If multiple imputations are available, our gmi command can be also combined with the built-in Stata prefix mi estimate to account for the extra variability due to the imputation process. The gmi command is illustrated with an empirical application which investigates the relationship between an objective health indicator and a set of socio-demographic and economic covariates affected by substantial item nonresponse.

There is a wide agreement on the fact that a large informal economy leaves many individuals witho... more There is a wide agreement on the fact that a large informal economy leaves many individuals without social protection and reduces government's tax revenue and social security contributions. However, it remains an open question what really drives informality, namely whether workers are simply trapped out of the formal sector or, at least some of them, chose it because it offers better alternatives than a formal job. The policy implications are clearly different in the two cases. In order to shed light on this important issue, we propose a household survey instrument to assess the links between informality and social protection. It can be implemented either through a stand-alone survey or by adding a specific module to an existing general survey such as the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study. After describing the main survey instrument, we present the results of two pilot surveys, carried out in Bulgaria and Colombia, to test the effectiveness of the questionnaire and improve its design. * Very preliminary. The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of a joint HDNSP, PREM, DEC project "Understanding the causes and consequences of informal and low quality employment". We thank Pierella Paci, Stefano Paternostro, Marika Santoro and Lucio Scandizzo for insightful discussions.

Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 2009

Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 2011

This series presents research findings based either directly on data from the German Socio-Econom... more This series presents research findings based either directly on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) or using SOEP data as part of an internationally comparable data set (e.g. CNEF, ECHP, LIS, LWS, CHER/PACO). SOEP is a truly multidisciplinary household panel study covering a wide range of social and behavioral sciences: economics, sociology, psychology, survey methodology, econometrics and applied statistics, educational science, political science, public health, behavioral genetics, demography, geography, and sport science.

La Commissione per la garanzia dell'informazione statistica (CGIS), istituita presso la Presidenz... more La Commissione per la garanzia dell'informazione statistica (CGIS), istituita presso la Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri con i l decreto legislativo n. 322 del 1989, art.12, è un organo collegiale indipendente chiamato a garantire il principio della imparzialità e della completezza dell'informazione statistica. A tal fine la CGIS vigila: (a) sulla imparzialità e completezza dell'informazione statistica; (b) sulla tutela della riservatezza delle informazioni fornite agli enti del Sistema Statistico Nazionale; (c) sulla qualità delle metodologie statistiche e delle tecniche informatiche impiegate nella raccolta, nella conservazione e nella diffusione dei dati; (d) sulla conformità delle rilevazioni alle direttive degli organismi internazionali e comunitari.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Over the last thirty years pathways to retirement have changed substantially in the UK. They have... more Over the last thirty years pathways to retirement have changed substantially in the UK. They have been dominated by spells of unemployment in the late 1970s, with then an increased importance of disability spells from the mid-1980s onwards. At the end of the period the direct route from work to retirement was increasingly more common. General economic conditions seem to have been important driving forces during the entire period. In contrast changes in health do not seem to provide convincing explanations for these trends: mortality has been falling over the period without any apparent link to the share of the population reporting ill health or disability or to the number claiming benefits. We also find evidence that recent reforms have had some impact. The halting of the previous growth in the rate of in-flow onto disability benefits in the mid-1990s coincided with the implementation of a major reform. Evidence from the pilots of the Pathways-to-Work programme in 2003-2005 suggests that those moving onto disability benefits moved off these benefits faster than they would otherwise have done as a direct result of the programme.

We investigate the relationship between ageing, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Surv... more We investigate the relationship between ageing, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a household panel that offers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. The human capital framework suggests that retirement may cause an increase in cognitive decline, since after retirement individuals

We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Surve... more We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a longitudinal survey that oers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. We use a version of the model proposed by Grossman (1972) as a guide for our empirical specication

We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Surve... more We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a longitudinal survey that offers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. We use a version of the model proposed by Grossman (1972) as a guide for our empirical specification

We describe the historical evolution of the Spanish Social Security system and its current organi... more We describe the historical evolution of the Spanish Social Security system and its current organization. Our attention concentrates on the main public pension scheme for private employees in the manufacturing and service sector (RGSS) which covers by far the largest majority of Spanish workers. After describing the way in which pension and retirement decisions are regulated by this system, we

This paper analyzes the evidence provided by the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), a lon... more This paper analyzes the evidence provided by the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), a longitudinal household survey which covers a wide range of topics, giving comparable information across the member states of the European Union before the 2004 enlargment. The ECHP allows us to follow the process of integration into the European labor markets of the cohorts of immigrants that reached Western Europe before the mid-1990s.

Research Policy, 2015

Italy* A relevant question for the organization of large scale research assessments is whether bi... more Italy* A relevant question for the organization of large scale research assessments is whether bibliometric evaluation and informed peer review where reviewers know where the work was published, yield similar results. It would suggest, for instance, that less costly bibliometric evaluation might -at least partlyreplace informed peer review, or that bibliometric evaluation could reliably monitor research in between assessment exercises. We draw on our experience of evaluating Italian research in Economics, Business and Statistics, where almost 12,000 publications dated 2004-2010 were assessed. A random sample from the available population of journal articles shows that informed peer review and bibliometric analysis produce similar evaluations of the same set of papers. Whether because of independent convergence in assessment, or the influence of bibliometric information on the community of reviewers, the implication for the organization of these exercises is that these two approaches are substitutes.

Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participation and Reforms, 2012

Econometric Methods and Their Applications in Finance, Macro and Related Fields, 2014

... Keywords: Child survival; Child height; Childhood environment; Durable goods; Uncondi-tional ... more ... Keywords: Child survival; Child height; Childhood environment; Durable goods; Uncondi-tional quantile partial effects; DHS data; Egypt. ∗ Corresponding author: mahmoud.alhailat@ uniroma2.it. ... EHt− EHs = [δt (EZt− EZs)] + [γt− γs + (δt− δs) EZs], ...

Journal of Wine Economics, 2014

ABSTRACT We use experimental data to disentangle the signaling and budgetary effects of price on ... more ABSTRACT We use experimental data to disentangle the signaling and budgetary effects of price on wine demand. The experimental design allows us to isolate the two effects in a simple and intuitive way. The signaling effect is present and nonlinear: it is strongly positive between 3 euros and 5 euros and undetectable between 5 euros and 8 euros. We find a similar nonlinear price–quality relationship in a large sample of wine ratings from the same price segment, supporting the hypothesis that taster behavior in the experiment is consistent with rationally using prices as signals of quality. Price signals also have greater importance for inexperienced (young) consumers. (JEL Classification: D11, D12, D82)

We thank Franco Mariuzzo and Ronni Pavan for excellent research assistance. We also thank the Ban... more We thank Franco Mariuzzo and Ronni Pavan for excellent research assistance. We also thank the Bank of Italy, the INPS Administration and ISTAT for providing us with the data. Financial support from the EU-sponsored TMR network on "Saving and Pensions", the European Science Foundation and MURST are gratefully acknowledged. The usual disclaimer applies.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Abstract: This paper shows that the" lump of labor" assumption fails in Italy. ... more Abstract: This paper shows that the" lump of labor" assumption fails in Italy. The direct relationship between the unemployment rate of the young and the labor force participation of the old is pro-cyclical, ie a higher labor force participation of the old is related to a lower ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

ABSTRACT Given a scalar random variable Y and a random vector X defined on the same probability s... more ABSTRACT Given a scalar random variable Y and a random vector X defined on the same probability space, the conditional distribution of Y given X can be represented by either the conditional distribution function or the conditional quantile function. To these equivalent representations correspond two alternative approaches to estimation. One approach, distributional regression (DR), is based on direct estimation of the conditional distribution function; the other approach, quantile regression (QR), is instead based on direct estimation of the conditional quantile function. Indirect estimates of the conditional quantile function and the conditional distribution function may then be obtained by inverting the direct estimates obtained from either approach. Despite the growing attention to the DR approach, and the vast literature on the QR approach, the link between the two approaches has not been explored in detail. The aim of this paper is to fill-in this gap by providing a better understanding of the relative performance of the two approaches, both asymptotically and in finite samples, under the linear location model and certain types of heteroskedastic location-scale models.

Journal of Econometrics, 2015

ABSTRACT We address the problem of estimating generalized linear models when some covariate value... more ABSTRACT We address the problem of estimating generalized linear models when some covariate values are missing but imputations are available to fill-in the missing values. This situation generates a bias-precision trade-off in the estimation of the model parameters. Extending the generalized missing-indicator method proposed by Dardanoni et al. (2011) for linear regression, we handle this trade-off as a problem of model uncertainty using Bayesian averaging of classical maximum likelihood estimators (BAML). We also propose a block model averaging strategy that incorporates information on the missing-data patterns and is computationally simple. An empirical application illustrates our approach.

This paper considers estimation of a linear regression model using data where some covariate valu... more This paper considers estimation of a linear regression model using data where some covariate values are missing but imputations are available to fill-in the missing values. The availability of imputations generates a trade-off between bias and precision in the estimators of the regression parameters: the complete cases are often too few, so precision is lost, but filling-in the missing values with imputations may lead to bias. We provide the new Stata command gmi which allows handling such bias-precision trade-off using either model reduction or model averaging techniques in the context of the generalized missing-indicator approach recently proposed by Dardanoni et al.(2011). If multiple imputations are available, our gmi command can be also combined with the built-in Stata prefix mi estimate to account for the extra variability due to the imputation process. The gmi command is illustrated with an empirical application which investigates the relationship between an objective health indicator and a set of socio-demographic and economic covariates affected by substantial item nonresponse.

There is a wide agreement on the fact that a large informal economy leaves many individuals witho... more There is a wide agreement on the fact that a large informal economy leaves many individuals without social protection and reduces government's tax revenue and social security contributions. However, it remains an open question what really drives informality, namely whether workers are simply trapped out of the formal sector or, at least some of them, chose it because it offers better alternatives than a formal job. The policy implications are clearly different in the two cases. In order to shed light on this important issue, we propose a household survey instrument to assess the links between informality and social protection. It can be implemented either through a stand-alone survey or by adding a specific module to an existing general survey such as the World Bank's Living Standards Measurement Study. After describing the main survey instrument, we present the results of two pilot surveys, carried out in Bulgaria and Colombia, to test the effectiveness of the questionnaire and improve its design. * Very preliminary. The research on which this paper is based was conducted as part of a joint HDNSP, PREM, DEC project "Understanding the causes and consequences of informal and low quality employment". We thank Pierella Paci, Stefano Paternostro, Marika Santoro and Lucio Scandizzo for insightful discussions.

Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, 2009

Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, 2011

This series presents research findings based either directly on data from the German Socio-Econom... more This series presents research findings based either directly on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) or using SOEP data as part of an internationally comparable data set (e.g. CNEF, ECHP, LIS, LWS, CHER/PACO). SOEP is a truly multidisciplinary household panel study covering a wide range of social and behavioral sciences: economics, sociology, psychology, survey methodology, econometrics and applied statistics, educational science, political science, public health, behavioral genetics, demography, geography, and sport science.

La Commissione per la garanzia dell'informazione statistica (CGIS), istituita presso la Presidenz... more La Commissione per la garanzia dell'informazione statistica (CGIS), istituita presso la Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri con i l decreto legislativo n. 322 del 1989, art.12, è un organo collegiale indipendente chiamato a garantire il principio della imparzialità e della completezza dell'informazione statistica. A tal fine la CGIS vigila: (a) sulla imparzialità e completezza dell'informazione statistica; (b) sulla tutela della riservatezza delle informazioni fornite agli enti del Sistema Statistico Nazionale; (c) sulla qualità delle metodologie statistiche e delle tecniche informatiche impiegate nella raccolta, nella conservazione e nella diffusione dei dati; (d) sulla conformità delle rilevazioni alle direttive degli organismi internazionali e comunitari.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Over the last thirty years pathways to retirement have changed substantially in the UK. They have... more Over the last thirty years pathways to retirement have changed substantially in the UK. They have been dominated by spells of unemployment in the late 1970s, with then an increased importance of disability spells from the mid-1980s onwards. At the end of the period the direct route from work to retirement was increasingly more common. General economic conditions seem to have been important driving forces during the entire period. In contrast changes in health do not seem to provide convincing explanations for these trends: mortality has been falling over the period without any apparent link to the share of the population reporting ill health or disability or to the number claiming benefits. We also find evidence that recent reforms have had some impact. The halting of the previous growth in the rate of in-flow onto disability benefits in the mid-1990s coincided with the implementation of a major reform. Evidence from the pilots of the Pathways-to-Work programme in 2003-2005 suggests that those moving onto disability benefits moved off these benefits faster than they would otherwise have done as a direct result of the programme.

We investigate the relationship between ageing, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Surv... more We investigate the relationship between ageing, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a household panel that offers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. The human capital framework suggests that retirement may cause an increase in cognitive decline, since after retirement individuals

We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Surve... more We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a longitudinal survey that oers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. We use a version of the model proposed by Grossman (1972) as a guide for our empirical specication

We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Surve... more We investigate the relationship between aging, cognitive abilities and retirement using the Survey on Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a longitudinal survey that offers the possibility of comparing several European countries using nationally representative samples of the population aged 50+. We use a version of the model proposed by Grossman (1972) as a guide for our empirical specification

We describe the historical evolution of the Spanish Social Security system and its current organi... more We describe the historical evolution of the Spanish Social Security system and its current organization. Our attention concentrates on the main public pension scheme for private employees in the manufacturing and service sector (RGSS) which covers by far the largest majority of Spanish workers. After describing the way in which pension and retirement decisions are regulated by this system, we

This paper analyzes the evidence provided by the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), a lon... more This paper analyzes the evidence provided by the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), a longitudinal household survey which covers a wide range of topics, giving comparable information across the member states of the European Union before the 2004 enlargment. The ECHP allows us to follow the process of integration into the European labor markets of the cohorts of immigrants that reached Western Europe before the mid-1990s.

Research Policy, 2015

Italy* A relevant question for the organization of large scale research assessments is whether bi... more Italy* A relevant question for the organization of large scale research assessments is whether bibliometric evaluation and informed peer review where reviewers know where the work was published, yield similar results. It would suggest, for instance, that less costly bibliometric evaluation might -at least partlyreplace informed peer review, or that bibliometric evaluation could reliably monitor research in between assessment exercises. We draw on our experience of evaluating Italian research in Economics, Business and Statistics, where almost 12,000 publications dated 2004-2010 were assessed. A random sample from the available population of journal articles shows that informed peer review and bibliometric analysis produce similar evaluations of the same set of papers. Whether because of independent convergence in assessment, or the influence of bibliometric information on the community of reviewers, the implication for the organization of these exercises is that these two approaches are substitutes.

Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participation and Reforms, 2012

Econometric Methods and Their Applications in Finance, Macro and Related Fields, 2014

... Keywords: Child survival; Child height; Childhood environment; Durable goods; Uncondi-tional ... more ... Keywords: Child survival; Child height; Childhood environment; Durable goods; Uncondi-tional quantile partial effects; DHS data; Egypt. ∗ Corresponding author: mahmoud.alhailat@ uniroma2.it. ... EHt− EHs = [δt (EZt− EZs)] + [γt− γs + (δt− δs) EZs], ...

Journal of Wine Economics, 2014

ABSTRACT We use experimental data to disentangle the signaling and budgetary effects of price on ... more ABSTRACT We use experimental data to disentangle the signaling and budgetary effects of price on wine demand. The experimental design allows us to isolate the two effects in a simple and intuitive way. The signaling effect is present and nonlinear: it is strongly positive between 3 euros and 5 euros and undetectable between 5 euros and 8 euros. We find a similar nonlinear price–quality relationship in a large sample of wine ratings from the same price segment, supporting the hypothesis that taster behavior in the experiment is consistent with rationally using prices as signals of quality. Price signals also have greater importance for inexperienced (young) consumers. (JEL Classification: D11, D12, D82)

We thank Franco Mariuzzo and Ronni Pavan for excellent research assistance. We also thank the Ban... more We thank Franco Mariuzzo and Ronni Pavan for excellent research assistance. We also thank the Bank of Italy, the INPS Administration and ISTAT for providing us with the data. Financial support from the EU-sponsored TMR network on "Saving and Pensions", the European Science Foundation and MURST are gratefully acknowledged. The usual disclaimer applies.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Abstract: This paper shows that the" lump of labor" assumption fails in Italy. ... more Abstract: This paper shows that the" lump of labor" assumption fails in Italy. The direct relationship between the unemployment rate of the young and the labor force participation of the old is pro-cyclical, ie a higher labor force participation of the old is related to a lower ...

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

ABSTRACT Given a scalar random variable Y and a random vector X defined on the same probability s... more ABSTRACT Given a scalar random variable Y and a random vector X defined on the same probability space, the conditional distribution of Y given X can be represented by either the conditional distribution function or the conditional quantile function. To these equivalent representations correspond two alternative approaches to estimation. One approach, distributional regression (DR), is based on direct estimation of the conditional distribution function; the other approach, quantile regression (QR), is instead based on direct estimation of the conditional quantile function. Indirect estimates of the conditional quantile function and the conditional distribution function may then be obtained by inverting the direct estimates obtained from either approach. Despite the growing attention to the DR approach, and the vast literature on the QR approach, the link between the two approaches has not been explored in detail. The aim of this paper is to fill-in this gap by providing a better understanding of the relative performance of the two approaches, both asymptotically and in finite samples, under the linear location model and certain types of heteroskedastic location-scale models.

Journal of Econometrics, 2015

ABSTRACT We address the problem of estimating generalized linear models when some covariate value... more ABSTRACT We address the problem of estimating generalized linear models when some covariate values are missing but imputations are available to fill-in the missing values. This situation generates a bias-precision trade-off in the estimation of the model parameters. Extending the generalized missing-indicator method proposed by Dardanoni et al. (2011) for linear regression, we handle this trade-off as a problem of model uncertainty using Bayesian averaging of classical maximum likelihood estimators (BAML). We also propose a block model averaging strategy that incorporates information on the missing-data patterns and is computationally simple. An empirical application illustrates our approach.