Stefano Staffolani - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Stefano Staffolani
Chapters, 2005
Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our unde... more Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our understanding about the more relevant economic determinants and policy aspects of the interdependence between economic growth and income distribution.
International Economic Journal, Mar 1, 2011
The aim of this paper is to empirically evaluate the relative effects of international outsourcin... more The aim of this paper is to empirically evaluate the relative effects of international outsourcing of materials and services and of ICT capital deepening on wage inequality between blue and white collars in the Italian manufacturing industry during the period 1985-1999. We merge an administrative data set on workers' wages and individual characteristics with data on imported inputs from Italian input-output tables and other sector-level variables. Our results confirm that both material and service outsourcing widen the skilled/unskilled wage gap while ICT capital deepening positively affects real wages regardless of the worker's status. However, important differences emerge when the overall sample is split between traditional and innovative sectors.
Social Science Research Network, 2018
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, May 1, 2016
This paper presents a theoretical model of enrollment decisions made by high school graduates, un... more This paper presents a theoretical model of enrollment decisions made by high school graduates, under the assumption that their choices are strongly influenced by the educational standard(s), roughly defined as what students are expected to have learned by the end of the course. Higher standards reduce the probability of graduation but increase the accumulation of human capital and future earnings. The policy maker decides whether standards are set equally for all universities (centralization) or autonomously by each university (decentralization). In the centralized setting, the model establishes relationships among the standards that maximize different objectives: graduation, enrollment, and human capital. Specifically, the standard that maximizes graduation is lower than the one that maximizes enrollment, which, in turn, is lower than the one that maximizes human capital. The decentralized setting
Social Science Research Network, Jun 4, 2003
This paper uses a Shapiro-Stiglitz efficiency wage model to analyse the effects of firing costs o... more This paper uses a Shapiro-Stiglitz efficiency wage model to analyse the effects of firing costs on wages, employment, expected utility and profits. It considers that the probability of a non-shirker being fired depends on an exogenous shock which follows a two-state Markov process. It finds that higher severance payments give rise to lower wages, a lower unemployment rate, an increase in firms' profits and a decrease in the utility of both workers and the unemployed. These conclusions derive from the finding that a greater probability of keeping one's job, because of higher firing costs, raises the value of the job and reduces the worker's incentives to behave opportunistically; this enables firms to reduce wages. Hence, if firms pay efficiency wages, a higher degree of labour market flexibility increases unemployment.
Review of Economics of the Household
We study the gendered impact of the nationwide lockdown (March–May 2020) due to the Covid-19 pand... more We study the gendered impact of the nationwide lockdown (March–May 2020) due to the Covid-19 pandemic on the Italian labour market. Based on Labour Force Survey data on the first three quarters of 2020, we define a Triple Difference-in-Differences (DDD) strategy by exploiting the exact timing of the lockdown implementation. After controlling for several individual and job-related characteristics, we found that in non essential sectors (treated group) the lockdown enlarged pre-existent gender inequalities in the extensive margin of employment: the probability of job loss got 0.7 p.p. higher among female workers compared to their male counterparts, and this difference was mainly detected during the reopening period rather than in the strict lockdown phase. The probability to benefit from the wage guarantee fund (CIG), a subsidy traditionally granted by the government for partial or full–time hours reduction, was also higher for female compared to male treated workers (3.6 p.p.), both ...
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Sep 28, 1999
Does Apprenticeship Improve Job Opportunities? A Regression Discontinuity Approach * In Italy the... more Does Apprenticeship Improve Job Opportunities? A Regression Discontinuity Approach * In Italy the reforms of the last twenty years shaped a dual labour market with different levels of employment protection for permanent jobs, on one side, and temporary jobs like apprenticeships and fixed-term contracts, on the other side. The main difference between apprentices and other types of temporary workers is that the former should receive firmprovided training. The firm incentive in hiring apprentices consists in the possibility to pay lower wages and in a reduction in labour taxes. Using an Italian administrative longitudinal dataset containing information on all the job contracts started between January 2009 and June 2012, we estimate hazard functions towards permanent jobs and contrast the ones of apprentices with those of other types of temporary workers. The hazard function estimates based on a regression discontinuity approach affirm that apprenticeships are sorts of "long entrance halls" towards open-ended contracts, especially within the same firm where the apprenticeship was performed.
After the introduction of the IRAP tax in the Italian fiscal system, taxes paid by firms are comp... more After the introduction of the IRAP tax in the Italian fiscal system, taxes paid by firms are computed as a percentage of the value added, rather than net income. Such a reform is likely to change firms' behaviour. In this paper we analyse the effects of the IRAP on the optimal behaviour of a firm operating in a monopolistic competition setting, in terms of changes in factor utilisation, production and profits. The theoretical model is used to evaluate empirically the expected effects of tax reform on the largest firms of the Marche Region.
This paper presents a general equilibrium model where rms producing the consumption good in an ol... more This paper presents a general equilibrium model where rms producing the consumption good in an oligopolistic market purchase advertising in order to increase their market shares. The model aims to evaluate the general equilibrium consequences of such a behaviour. It analyses the e ects of a taxation of advertising on demand for the nal good, on working time and on individual well-being. We conclude that, unless the direct e ects of advertising on utility are strong, a positive tax rate on advertising raises leisure, reduces consumption and increases well-being.
International Journal of Manpower, 2019
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the probability of being ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the probability of being a teleworker and the extent of earnings differentials between teleworkers and traditional employees. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is grounded on a theoretical framework depicting endogenous telework assignment and wage variations based on individual bargaining. The empirical strategy allows for non-random telework assignment, generating from individual- and job-specific observed as well as unobserved factors. Findings Results are based on the Italian labor force survey and uncover a key role of gender, higher education and family composition as determinants of the probability of teleworking. Furthermore, teleworkers enjoy a wage premium ranging between 2.7 and 8 percent. Originality/value Accounting for observed individual and job-specific effects, by both standard linear regression and propensity score matching, largely reduces the extent of wage premium emerging from uncond...
Rivista italiana degli economisti, 2010
ABSTRACT In this paper we investigate the effect of the restructuring of university studies that ... more ABSTRACT In this paper we investigate the effect of the restructuring of university studies that took place in Italy after the introduction of the "3+2" reform on student time allocation and performance. We use data from an Economics Faculty and propensity score matching, which allow us to account for many confounding factors that are likely to affect the before-after reform comparison, to investigate changes in student time allocation and performance in the first-year exams. Our analysis provides lower bound estimates of the change in lecture attendance, self-study time and student performance after the reform, showing that despite a decrease in workload, student performance measured in terms of average grades and of number of exam attempts failed improved. We argue that although this can be explained either by an increase in university efficiency or by grade inflation, several pieces of evidence support the second explanation.
AIEL Series in Labour Economics, 2015
We study the relationship between the enrollment decisions of Italian secondary school graduates ... more We study the relationship between the enrollment decisions of Italian secondary school graduates and the cost of participating in higher education. In particular, we look into the role of incentives, such as scholarship grants, and of the supply of under-priced accommodation which are policy tools in the hands of regional institutes (Enti Regionali per il diritto allo Studio Universitario, ERSU). We provide empirical evidence by estimating a conditional logit model using the survey of 2004 secondary school graduates issued by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). We find that enrollment costs are determinant in students university choices: on average, the elasticity of the probability of enrollment to tuition fees is − 0. 062, the one to expected grants is 0. 028, and the one to expected rent is − 0. 022. Differences between regions are considerable: southern regions show lower elasticities, while small central and northern regions exhibit the largest ones.
AIEL Series in Labour Economics, 2011
ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to evaluate the consequences of the financial crisis on the Ita... more ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to evaluate the consequences of the financial crisis on the Italian labour market by analysing the determinants of individuals’ transitions between occupational states. For this purpose, we use micro-data from the ISTAT Labour Force Survey, a repeated cross-section dataset. In order to identify the determinants of transitions, two strategies are followed: firstly, we consider the “perceived” employment condition, available at the individual level for the previous year. Then, following the “ecological inference” approach, we get quarterly transition probabilities for the “official” employment condition. The economic crisis has mostly penalized young, migrants, men, and people living in the North as well as couples without children and single parents with children. KeywordsCrisis-Transitions-Unemployment-Ecological inference JEL CodesJ23-J63
AIEL Series in Labour Economics, 2012
ABSTRACT In March 2000 the European Council set out an ambitious target for female employment rat... more ABSTRACT In March 2000 the European Council set out an ambitious target for female employment rates in Lisbon, which should reach the level of 60% by 2010. However, Italy is very far from reaching this target. Indeed, according to the Italian National Statistical Institute (Istat) 2003 official data, only 42% of women aged 14–64 were in employment and less than one in two participated in the labour force.
Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution
Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our unde... more Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our understanding about the more relevant economic determinants and policy aspects of the interdependence between economic growth and income distribution.
Chapters, 2005
Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our unde... more Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our understanding about the more relevant economic determinants and policy aspects of the interdependence between economic growth and income distribution.
International Economic Journal, Mar 1, 2011
The aim of this paper is to empirically evaluate the relative effects of international outsourcin... more The aim of this paper is to empirically evaluate the relative effects of international outsourcing of materials and services and of ICT capital deepening on wage inequality between blue and white collars in the Italian manufacturing industry during the period 1985-1999. We merge an administrative data set on workers' wages and individual characteristics with data on imported inputs from Italian input-output tables and other sector-level variables. Our results confirm that both material and service outsourcing widen the skilled/unskilled wage gap while ICT capital deepening positively affects real wages regardless of the worker's status. However, important differences emerge when the overall sample is split between traditional and innovative sectors.
Social Science Research Network, 2018
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, May 1, 2016
This paper presents a theoretical model of enrollment decisions made by high school graduates, un... more This paper presents a theoretical model of enrollment decisions made by high school graduates, under the assumption that their choices are strongly influenced by the educational standard(s), roughly defined as what students are expected to have learned by the end of the course. Higher standards reduce the probability of graduation but increase the accumulation of human capital and future earnings. The policy maker decides whether standards are set equally for all universities (centralization) or autonomously by each university (decentralization). In the centralized setting, the model establishes relationships among the standards that maximize different objectives: graduation, enrollment, and human capital. Specifically, the standard that maximizes graduation is lower than the one that maximizes enrollment, which, in turn, is lower than the one that maximizes human capital. The decentralized setting
Social Science Research Network, Jun 4, 2003
This paper uses a Shapiro-Stiglitz efficiency wage model to analyse the effects of firing costs o... more This paper uses a Shapiro-Stiglitz efficiency wage model to analyse the effects of firing costs on wages, employment, expected utility and profits. It considers that the probability of a non-shirker being fired depends on an exogenous shock which follows a two-state Markov process. It finds that higher severance payments give rise to lower wages, a lower unemployment rate, an increase in firms' profits and a decrease in the utility of both workers and the unemployed. These conclusions derive from the finding that a greater probability of keeping one's job, because of higher firing costs, raises the value of the job and reduces the worker's incentives to behave opportunistically; this enables firms to reduce wages. Hence, if firms pay efficiency wages, a higher degree of labour market flexibility increases unemployment.
Review of Economics of the Household
We study the gendered impact of the nationwide lockdown (March–May 2020) due to the Covid-19 pand... more We study the gendered impact of the nationwide lockdown (March–May 2020) due to the Covid-19 pandemic on the Italian labour market. Based on Labour Force Survey data on the first three quarters of 2020, we define a Triple Difference-in-Differences (DDD) strategy by exploiting the exact timing of the lockdown implementation. After controlling for several individual and job-related characteristics, we found that in non essential sectors (treated group) the lockdown enlarged pre-existent gender inequalities in the extensive margin of employment: the probability of job loss got 0.7 p.p. higher among female workers compared to their male counterparts, and this difference was mainly detected during the reopening period rather than in the strict lockdown phase. The probability to benefit from the wage guarantee fund (CIG), a subsidy traditionally granted by the government for partial or full–time hours reduction, was also higher for female compared to male treated workers (3.6 p.p.), both ...
Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks, Sep 28, 1999
Does Apprenticeship Improve Job Opportunities? A Regression Discontinuity Approach * In Italy the... more Does Apprenticeship Improve Job Opportunities? A Regression Discontinuity Approach * In Italy the reforms of the last twenty years shaped a dual labour market with different levels of employment protection for permanent jobs, on one side, and temporary jobs like apprenticeships and fixed-term contracts, on the other side. The main difference between apprentices and other types of temporary workers is that the former should receive firmprovided training. The firm incentive in hiring apprentices consists in the possibility to pay lower wages and in a reduction in labour taxes. Using an Italian administrative longitudinal dataset containing information on all the job contracts started between January 2009 and June 2012, we estimate hazard functions towards permanent jobs and contrast the ones of apprentices with those of other types of temporary workers. The hazard function estimates based on a regression discontinuity approach affirm that apprenticeships are sorts of "long entrance halls" towards open-ended contracts, especially within the same firm where the apprenticeship was performed.
After the introduction of the IRAP tax in the Italian fiscal system, taxes paid by firms are comp... more After the introduction of the IRAP tax in the Italian fiscal system, taxes paid by firms are computed as a percentage of the value added, rather than net income. Such a reform is likely to change firms' behaviour. In this paper we analyse the effects of the IRAP on the optimal behaviour of a firm operating in a monopolistic competition setting, in terms of changes in factor utilisation, production and profits. The theoretical model is used to evaluate empirically the expected effects of tax reform on the largest firms of the Marche Region.
This paper presents a general equilibrium model where rms producing the consumption good in an ol... more This paper presents a general equilibrium model where rms producing the consumption good in an oligopolistic market purchase advertising in order to increase their market shares. The model aims to evaluate the general equilibrium consequences of such a behaviour. It analyses the e ects of a taxation of advertising on demand for the nal good, on working time and on individual well-being. We conclude that, unless the direct e ects of advertising on utility are strong, a positive tax rate on advertising raises leisure, reduces consumption and increases well-being.
International Journal of Manpower, 2019
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the probability of being ... more Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the determinants of the probability of being a teleworker and the extent of earnings differentials between teleworkers and traditional employees. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is grounded on a theoretical framework depicting endogenous telework assignment and wage variations based on individual bargaining. The empirical strategy allows for non-random telework assignment, generating from individual- and job-specific observed as well as unobserved factors. Findings Results are based on the Italian labor force survey and uncover a key role of gender, higher education and family composition as determinants of the probability of teleworking. Furthermore, teleworkers enjoy a wage premium ranging between 2.7 and 8 percent. Originality/value Accounting for observed individual and job-specific effects, by both standard linear regression and propensity score matching, largely reduces the extent of wage premium emerging from uncond...
Rivista italiana degli economisti, 2010
ABSTRACT In this paper we investigate the effect of the restructuring of university studies that ... more ABSTRACT In this paper we investigate the effect of the restructuring of university studies that took place in Italy after the introduction of the "3+2" reform on student time allocation and performance. We use data from an Economics Faculty and propensity score matching, which allow us to account for many confounding factors that are likely to affect the before-after reform comparison, to investigate changes in student time allocation and performance in the first-year exams. Our analysis provides lower bound estimates of the change in lecture attendance, self-study time and student performance after the reform, showing that despite a decrease in workload, student performance measured in terms of average grades and of number of exam attempts failed improved. We argue that although this can be explained either by an increase in university efficiency or by grade inflation, several pieces of evidence support the second explanation.
AIEL Series in Labour Economics, 2015
We study the relationship between the enrollment decisions of Italian secondary school graduates ... more We study the relationship between the enrollment decisions of Italian secondary school graduates and the cost of participating in higher education. In particular, we look into the role of incentives, such as scholarship grants, and of the supply of under-priced accommodation which are policy tools in the hands of regional institutes (Enti Regionali per il diritto allo Studio Universitario, ERSU). We provide empirical evidence by estimating a conditional logit model using the survey of 2004 secondary school graduates issued by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT). We find that enrollment costs are determinant in students university choices: on average, the elasticity of the probability of enrollment to tuition fees is − 0. 062, the one to expected grants is 0. 028, and the one to expected rent is − 0. 022. Differences between regions are considerable: southern regions show lower elasticities, while small central and northern regions exhibit the largest ones.
AIEL Series in Labour Economics, 2011
ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to evaluate the consequences of the financial crisis on the Ita... more ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to evaluate the consequences of the financial crisis on the Italian labour market by analysing the determinants of individuals’ transitions between occupational states. For this purpose, we use micro-data from the ISTAT Labour Force Survey, a repeated cross-section dataset. In order to identify the determinants of transitions, two strategies are followed: firstly, we consider the “perceived” employment condition, available at the individual level for the previous year. Then, following the “ecological inference” approach, we get quarterly transition probabilities for the “official” employment condition. The economic crisis has mostly penalized young, migrants, men, and people living in the North as well as couples without children and single parents with children. KeywordsCrisis-Transitions-Unemployment-Ecological inference JEL CodesJ23-J63
AIEL Series in Labour Economics, 2012
ABSTRACT In March 2000 the European Council set out an ambitious target for female employment rat... more ABSTRACT In March 2000 the European Council set out an ambitious target for female employment rates in Lisbon, which should reach the level of 60% by 2010. However, Italy is very far from reaching this target. Indeed, according to the Italian National Statistical Institute (Istat) 2003 official data, only 42% of women aged 14–64 were in employment and less than one in two participated in the labour force.
Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution
Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our unde... more Innovation, Unemployment and Policy in the Theories of Growth and Distribution increases our understanding about the more relevant economic determinants and policy aspects of the interdependence between economic growth and income distribution.