This paper investigates regional disparities of both turnout and voting behaviour in constitutional referendums. The analysis is undertaken at the NUTS-3 level and it considers the three constitutional referendums held in Italy in the period 2001–2016. It finds that turnout was lower in provinces with higher unemployment rates and where citizens had a stronger affiliation to opposition parties. These factors, along with level of government popularity, were important drivers of referendum results, especially in 2006 and 2016 when the referendums were rejected. In addition, while the three referendums implied different effects for rich and poor regions, mainly due to decentralization of powers, the local voting patterns did not reflect this. Overall, these findings suggest that the merit of the constitutional reforms played little part in explaining the outcome of the referendums.
Abstract The longstanding debate on the effectiveness of foreign aid has largely concluded that corruption is one of the major reasons for the failure of aid to sustain development in recipient countries. This paper investigates whether greater involvement of women in recipient countries' political and economic life enhances the effectiveness of foreign aid by reducing the corruption that usually accompanies massive foreign aid. The hypothesis is tested by cross-country empirical analysis, addressing the potential endogeneity of aid and women's participation using an IV approach. We provide robust and causal evidence that greater women's political and labor market participation does reduce the corruption associated with foreign aid, especially when the aid targets sectors that enhance women's well-being. Moreover, we find that while all the dimensions of women's social participation are effective in reducing corruption, the greatest effect derives from the political dimension.
This paper proposes a conceptual framework in which the cultural environment is shaped by historical factors and, in turn, affects entrepreneurship and innovation in the long-term. To support this idea, we have described the scientific revolution that took place in Europe at the end of the Renaissance period, when social and religious tolerance, the power of the church and the attitude of elite groups towards scientific discovery spawned different cultural environments across European regions. In addition, using historical data at NUTS-3 geographical level in Europe, we estimated an econometric model to explore the long-term impact of regional knowledge base and creativity, two important aspects of the cultural environment, on actual economic drivers. The estimates suggest that the presence of universities in the past, our measure for historical knowledge base, and the number of scientists and inventors in the past, our measure for historical creativity, have a positive effect on current levels of regional entrepreneurship and innovation. The effects of creativity depend on the scientific field of the scientists and inventors. Il presente lavoro propone un quadro concettuale in cui l'ambiente culturale è modellato da fattori storici e, a sua volta, influisce sull'imprenditorialità e sull'innovazione a lungo termine. Per supportare questa tesi, abbiamo descritto la rivoluzione scientifica che ha avuto luogo in Europa alla fine del Rinascimento, quando la tolleranza sociale e religiosa, il potere della chiesa e l'atteggiamento delle élite verso le scoperte scientifiche hanno creato diversi ambienti culturali tra le regioni europee. Inoltre, utilizzando dati storici con un livello geografico NUTS-3 in Europa, abbiamo stimato un modello econometrico per esplorare l'impatto di lungo periodo della base di conoscenze e della creatività regionale, due aspetti rilevanti dell'ambiente culturale, su aspetti economici contemporanei. Le stime suggeriscono che la presenza di università nel passato, la nostra misura per la base di conoscenza storica, e il numero di scienziati e inventori nel passato, la nostra misura per la creatività storica, hanno un effetto positivo sull'imprenditorialità e sull'innovazione delle regioni. Inoltre, gli effetti della creatività dipendono dall'area scientifica di appartenenza degli scienziati e degli inventori.
AbstractSocial capital is a widely recognized critical intangible resource for firm success, especially in family businesses, which are considered "emotional arenas". CEOs' social capital could represent a decisive factor, although its influence is unclear. This research aims to deepen the relationship between CEOs' social capital and firm investment opportunity set (IOS). The research hypothesis assumes a positive relationship between CEO social capital and firm's IOS. CEO social capital is estimated considering network centrality indicators suggested by the authoritative social network analysis literature. The IOS is represented by a single composite indicator of four price‐based proxies and one accounting variable. Using a wide sample of listed Italian family firms, the analysis shows that a CEO with a broader relational network decreases firm investment opportunities. The findings suggest that family businesses, in the Italian context, lack the environmental conditions and critical factors to valorize the CEO's social capital in terms of future investment opportunities.
