Houses without people and people without houses: a cultural and institutional exploration of an Italian paradox

According to basic economics, when vacancy rates rise, house prices should decrease and vice versa, responding to supply and demand mechanisms. However, previous studies have observed that, before the economic crisis, this was not the case in Spain and Malta. It has been questioned whether this paradox is a Mediterranean phenomenon or simply the result of isolated cases of malfunctioning housing market. This paper contributes to this discussion by reviewing the pre-crisis housing market of a third case study: Italy. A Mediterranean housing system perspective is used to analyse the paradox, and methodological issues regarding the definition and measurement of vacancy are addressed. Moreover, the paper explores the consequences of the high Italian vacancy rate within a context of housing shortages and affordability problems. We argue that a better understanding of the characteristics and implications of vacancy is necessary in order to be able to implement sustainable housing and planning policies.     

Migration and institutional quality across Italian provinces: The role of human capital

A recent literature strand has emphasized the importance of international migration on the institutional quality of sending and receiving countries. On the contrary, there is no evidence of the effects of intra-national, interregional mobility on government quality, a phenomenon which is particularly relevant in countries affected by significant internal dualism. Using a system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM) estimator on a 2004–2012 panel dataset, this paper empirically investigates the relationship between internal net-migration and institutional quality of Italian provinces. The findings show that migration has a relevant and positive effect on the quality of institutions only when the human capital content is taken into account.     

Innovative Output,Productivity and Profitability. A Test Comparing USPTO and EPO Data

The aim of this paper is to test whether patent‐based indicators are still reliable measures of innovativeness in light of organizational changes in the field of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection and the regulatory reforms already occurred and under way, respectively, at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the European Patent Office (EPO). For most high‐tech industries, patents represent an outcome of the production process and their number can be taken as a proxy for a firm's ability to improve its productivity growth and profitability. The case study reported here concerns the biotechnology industry in Italy, whose firms, by definition, have Intellectual Property (IP) activities in their portfolios. For this purpose, we use a unique dataset which collects balance sheet items and patent information from EPO and USPTO. After linking firms' financial and production data with the patent information, we estimate a modified knowledge production function in which the dependent variable is alternatively (labor) productivity growth and profitability. Although based on a quite small sample, our findings provide some indication of a statistically significant relationship between patents with the EPO and both productivity growth and, in particular, profitability. This suggests that firms might pursue different strategies when patenting with the USPTO and the EPO.     

Aflatoxin M1 in raw,UHT milk and dairy products in Sicily (Italy)

A survey on 73 milk samples from different animal breeds and 24 dairy products samples from Sicily, Italy, was carried out for the presence of aflatoxin M₁ (AFM1) by LC-fluorescence detection after immunoaffinity cleanup. AFM1 was detected in 48% and 42% of the milk and dairy samples at concentration ranges between <5.0–16.0 and <5.0–18.0 ng L^?1, respectively. Within the raw milk samples, 92% had an AFM1 content below 5.0 ng L^?1, in 7% of the cases it was in the range 5.0–10.0 ng L^?1 and 1% was contaminated between 10.0 and 20.0 ng L^?1. For the dairy products, ultra-high-temperature treated (UHT) milk, milk cream and cheese, the incidence was 42%, of which 83% contained less than 5.0 ng L^?1 and 17% contained 10.0–20.0 ng L^?1 AFM1. The levels of contamination found justify continuous monitoring for public health and to reduce consumer exposure.     

Ecological compensation in spatial planning in Italy

Ecological compensation or biodiversity offsets are increasingly recognized as a key element for environmental sustainability; however, more attention has been paid so far to compensation applied at the project level rather than to spatial planning. Meanwhile, there is a growing acknowledgement that extensive environmental depletion is being caused by the cumulative effects of small developments allowed by spatial/land use plans. This paper aims to collect empirical evidence on the requirements for ecological compensation at a strategic level of decision-making – spatial planning – in Italy. Results indicate that spatial plans are increasingly introducing offset requirements for residual impacts of new urban developments; however, methodological and operational aspects are not sufficiently addressed and enforcement mechanisms appear weak. The lack of legal frameworks and of established methods appears to be the main element currently hindering biodiversity offset implementation at the planning level. It is suggested that, in the Italian context, a way to foster better implementation is the design of environmental stewardship schemes involving farmers, developers and planning authorities.     

The new conceptual framework for food supply chain assessment

Food industry is the first in European Community for revenues, with more than 8 millions of employee. Logistics and supply chain management play a crucial role in food industry.     

解析意大利设计

纵观意大利设计的发展过程,我们可以清楚的看到,无论哪个时期,哪个流派,哪个设计师,意大利的设计都是有着某个思想领导的,就是所谓的意识形态,意识形态的变化会带来设计观念的更改。我们应该以客观的态度去看待意大利的设计,不能因为喜欢就全盘肯定它有多好,应该在理性的分析之中发现他的精妙之处以借鉴和学习,发现他的缺点和错误以避免以后的失误。我们看到他们设计精良的名品时也要看到他们那些失败的设计,不能一味的全盘接受,应该高举鲁迅先生的所赞同的拿来主义。同时我们应该看到我们中国的设计土壤的营养,去发掘它们让我们中国的设计也在世界优秀设计的舞台上翩翩起舞。     

Distribution of generalist and specialist predators along urban gradients

The distribution of predators in urban areas is overlooked by urban planners. Due to the homogenizing power of urbanization, towns are expected to favour the settlement of generalist predators. We compared the frequency of specialist and generalist predators along an urban gradient (centre, inner periphery, outer periphery, and scarcely built areas) in towns of different size (small, medium, large). We obtained data on specialist (diurnal and nocturnal raptors, Dendrocopos major) and generalist (Larus michahellis, corvids) predators breeding in each square of the grid of 27 urban atlases. The number of species per square of specialist predators decreased in more urbanised sectors, whereas the number of generalist predators either did not change or increased in the same sectors. However, some specialist (nocturnal raptors except Athene noctua) and generalist (Garrulus glandarius, Pica pica) predators did not follow such a pattern of distribution. Town size may affect the distribution of predators. Some species (D. major, G. glandarius, P. pica) were more frequent in the more urbanised sectors in small towns. Data gathered in few towns on a limited number of predator species may not fully represent the complex response by predators to urban gradients. Urban planners should consider the distribution of predators in towns to limit risks for urban wildlife.     

Quantifying intra-annual persistent behaviour in SPOT-VEGETATION NDVI data for Mediterranean ecosystems of southern Italy

Multi-temporal series of satellite SPOT-VEGETATION Normalized Difference of Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from 1998 to 2003 were exploited for studying persistence in Mediterranean ecosystems of southern Italy. We used Multiple Segmenting Method (MSM), which is well suited to analyze scaling behaviour in short time series, and the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (DFA), which permits the detection of persistent properties in nonstationary signal fluctuations. Our findings point out to the characterization of Mediterranean ecosystems as governed by persistent mechanisms.     

意大利油桃引种试验初报

对从国外引种的意大利油桃品种，进行主要性状观察记载，试验初步表明意大利油桃可在江西贵溪正常生长，结果。