Antonello E. Scorcu

A Price Index for Art Market Auctions

This paper proposes a price index for modern andcontemporary paintings based on estimates and auctionprices. We use this index for the evaluation of theItalian art market and for comparisons with returns onother assets. During the period 1983–1994 art pricesincreased in line with inflation but returns onpaintings were lower than returns on financial assets.In the long run art prices are unrelated to financialassets prices, but a positive correlation with realestate prices emerges.

Economic activity and crime in the long run: an empirical investigation on aggregate data from Italy, 1951-1994

The paper analyzes the economic determinants of crime rates in Italy over the period 1951 to 1994. We show that cointegrating relationships connect the long-run equilibrium levels of crime rates to economic factors in the presence of endogenously determined structural breaks. The long-run pattern of homicides and robberies can be better explained by consumption, whereas thefts are better explained by unemployment.

The 'Right' Price for Art Collectibles. A Quantile Hedonic Regression Investigation of Picasso Paintings

Different art objects are likely to be priced by means of different systems of hedonic characteristics; more precisely, different evaluation procedures for high- and low-price items are often postulated. However, the empirical evidence on this point is scant. The purpose of this article is to fill this gap with a quantile hedonic regression approach. Using a dataset of 716 Picasso paintings sold at auction worldwide, the authors highlight the critical role of the price classes in determining the evaluation criteria of art items.

On the Time Stability of the Output-Capital Ratio.

This paper is concerned with the role of the output-capital ratio in growth models. In the first part we highlight the behaviour of the output-capital ratio along the balanced growth path in the models of Solow (1956) and Romer (1986). In the second part we assess the stability of the ratio for some industrial countries.

In Search of Stylized Facts on Art Market Prices: Evidence from the Secondary Market for Prints and Drawings in Italy

In the paper we develop some price indices for the secondary market forprints and drawings in Italy for the period 1977–1999. Theempirical evidence suggests the emergence of causal links from thepainting series and consumer price series to the print and drawingsprice series. Within the secondary market, the drawings price seriesprecedes the print price series.

Assessing visitor satisfaction with tourism rejuvenation policies: the case of Rimini, Italy

This paper assesses the appeal of potential interventions on the tourism offer of Rimini, a popular Italian seaside holiday destination, by means of a choice modelling analysis. Tourism can be viewed as a composite good, its overall utility depending on the arrangement of the component characteristics. The discrete choice experiments here incorporate as attributes a number of possible changes to current tourist activities (the subject of public debate), including them in hypothetical alternative holiday packages. The conditional logit analysis indicates that tourists show lesser preference for interventions aimed at protecting the environmental integrity of the beach and greater preference for those, such as the creation of a pedestrianised seafront with late-night opening of amenities and facilities, that are likely to diminish the role of the traditional sea, sun and sand component of the overall holiday experience.

Demand distribution dynamics in creative industries: The market for books in Italy☆

We study the distribution dynamics of the demand for books in Italy. We find that for each of three broad sub-markets in which the book publishing industry can be classified − Italian novels, foreign novels and essays − sales over a three-year sample can be adequately fitted by a power law distribution. Our results can be plausibly interpreted in terms of a model of interactions among buyers exchanging information on the books they buy.

Indexation Rules, Risk Aversion and Imperfect Information

Nominal wage adjustment is modeled as resulting from bargaining between a risk neutral firm and a risk averse worker, in an environment where the rate of inflation is a random variable. Risk aversion makes for endogenous indexation arrangements, which deliver partial indexation as they exploit imperfect inflation indices; risk aversion also generates a positive correlation between indexation and inflation variance. The model suggests a distinction between complete vs incomplete inflation adjustment on the one hand, and perfect vs imperfect adjustment on the other hand.

Patterns of Gambling Activities and Gambling Problems Among Italian High School Students: Results from a Latent Class Analysis

This study aims to provide an estimate of the prevalence of gambling among Italian adolescents and a description of their patterns of gambling activities (PGAs) using a latent class analysis on 13 different types of games. A nationwide sample of 10,959 Italian high school students was recruited in 2013. We assessed problem gambling using the South Oaks Gambling Screen: Revisited for Adolescent (SOGS-RA) scale. Approximately half (50.6%) of students reported gambling at least once in the previous year; 5.0% of them were problem gamblers and 9.1% were at-risk gamblers according to their SOGS-RA scores. Eight PGAs were identified, among which heavy players (1.7% of students) could be classified as problem gamblers and broad skill players (2.0%) and lotteries & sports players (2.4%) as “at-risk” players. These high-risk classes were consistently associated with risky behaviours in terms of substance use, school performance, money spent on gambling and family environment; the other five classes identified low-risk players associated with safe behaviours. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify PGAs among Italian adolescents. Problem gamblers are not a homogeneous group in terms of patterns of gambling activities and are associated with different risk factors, among which environmental factors, such as parents’ gambling attitude and behaviour, deserve special attention. The acknowledgment of such patterns and risk factors could be useful in developing sensible public policies addressing prevention strategies and regulatory instruments.

Eco Labels and Tourism Flows: How Much is a Blue Flag Worth?

The rise in destination accessibility and the emergence of new market segments have increased the competition among tourism destinations, both at national and international level. In order to gain a significant competitive advantage over competitors, destinations increasingly make use of signals that certify and communicate the level of quality provided. While existing research on tourism certifications mostly pertains to quality evaluation, this study exploits quantitative methods to assess the economic impact of destinations’ labels. The analysis considers one of the most popular certification of environmental quality attributed to beaches, the Blue Flag award. It explores the relationship between the certification achievement and inbound tourist flows, focusing on the Italian case study. In fact, given their aim of providing synthetized information on destinations, certification programs particularly affect foreign tourists who suffer more from asymmetric information. Panel data techniques and highly disaggregated data are employed to compare the attractiveness of certified and non-certified provinces, by controlling for several factors potentially confounding the effect of the certification.