Edgardo Sica

How much does economic crisis affect sustainability transitions? A social network analysis of the Italian biofuel sector

The present paper investigates the impact of he current economic crisis on the process of sustainability transitions by exploring the case of a green niche, namely the biofuel sector. From a methodological point of view, we employ a social network analysis aimed at comparing the Italian biofuel niche in two different time periods, specifically before and during the crisis. Our findings provide evidence that biofuel actors are responding to the economic crisis by raising the degree of their knowledge exchange. At the same time, they are exhibiting a general scepticism about the future development of the niche, showing a lower level of expectations compared to that of 2007 (i.e. before the crisis). These results suggest that the economic crisis is concretely hindering the transition towards a biofuel-based regime by affecting the degree of maturity of the niche.

Economic dualism and air quality in Italy: testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis

The present work tests the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis (EKC) in Italy for three air pollutants, namely CO2, NOx and SOx, using an emissions data-set disaggregated at the provincial level. An empirical investigation, conducted through both a panel data and a cross-section approach, suggests the existence of the EKC at the national level for CO2 and NOx, but not for SOx. Even more interestingly, the results achieved seem to be affected by the geographical dimension. When the data-set is split into two sub-samples of southern and central-northern provinces, the EKC is in fact found exclusively in the centre-north. This suggests that the inverted U-shaped relationship at the national level is mainly caused by the contribution of provinces that more than offset the environmental performance of their southern counterparts. The sub-sample estimation reveals that the geographical dimension also affects the inverted U-shaped relationship for SOx and income, which is found exclusively in the southern provinces of the peninsula, although it does not contribute towards the EKC at the national level.

Geographical dimension and environmental Kuznets curve: the case of some less investigated air pollutants

The present article provides preliminary results about the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the Italian case for some less investigated air contaminants, such as benzene, sulphur hexafluoride and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). By using an emission data set disaggregated at the provincial level, it investigates whether the EKC is influenced by the geographical dimension, by splitting the national sample into four provincial subsets, according to the characteristics of the Italian productive system. Results suggest that southern provinces follow an EKC for the benzene and sulphur hexafluoride emissions, along with north-eastern provinces that follow a U-shaped trend for HFCs, thus providing evidence that geographical dimension significantly influences the relationship between income and pollutant emissions.

Do Multinational Enterprises push up the Wages of Domestic Firms in the Italian Manufacturing Sector

The present paper aims to test the impact of incoming Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on local wages in the Italian manufacturing sector by using firm level data from 2002 to 2007. Results initially show the lack of wage spillovers at both horizontal and vertical level, meaning that the effects of foreign investment are completely internalized within each firm. However, when the technology gap is taken into account, we find some evidence of a non-linear relationship between gap size and wage spillover. In particular, if the technological gap between local firms and foreign companies is too large, Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) face some difficulty in interacting with domestic suppliers and customers, with the consequence that they act like monads within the host country. We therefore believe that policies favouring the attraction of inward investments, should not be of the ‘one for all’ or ‘one for always’ type, but must be strongly directed towards the sectoral and local characteristics of the host country.

Participatory Planning in Organic Solid Waste Management: A Backcasting Approach

The valorisation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) represents a relevant matter for local governments that may result in significant economic and environmental benefits. In particular, defining the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly OFMSW management strategy should be based upon the active involvement of local stakeholders in order to allow policymakers to take into account all possible environmental, social, technological, and financial OFMSW-related problems. In this framework the present chapter aims at outlining a long-term management plan for OFMSW in the case of the south-eastern Italian municipality of Foggia. To this end we have employed an adapted participatory backcasting experiment based upon a double-step procedure. By means of a focus group with experts on OFMSW management issues at the municipal level, we firstly identified the desired end point and the relative expected obstacles and opportunities. These were then discussed during a workshop organised with a group of local stakeholders, who identified and proposed all possible actions to be carried out in the short, medium, and long term to reach the identified end point. Such a participatory approach should contribute to reducing the bounded rationality and the subjectivity affecting decision-making processes as well as to broaden the knowledge base and to achieve a greater transparency in the definition of OFMSW management strategies.