Annali del Dipartimento di metodi e modelli per l'economia, il territorio e la finanza

Bridging theoretical advancements and empirical practices in environmental justice research: towards a mixed-methods approach

Giorgia Scognamiglio — 2024-11-05

This critical review explores the evolution of environmental justice research, highlighting the transition from a primary focus on the distribution of environmental “goods” and “bads” to a multidimensional approach that includes recognition, participation, and socio-historical analysis. The review evaluates empirical studies, categorizing them into quantitative and qualitative methods, and assesses their strengths and limitations. While quantitative research has been instrumental in mapping spatial inequalities, it often fails to capture the socio-historical and structural processes that shape environmental injustices. On the other hand, while qualitative methods have added depth by capturing lived experiences and complex socio-political dynamics, they often lack the ability to address spatial patterns systematically. The separation of these approaches has limited the field’s ability to fully understand environmental justice. To bridge these gaps, the contribution proposes a framework for a new generation of environmental justice (EJ) scholars, advocating for mixed-methods research and the adoption of a critical geographical perspective. This integrated approach aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of environmental justice, encompassing distribution, recognition, participation, and other possible dimensions, thereby enhancing both academic insight and practical policy impact.

Dynamic optimal asset allocation in a multivariate setting

Sara Iannilli — 2024-04-09

This article analyzes a portfolio allocation problem to determine how resources should be allocated among several possible investments. Investors aim to maximize the profit of an investment while also considering the risks arising from infrequent events. The global financial crisis, which began with subprime mortgages in the United States, has fundamentally changed the way we invest. As we know, investors want to maximize returns while controlling the risk associated with a particular investment. This behavior must be modeled mathematically using optimal control theory and expected utility maximization. A continuous-time market is considered in a multivariate context in which there exist risky asset classes and a risk-free asset with a constant interest rate. We deviate from the traditional approach by considering co-precision, the inverse of the covariance matrix, as a measure of risk. The optimal weights obtained are proportional (inversely) to the risk measure (volatility). The model is tested on 11 asset classes used by a large company also carrying out a stress test on the jump component to analyze the allocation of the investors’ portfolio in a real context.

Bespoke Tranche Opportunities: the new era of securitization

Maria Giuseppina Bruno — 2024-05-16

This paper reviews the structure of Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs), finan cial products used in the period of the 2008 sub-prime mortgage crisis, in order to understand the reasons that lead them to be considered the main responsible for it. The legacy of CDOs, which is reflected in Bespoke Tranche Opportunities (BTOs), is then discussed in order to understand whether they are equally ”toxic” products, as CDOs were defined after the outbreak of the crisis, or they are really innovative tool of securitization.

Location models of electric charging stations in the city of Rome

Marisa Cenci — 2024-05-28

The issue of the location of charging stations for electric vehicles is becoming very important due to governmental decisions on electric mobility. Many authors have addressed this problem with the support of graph theory and graph optimization. In dealing with this problem, typical operational research models and approaches used for facility location, such as p-median, coverage problem and queuing theory, have been resorted to. In this paper we apply these models to the location of charging stations in the city of Rome. In particular, we analyze the suitability of existing charging sites and suggest where to implement new chargers using a p-median-like model. Finally, we study the waiting time distribution when the nearest charging stations are occupied, and we use queuing theory to show how much demand for the service would improve with the implementation of the new charging points.

Does international student mobility lead to more emigration? An empirical study of the expatriation intentions of students at the University of Udine

Gian Pietro Zaccomer — 2024-06-24

The recent increase in emigration of young Italian university graduates represents a significant challenge for the country's economy, reflecting a global phenomenon of academic and professional mobility. This paper focuses on the University of Udine in order to understand the emigration intentions of attending students who were about to complete a Bachelor’s degree. Through analysing a sample of more than ten thousand questionnaires completed between 2018 and 2022 by Bachelor’s degree candidates, we investigated their international mobility intentions and factors contributing to the decision to seek opportunities abroad. Using a logit model, it was possible to highlight the significant impact of previous international mobility experiences during university studies, such as those related to the Erasmus programme. This study confirms that international student mobility may lead to more emigration, bolstering the conclusions of a previous report by AlmaLaurea, an Italian consortium linking universities, graduates and companies.

Educationally heterogamous unions and country level inequalities in Europe before and after 1990

Alessandra Trimarchi — 2024-09-27

Scholars are interested in the association between partnership formation and socioeconomic status due to the link with the reproduction of social inequalities. Previous findings showed that low educated individuals are more likely than highly educated to form heterogamous unions (i.e., partners have a different level of education). The educational gradient in heterogamous union formation has been linked to the level of societal-openness in a country. Still, it is not clear-cut to what extent these findings are generalizable across periods and countries. Using Generations and Gender Surveys (GGS) data of 15 countries, we analyse the association between the educational gradient in heterogamous union formation and country level indicators of social inequalities, applying a two-stage regression approach. We found that low educated individuals are more likely to form heterogamous unions relatively to the highly educated. The Gini Index mildly explains the variation across countries of the gradient in heterogamy. For unions formed after 1990, we found that an increase in inequality is associated with a less negative educational gradient in heterogamy. Our study highlights the complexity of studying country level variation in educational assortative mating, all the more that it may entail differences related to the meaning of education in each country.