This paper examines the results of a survey carried out in 2007 by the Bank of Italy concerning different characteristics of the organization of lending activities. Between 2003 and 2006 the physical distance between the headquarters and the branches increased, the limits to the decision-making...

In the last 15 years the Italian employment structure has undergone some radical changes. As a result, the proportion of high-skilled jobs (managers and professionals) has increased at the expense of medium-skilled jobs (clerks). Differently from the US, in Italy (and in many other European...

The Italian and European regulatory framework for patents would benefit from further improvements in order to foster dynamic competition between Italian firms. At the national level the exclusive allocation of the right to patent inventions to universities, rather than to researchers, would...