Fiscal decentralization and spillover effects of local government public spending: the case of Italy. Regional Studies. This paper investigates the presence of spatial interdependencies in the regional public expenditure decision process and the impact of fiscal decentralization on its determinants. The analysis refers to the constitutional reform concluded in Italy in 2001 that redefined the legislative powers of the regions and their sectoral competence. The results highlight the opportunistic behaviour of regional governments in sectors where they can benefit from neighbours’ public expenditure spillovers. Other findings comprise the presence of congestion and mobility effects, a shift in demand to the private sector, except for education, and the mobility of individuals towards richer regions

This study investigates the 'club convergence' hypothesis applying the stochastic notion of convergence to groups of European regions. In order to avoid the group selection bias problem, the innovative regression tree technique was applied to select endogenously the most important variables in achieving the best identification of groups on the base of per capita income and productive specialization. Tests on stochastic convergence in each group evidences a strong convergence among the wealthiest regions of the European Union and a trend of weak convergence among the remaining groups, confirming Baumol's hypothesis of convergence.

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The aim of this paper is to measure the impact of migration flows on growth via their effect on structural change. To this extent we build an empirical growth model in which migration flows and intersectoral wage differentials can affect the speed of labour readjustment between sectors and, ultimately, total factor productivity and growth. By employing Italian regional data stemming over more than four decades we measure the effects of interregional migration on regional growth and convergence. The results confirm that migration in general, and in particular the content of human capital of moving workers, is a relevant factor in determining the speed of technological change and growth.

This article summarizes and evaluates the effects of spatial interdependencies in Italian regional specialization over the period [1995][1996][1997][1998][1999][2000][2001][2002][2003][2004][2005][2006]. First, we perform an exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), and then we estimate a spatial panel data model built according to the new economic geography theory. ESDA reveals positive spatial interdependence overall and detects hot spots in the north and cold spots in the south for all sectors, but agriculture shows the reverse. Similarly, an econometric investigation furnishes evidence of the presence of spillover effects, implying that the determinants of the specialization of a region influence its neighbors' specialization.