The paper aims to analyse the behaviour of a battery of non-survey techniques of constructing regional I-O tables in estimating impact. For this aim, a Monte Carlo simulation, based on the generation of 'true' multiregional I-O tables, was carried out. By aggregating multi-regional I-O tables, national I-O tables were obtained. From the latter, indirect regional tables were derived through the application of various regionalisation methods and the relevant multipliers were compared with the 'true' multipliers using a set of statistics. Three aspects of the behaviour of the methods have been analysed: performances to reproduce 'true' multipliers, variability of simulation error and direction of bias. The results have demonstrated that the Flegg et al. Location Quotient (FLQ) and its augmented version (AFLQ) represent an effective improvement of conventional techniques based on the use of location quotients in both reproducing 'true' multipliers and generating more stable simulation errors. In addition, the results have confirmed the existence of a tendency of the methods to over/underestimate impact. In the cases of the FLQ and the AFLQ, this tendency depends on the value of the parameter d.

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This study is a contribution to the ongoing debate on the performance of various non‐survey techniques for constructing sub‐territorial input‐output tables. Three aspects of the behaviour of the methods are analysed: performances in reproducing ‘true’ input coefficients, variability of error, and direction of bias. The analysis uses real data and in particular the world input‐output table. The most important aspect that emerges from the analysis is that even though simple location quotient (SLQ) has been identified as one of the most robust methods, its performance drops when confronted with Input Output Tables characterized by a high percentage of technical coefficients close to zero. Also the cross industry location quotient (CILQ), the semi logarithmic location quotient (RLQ), the symmetric cross industry location quotient (SCILQ) methods behave in a similar way. On the contrary, the performance of the methods the Flegg location quotient (FLQ) for δ = 0.2 and the Augmented Flegg location quotient (AFLQ) for 0.2 ≤ δ ≤ 0.3 are not affected by this situation.

The trend of female self-employment in Italy is stable, with a low level of participation which confirms the prediction of economic theory on discrimination. We contend that gender discrimination alters the distribution of entrepreneurial talent between employees and self-employed workers. This gives rise to the prediction that the self-employed women are less likely to survive when self-employed than men because the lesser entrepreneurial talent of women will increase their risk of failure. Applying Markovian analysis to ISTAT’s labor market transition matrices we verify this prediction: Many women try to set up on their own, but they fail to remain self-employed both because their lesser entrepreneurial talent and because they try to become entrepreneurs without any previous experience of work. ‘If you think you’re so discriminated against, why don’t you set up on your own?’ Copyright Springer 2005

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Abstract:After sequential cycles of urbanization and suburbanization, European cities underwent a (more or less intense) re-urbanization wave. The present study analyzes short-term population dynamics in the core of a large metropolitan region (Milan, northern Italy), providing evidence of spatially-heterogeneous re-urbanization characterized by spatially-complex population growth (or shrinkage) at a local scale. Population dynamics over 1999-2017 were assessed in 88 urban districts partitioning Milan s municipal area and projected up to 2036 for the same spatial units. Empirical results identify spatially-complex and temporally non-linear dynamics with expanding or declining districts distributed heterogeneously across the study area. Multivariate analysis outlines a generalized population decline during 1999-2008 and an opposite pattern afterward (2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016)(2017), with spatially-homogeneous population expansion expected in the near future. Spatial analysis finally highlights that local-scale population growth rates were more clustered in 2008-2017 than in 1999-2008. While the population decreased continuously in the inner districts (<1 km from the city centre), sub-central districts (1-5 km far from the city centre) experienced mixed patterns of population growth and stability. These results confirm the relevance of local-scale policies managing urban renewal and rehabilitation and promoting metropolitan expansion in a spatially-coordinated manner.

Metropolitan growth in Europe has resulted in drastic changes of urban forms, socio-spatial structures and land-use patterns due to sequential processes of urbanization, suburbanization and re-urbanization. To assess latent shifts from mono-centric models towards more disarticulated and decentralized settlement configurations, the present study evaluates spatio-temporal patterns of growth between the 1920s and the 2010s in three Mediterranean cities with different structure and functions (Barcelona: compact and moderately polycentric; Rome: dispersed, medium-density; Athens: mono-centric, hyper-compact). To identify and characterize long-term urban transformations, an original approach was illustrated in this study, based on a multivariate analysis of 13 indicators resulting from descriptive statistics and linear regression modeling the relationship between population density and distance from inner cities. The empirical results of this study indicate that Barcelona, Rome and Athens have experienced different urbanization cycles, characterized by a (more or less) concentrated distribution of population along urban gradients. Despite similarities in demographic dynamics and planning practices, these processes have determined (i) a mostly centralized growth in Barcelona, (ii) a relatively dispersed and discontinuous spatial structure in Rome, and (iii) a steep decline of population density with the distance from downtown Athens. Compact urban expansion, population decline and urban de-concentration were finally assessed using the analytical approach proposed in this study.peri-urban landscapes [13]. Metropolitan areas in Europe have undergone changes in both structure and functions reflecting sequential cycles of compact and dispersed urbanization [14][15][16].The inherent differences in urbanization patterns and processes across countries make the identification of spatio-temporal dynamics of urban change progressively more difficult when considering the effects and consequences of exurban development [17][18][19][20]. Based on the intrinsic nature of societies and economic systems, recent transformations from mono-centric to polycentric structures have attracted rising attention among the social sciences [21][22][23][24]. The identification of mono-centric and polycentric patterns of growth has benefited from a broad range of approaches derived from different disciplines [5,[25][26][27]. Being an explicit target of the European Spatial Development Perspective [28], polycentrism in Europe has influenced forms of human settlements and socio-spatial structures altering the short-and medium-term dynamics of economic activity [29][30][31][32].Until the early 1990s, large metropolitan areas in Mediterranean Europe have been frequently considered as regions with structurally compact urban forms and functionally monocentric spatial organizations [33][34][35]. Leontidou [36] highlighted similarities in the individual trajectories of urban growth, leading to convergent socio-spatial profiles and homogeneous economic struc...