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The idea that wages are determined by firm and individual characteristics suggests that there is a firm effect that influences wage differentials. This paper presents the results of an empirical analysis of gender wage differentialsbased on INPS data for people between the ages of 20 and 25 employed in the private sector in 1996 -which takes into account the characteristics of workers and firms using a two-level random-effects model. Firm variables proved to be significant, and the proportion of females in the firm showed a negative effect on the wages of both men and women.

Between 2001 and 2005, higher education in Italy went through a considerable process of reform according to the Bologna Process. This paper evaluates the effects of this process on the academic performance of students. We estimate the difference in gradua-tion probability between students who switched from pre-reform university courses to post-reform courses and students who carried on their pre-reform academic career. To this end, we considered a sample of 25,866 undergraduate students enrolled 1 year before the imple-mentation of this policy, a number that was reduced by matching techniques to achieve a balanced sample of 1020 units, thereby allowing a causal interpretation of results. Esti-mates of logistic models on the balanced sample suggest that switching to the post-reform university system increases the probability of completion for younger students. Further-more, higher socio-economic backgrounds of students are positively related to graduation probability, suggesting that the social inequalities are still noticeable when the completion rates of tertiary education are considered.