Archivio istituzionale della Ricerca - Bocconi
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The impact of NGO-provided aid on government capacity: evidence from Uganda
No full textThis paper investigates whether NGO-provided basic healthcare crowds out or crowds in similar services provided by the government in rural Uganda. We find that NGO entry reduces the number of government workers, which leads to a reduction in government-provided health services. The results are driven by the NGO often hiring the government worker in places where skilled labor is scarce. In places where skilled labor is relatively abundant, the NGO hires a second person and complements government healthcare.Thus, the effects of NGO entry on government capacity are nuanced
Performance management in action: a configurational analysis of the drivers of the purposeful use of performance information
Get PDFThe article explores which configurations of organizational and individual conditions support the purposeful use of performance information in the public sector. Prior research has predominantly focused on the effects of individual factors without paying as much attention to how these factors interact to influence public managers’ attitudes to integrating performance information into their decision-making.
The study employs a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fs-QCA) to examine the different combinations of organizational and individual drivers that facilitate purposeful performance information use.
The results show that goal clarity is a necessary but insufficient condition for purposeful information use. It needs to be complemented by a mature performance management system, public managers with prosocial motivation who engage in extra-role behaviors within a non-innovative organizational culture, or a developmental culture that motivates managers who are unaware of the social impact generated by their work.
The study suggests the need to integrate actions that support the purposeful use of performance information and define clear departmental goals. Although the latter is a necessary condition, it needs to be supported by other organizational and individual factors. Also, the study deepens the theory of the drivers of purposeful performance information use in the public sector by adopting a configurational approach and exploring how organizational and individual conditions interact to foster information use.
As the case selection does not allow for direct generalizations, future studies could replicate the configurational analysis in different countries and sectors and introduce additional environmental, organizational, and individual conditions
Does a theory-of-value add value? Evidence from a randomized control trial with Tanzanian entrepreneurs
Get PDFEntrepreneurs making decisions under uncertainty are encouraged to evaluate their initial ideas through hypothesis testing, but entrepreneurial approaches vary in their emphasis on ex-ante theory development prior to collecting evidence. In this paper, we examine whether and how entrepreneurs benefit from adopting an evidence-based approach or a theory-and-evidence-based approach to decision-making. We conducted a field experiment with Tanzanian agribusiness entrepreneurs by randomly assigning entrepreneurs to two different training conditions. We find that entrepreneurs in the theory-and-evidence-based condition have higher economic performance during the observation period following the intervention. We conjecture this result stems from differences in the types of changes enacted: entrepreneurs in the theory-and-evidence-based training make more coordinated changes that encompass both core and operational elements of their business models
Downside and upside uncertainty shocks
No full textAn increase in uncertainty is not contractionary per se . What is contractionary is a widening of the left tail of the GDP growth forecast distribution, the downside uncertainty. On the contrary, an increase of the right tail, the upside uncertainty, is mildly expansionary. The reason why uncertainty shocks have been previously found to be contractionary is because movements in downside uncertainty dominate existing empirical measures of uncertainty. The results are obtained using a new econometric approach that combines quantile regressions and structural vector autoregressions (VARs)
Design-based and theory-based approaches to strategic decisions
No full textWe develop a unified framework to examine the implications of two primary approaches tostrategic decision-making under uncertainty: designing and shaping future scenarios vis-`a-vistesting theories about future scenarios. We conducted a three-arm randomized controlled trialinvolving 308 early-stage entrepreneurs, dividing them into three groups: design-based training,theory-based training, and a control group, and tracked them over approximately 1.5 years. Ourfindings reveal that both approaches reduce the need for information in decision-making andlead to higher commitment rates. The design-based approach encourages action despite negativebeliefs, resulting in less frequent and later project termination. In contrast, the theory-basedapproach promotes a more conservative termination rule, leading to earlier and more frequentproject abandonment. Although the theory-based approach is associated with higher averageperformance upon survival, the design-based approach fosters breakthroughs decision-makers. Insum, the design-based approach is well-suited for innovative ventures that gather informationto shape their environment, whereas the theory-based approach is optimal for pursuing highperformance under lower degrees of uncertainty
La legislazione delegata in materia di intelligenza artificiale: la costruzione di una disciplina organica al confine tra scelte governative, controllo parlamentare e vincoli europei*
No full textIl pezzo si apre con un esame della legge italian su AI ed in particolare sulla delega al governo in un settore molto delicato come training algoritmic
Calabresi V. Pareto. Preferences, Harm, and Efficiency
No full textCalabresi has developed a powerful critique of Pareto’s efficiency in the field of law and economics. Among other things, he has shown that Pareto improvements require the unanimity of the relevant preferences (because they require, at least, that someone is better off and no one is worse off). The present work aims to defend Pareto’s test for efficiency, with an argument built upon Mill’s ‘Harm Principle’ and thanks to the analytical distinction between self-regarding and other-regarding preferences, which, for short, I will call internal and external preferences. If the core of Calabresi’s critique is the unanimity condition required by Pareto’s test, this requirement can be better satisfied by counting only internal preferences and justifying this with Mill’s Principle. At the same time, the work explores the limits of the redefined Paretian approach
In a disaggregated digital banking world, the human element matters
No full textThe disaggregation of banking services driven by digitalization and FinTech innovation has transformed the traditional structure of the financial services industry. Banking activities are increasingly delivered through modular, platform-based, and automated solutions, reducing the role of banks as fully integrated intermediaries. This article argues that such disaggregation does not diminish the importance of the human element in financial services; instead, it reinforces its strategic role. In highly digital and standardized environments, trust, empathy, and human judgment become key sources of differentiation and value creation. Human interaction remains particularly relevant in managing complex financial decisions, mitigating uncertainty, and supporting long-term customer relationships. The analysis highlights the emergence of hybrid banking models in which digital efficiency is combined with human-centric capabilities. The article concludes that the future of digital banking lies in the effective integration of technology and human involvement, rather than in the complete automation of financial services
Characterizing social behavior relevant for infectious disease transmission in four low- and middle-income countries, 2021-2023
No full textInfectious diseases account for nearly half of all child mortality worldwide, with most of the burden concentrated in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Person-to-person interactions, or 'contacts', facilitate the spread of respiratory and enteric pathogens. The number and nature of contacts likely vary across countries along with social and cultural norms, but few studies have compared behaviors across countries and none have done so with a focus on children. Here we present data from a population-based study conducted from 2021 to 2023 in Guatemala, India, Mozambique, and Pakistan. Across four countries, 5085 participants reported a total of 84,829 contacts across two days. Mean contact rates were highest among 10- to 19-year-olds except in Pakistan, where contacts were highest among 5- to 9-year-olds. Non-home locations which presented high risk for transmission were schools in India, workplaces in Pakistan, and 'other' social / leisure locations in Mozambique and Guatemala. Among children under 5 years of age, the proportion of contacts with non-household members was highest in Mozambique and lowest in India; most of these were reported at home. Contact patterns by age diverge from prior projections that are extrapolated from contact data from high-income countries, underscoring the value of local data collection
Assicurazione della responsabilità civile
No full textSi tratta di una voce di enciclopedia relativa all'assicurazione della responsabilità civil