freight service is reinvested in passenger service improvements. The freight carrier, in shifting goods from trucks to rail, can potentially benefit from (a) more reliable travel times for goods, particularly during periods of nonrecurrent congestion, (b) cheaper transport costs, and (c) fewer truck accidents. Society may benefit from reduced truck traffic through reductions in (a) harmful gree...

The structure of developed economies has changed radically in recent decades. As late as the 1960s, it was reasonable to describe the economy in terms of three stages of production: primary production—of agricultural and mineral raw materials; secondary production—a manufacturing industry that transformed raw materials into items of final consumption; tertiary production—a sector that provided ...

We model the channels through which public expenditure on infrastructure influences firm value and shapes its investment decisions via both adjustment costs and marginal profitability of capital. We test these hypotheses by using a large panel of Italian firms. Empirical results show that infrastructure interacts with revenues and costs in shaping firm’s profitability of capital and influences ...

This study explores the impact of social capital on innovation by constructing a more general measure of social capital indicator consisting of generalized and institutional trust, associational activities and civic norms. We test the hypothesis that social capital has a positive impact on innovation at the national level. After controlling for R&D expenditure and human capital there is a posit...

This paper investigates the optimal management of a firm faced with a long-term liability that occurs at a random date. Three issues are analysed: the optimal dividend policy; optimal expenditure on safety to delay the occurrence of the liability; and the optimal liquidation date of the firm. An owner faced with dynamic unlimited liability never liquidates and therefore accumulates capital to t...