FIRM PRODUCTIVITY AND INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM ITALIAN INDUSTRY

This paper aims to contribute to the debate on the determinants of differentials in firms’ productivity. We test the hypothesis that macro factors, especially the quality of local institutions, play a central role in explaining firm productivity in Italy. To this end, we construct measures of Total Factor Productivity (TFP) for about 4,000 firms by means of different estimation techniques, and a province‐level index of institutional quality. Then, we estimate the relationship between institutional quality and firm‐level TFP. Our results show that the existence of better local institutions might help firms to become more productive.     

Analysis of Construction Timber in Rural Austria: Wooden Log Walls

House-building with wood has a long tradition in Austria. In this study, 47 houses from the Austrian Alps and the alpine foothills were analyzed. Dendrochronology was used to date the houses and to extract further information as construction phases within one building and time needed for harvesting. The construction dates range between 1452 and 1934. The focus was set on log constructions and in particular on wooden log walls. All wooden walls were made of softwood, clearly dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies). A remarkable decline in the utilization of spruce wood as construction timber was found during the 19th century, which might be due to the high charcoal production at that time. By analyzing age, wood species, time of harvesting and way of processing, knowledge about wood utilization and historical forest management can be regained. Furthermore, some social and economical background of the farmers can be lifted. Technical dates as wall thickness and total wood volume required to build a residential building is provided.     

Ethnicity, development and gender: Tsáchila indigenous women in Ecuador

In recent decades, indigenous populations have become the subjects and agents of development in national and international multicultural policy that acknowledges poverty among indigenous peoples and their historic marginalization from power over development. Although the impact of these legal and programmatic efforts is growing, one persistent axis of disadvantage, male–female difference, is rarely taken into account in ethno-development policy and practice. This article argues that assumptions that inform policy related to indigenous women fail to engage with indigenous women's development concerns. The institutional separation between gender and development policy (GAD) and multiculturalism means that provisions for gender in multicultural policies are inadequate, and ethnic rights in GAD policies are invisible. Drawing on post-colonial feminism, the paper examines ethnicity and gender as interlocking systems that structure indigenous women's development experiences. These arguments are illustrated in relation to the case of the Tsáchila ethno-cultural group in the South American country of Ecuador.     

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the Clovis–Folsom transition

Despite the importance of the Clovis–Folsom transition for understanding the history of western North America, its spatiotemporal dynamics remains unclear. Here we report a three-part study in which we investigated the transition using radiocarbon dates from Clovis and Folsom sites. In the first part of the study, we used dates from Folsom site-phases to determine when and where Folsom originated. In the second part of the study, we employed Clovis and Folsom dates in analyses designed to determine whether Folsom spread via demic diffusion or cultural diffusion. In the third part of the study we investigated the velocity of the Clovis–Folsom transition. The analyses suggest that Folsom first appeared around 12,800 calBP in the northern High Plains and spread north and south from there. They also suggest that the spread of Folsom was, at least in part, the result of population expansion. In addition, the analyses indicate that the spread of Folsom was relatively fast for a prehistoric diffusion but well below the maximum velocity that has been estimated for such events. These findings, in turn, have implications for the hypotheses that have been put forward to explain the Clovis–Folsom transition. They refute the idea that the Clovis–Folsom transition resulted from an extraterrestrial impact over northern North America at 12,900 ± 100 calBP but are consistent with the alternative proposal that the transition was a response to climate-driven environmental change.