Evaluating the Temporal and Spatial Heterogeneity of the European Convergence Process, 1980–1999*

Abstract. In this paper, we suggest a framework that allows testing simultaneously for temporal heterogeneity, spatial heterogeneity, and spatial autocorrelation in β‐convergence models. Based on a sample of 145 European regions over the 1980–1999 period, we estimate a Seemingly Unrelated Regression Model with spatial regimes and spatial autocorrelation for two sub‐periods: 1980–1989 and 1989–1999. The assumption of temporal independence between the two periods is rejected, and the estimation results point to the presence of spatial error autocorrelation in both sub‐periods and spatial instability in the second sub‐period, indicating the formation of a convergence club between the peripheral regions of the European Union.     

Remote sensing techniques for reconstructing a vast Neolithic settlement in Southern Italy

The combined application of remote sensing techniques is often the most effective way for deepening the knowledge on very large archaeological sites (several hectares). In particular, geophysics and aerial photography could yield very detailed information on buried structures not only outlining their location but also, in many cases, defining their planimetry. Moreover, the accurate geocoding of different data sets and the use of GIS for their integration allow to extract the most comprehensive information from a combined study.     

The problem of “technological unemployment” in the industrial research of the 1930's in the United States∗

The article surveys the findings and debates about “technological unemployment” carried out in the 1920's and 1930's in the United States. The huge productivity increases of the 1920's had sizable labour‐displacing effects, which were not matched by the job‐creating trends of prosperity. Unemployment was therefore a sizable and observable phenomenon as early as the late 1920's, while manufacturing employment shrank. After 1929, it was found that the Depression had hit production and investment hard, but productivity per man‐hour continued to increase. This meant that, because of the increases in population of working age and because of technological progress, in the late 1930's it would have been necessary to outgrow the levels of investment and production of 1929 in order to bring unemployment down to the 1929 rate. Even the recovery of 1937 remained much below those levels: the cause was seen in the behavior of large, concentrated industrial firms that administered prices and only applied technological advances in order to reduce costs. Their limited spending did not foster enough demand to move the economy out of the slump. The recovery was eventually brought about not by spontaneous, market‐driven economic behaviour, but by the deus‐ex‐machina of war‐induced Government spending.

A separate study of the theories of technological progress out‐distancing the job‐creating trends of prosperity is in preparation.     

Early Renaissance Production Recipes for Naples Yellow Pigment: A Mineralogical and Lead Isotope Study of Italian Majolica from Montelupo (Florence)

The Naples Yellow pigment was apparently used for the first time by the Egyptians, as a glass‐colouring agent. Also known in the Mesopotamian and Roman cultures, the recipe was lost in Western Europe between the fourth and the 16th centuries ad . The recipe for the production of lead antimonate recently discovered in the ‘Codice Calabranci’ (second half of the 15th century) at Montelupo, a small town near Florence (Italy) known for its large‐scale ceramic production, possibly represents the very first evidence of the reintroduction of Naples Yellow in Western Europe after a long period of absence. The major‐element composition of the lead antimonate pigment in the Montelupo ceramics of the 15th and 16th centuries is in accordance with the ‘Codice Calabranci’ recipes. Lead isotope analyses indicate that the lead used to produce the yellow pigments and the underlying glaze of the Montelupo majolica did not come from the Tuscan mining districts, but was possibly imported via Venice from more distant lead sources in Turkey.     

The rise of the ethical state in Italy. Neapolitan Hegelians and Risorgimento political thought (1848–1871)

ABSTRACT

The article examines the idea of the Ethical State in Italy within the context of the Risorgimento and of Neapolitan Hegelianism. The article first analyses the Neapolitan Hegelians’ idea of nationality and its relationship to the concept of “national character”. Then it focuses on the differences between Hegel’s and Spaventa’s concepts of the State. Finally, it places Silvio and Bertrando Spaventa’s liberalism within Risorgimento debates after 1848, pointing to differences with moderate liberals such as Cesare Balbo or Vincenzo Gioberti. By delineating the context of ideas such as nationality, national character, ethics, and the state, the article sheds new light on the relationship between liberalism and nationalism in nineteenth-century European political thought.     

PANEL DATA MODELS WITH SPATIALLY DEPENDENT NESTED RANDOM EFFECTS

This paper focuses on panel data models combining spatial dependence with a nested (hierarchical) structure. We use a generalized moments estimator to estimate the spatial autoregressive parameter and the variance components of the disturbance process. A spatial counterpart of the Cochrane‐Orcutt transformation leads to a feasible generalized least squares procedure to estimate the regression parameters. Monte Carlo simulations show that our estimators perform well in terms of root mean square error compared to the maximum likelihood estimator. The approach is applied to English house price data for districts nested within counties.     

Multi-method Analysis of Avian Eggs as Grave Goods: Revealing Symbolism in Conversion Period Burials at Kukruse,NE Estonia

Eggshells are unusual finds in the Iron Age of eastern Europe (500 BC–1200 AD) deserving extra attention in terms of analysis as well as interpretation. This paper discusses two rare eggshell finds, discovered in female burials at the conversion period (12th–13th century AD) cemetery at Kukruse, NE Estonia. Our multianalytical study combining FT-IR, SEM(-EDS), microscopy and ZooMS provides an overview of methods applicable for identifying egg species, their predepositional history and curation. Based on the analytical results and the comparative analysis of the content and context of these two burials, we argue that different aims and connotations lay behind depositing eggs as burial goods, allowing well-supported interpretations of both pagan and Christian religious worldviews simultaneously.