Gaetano Alfredo Minerva -- Working Papers

Recent Working Papers

Bürker M., Minerva G.A. (2015) Civic Capital and the Vertical Integration of Service Provision: Evidence from Italy. Document de travail N° 564, Banque de France, Paris.

Abstract: This paper studies whether civic capital acts an effective restraint against opportunistic behavior in transactions, looking at the degree of outsourcing to external suppliers of services in Italian firms. Our results show that, on average, firms tend to outsource more services where civic capital is higher. This effect is particularly strong for firms operating in industries where businesses can easily adjust the level of purchased services to their idiosyncratic needs. To address the issue of endogeneity we also instrument the current stock of civic capital by historical variables. We argue that the rise in the propensity to engage in transactions with outside service suppliers is evidence of a decrease in the opportunistic behavior between the parties involved in the transaction.
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Minerva G.A. (2017) Integration versus Outsourcing with Vertical Linkages. Development Studies Working Papers N° 411, Centro Studi Luca d'Agliano.

Abstract: In the model by Grossman and Helpman (2002) no industry has both vertically integrated and specialized producers in equilibrium. I generalize their model by assuming that final goods producers (irrespective of whether they are vertically integrated with the upstream stage or specialized in the downstream stage only) need a basket of differentiated commodities, in addition to labor, as a fixed requirement for production. I then show the existence of an equilibrium populated simultaneously by vertically integrated and disintegrated firms.
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Minerva G.A., The proximity-concentration trade-off with multiproduct multinational firms.

Abstract: I study the proximity-concentration trade-off faced by two multiproduct multinational firms that operate in two countries under horizontal product differentiation. In this context, characterized by two-way trade and FDI, the trade-off regulates the number of domestic affiliates (concentration) against the number of foreign affiliates (proximity). I show how multinationals' market shares and markups react to changes in trade and investment frictions, and in the degree of product substitutability. Under plausible parameters restrictions, the model is consistent with the stylized fact that, in U.S. and Japan, the number of foreign affiliates is inversely related to the market share held by multinationals in their domestic market.
Presented at the 9th FIW Research Conference, University of Vienna.

Lanzara G., Minerva G.A., The welfare impact of tourism in an urban setting.

Abstract: This paper builds a general equilibrium model of cities that are also a tourists' destination. We find that residents welfare is positively affected by the inflow of tourists as far as the elasticity of capital supply used in the retail sector is greater than zero: the higher the elasticity of capital, the higher the welfare gains. Thanks to this mechanism, in the two-city setting, welfare of residents is increasing in the level of amenities enjoyed by tourists. Assuming that the retail sector is characterized by monopolistic competition, in the case where product differentiation is sufficiently high we find that one city emerges as a tourism hub and attracts all tourists.
Presented at the 11th Meeting of the Urban Economics Association, Minneapolis.