Rivista Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica
Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies - Rivista Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica (RIEDS) has been established in 1947 and published by the Italian Society of Economics Demography and Statistics (SIEDS - Società italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica). It has for a long time been involved in the fields of social sciences and in particular economics, demography and statistics. Through the publication of different scientific works by Italian and foreign authors, it aims to provide readers with an extensive insight into all the different areas of economics, demography and statistics as well as scientific debates taking place in Italy and abroad. Submitted manuscripts are peer-reviewed. The journal is Open-Access. Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies - Rivista Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica (RIEDS) (ISSN: 0035-6832, E-ISSN: 3103-1757) applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to everything we publish. Developed to facilitate Open Access, this license lets authors maximize the impact or their research by making it available for anyone, anywhere in the world to find, read and reuse. Under this license, authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Anyone may copy, distribute or reuse these articles, as long as the author and original source are properly cited. Journal's indexing: The journal is considered “scientific journal” for these Anvur Areas: 11, 12, 13, 14 The journal is indexed in IDEAS/RePEC, Google Scholar, Catalogo Italiano dei Periodici ACNP, ESSPER The IDEAS/RePEc journal page can be accessed from here The ISSN of the journal is 0035-6832 The E-ISSN of the journal is 3103-1757
The geography of remote work in Europe: an analysis using LFS data
This paper explores the evolution of working-from-home (WFH) across EU regions, focusing on the period before, during and after the COVID-19 outbreak from 2019 to 2022, to understand the distribution and determinants of remote work (RW) adoption at the regional level. This analysis of the EU Labour Force Survey reveals a widespread increase in the prevalence of WFH across EU countries, regions and territorial typologies. While RW rates have slightly receded from their peak at the height of COVID-19 restrictions, they remain markedly higher than pre-pandemic levels nearly everywhere in the EU, reflecting a lasting shift in work practices. Despite this common trend, substantial regional disparities persist across Member States, NUTS regions and territorial typologies (cities, towns and suburbs, rural areas). Main findings show geographic disparities at all levels in the adoption of WFH: the RW rate has been higher in Northern EU countries compared to Southern and Eastern ones. Similarly, capital regions had higher prevalence of WFH than other regions in the same country. Finally, WFH is more common in cities than towns/suburbs and rural areas.
Copyright (c) 2026 Paolo Emilio Cardone https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Public administration labour market: skills, digital innovation and territorial disparities
The digitalisation of public administration (PA) is essential for the modernisation of public services. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has led to the adoption of new technologies and organisational models, redefining the skills required of public servants. Human capital training is central to supporting digitalisation and enabling process simplification. The reform of the PA labour market, implemented under the NRP, aims to improve the skills of public employees and simplify processes through digital technologies. In addition, several programmes and initiatives promote the digital skills needed by the PA workforce. Despite the measures in place, there are differences between areas due to various factors such as the availability of resources, local initiatives and participation in tenders. The aim of this paper is to examine digital innovation in the public PA labour market, by analysing the strategies adopted to address new skills needs. This study is in continuity with a 2024 analysis that correlated digital innovation of firms and digital skills of workers, profiling regions according to the level of digitalisation of the labour market. This work constitutes a preliminary study for a multidimensional analysis aimed at outlining the digital profile of public institutions at regional level and understanding the role of territories in the digital transition. In terms of methodology, the study will be carried out through desk research, with an analysis of literature and policies implemented. In addition, a descriptive analysis will be carried out on the interventions for updating and retraining digital competences (Sources: ISTAT Census of Public Institutions and ICTPA Surveys). One of the expected results is the classification of the regions in terms of digital skills needs.
Copyright (c) 2026 Francesca Carta https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Access to the labour market: a comparison between foreign and “new Italian” workers
The scientific literature examining the relationship between immigration and the labour market is extensive, with a particular focus on the economic impact of immigration on the host country's welfare system, particularly when addressing the issue of so-called “failed immigrants.” The theoretical framework for the integration of immigrants into the host country's labour market is based on the international transferability of human capital (Chiswick and Miller, 2009). At the same time, the economic theory of labour market integration suggests that it is primarily influenced by the characteristics of the country of origin, the reason for migration, and the expected duration of migration (Ambrosini and Panichella, 2023). This study aims to update previous research on foreign workers and the labour market focusing on (still) foreign workers and naturalised ones. We used microdata from the “Labour Force Survey” conducted by Istat.
Copyright (c) 2026 Michela Camilla Pellicani, Monica Carbonara, Roberto Antonello Palumbo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Silver economy: challenges and opportunities
Population dynamics is one of the most important global challenges, along with the environmental one. In recent decades, the world population has grown rapidly, people live longer, and inequality between age groups has expanded. With increasing life expectancy and declining birth and fertility rates, societies are facing a growing proportion of older people. This phenomenon has major implications for both the economy and public policy. From a public expenditure perspective, ageing implies a significant increase in resources for social security and health care: spending on pensions and health care already represents a significant proportion of GDP. At the same time, consumption expenditure of the elderly is becoming an increasingly important component of the economy, with growing expenditure on private health care, nursing homes, home services and digital health technologies. Finally, the role of the elderly as a social shock absorber is confirmed, as households with at least one elderly member have a lower incidence of absolute poverty than those without elderly people.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ilaria Arigoni, Cinzia Castagnaro, Valeria de Martino, Oreste Nazzaro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Dashboard for territorial data analysis: potential, SDMX and integration with other sources
Dashboards have become an indispensable tool for the effective and timely representation and analysis of socio-economic phenomena. Organizations that deal with statistics increasingly promote the use of this tool, managing to satisfy the needs and interests of an increasingly wider audience of users. This work presents an effective approach to analyse multi-source territorial data on tourism, using dashboards of the most popular business analytics platforms in order to evaluate their potential. One of the most relevant features of dashboards is the ability to visualize and analyse data up to municipal and monthly levels, offering a temporal and territorial granularity particularly suited for in-depth studies. Furthermore, the platforms allow users to cross-reference tourist information with other territorial variables, such as demographic, economic or infrastructural data, enriching the contextual analysis. The systems are updated both using the ISTAT REST APIs through the SDMX protocol, ensuring dynamic and continuously updated access to official data, and datasets already available previously downloaded and structured.
Copyright (c) 2026 Andrea Arru, Paolo Misso https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Multivariate analysis for exploring sub-municipal deprivation of Italian municipalities
This study presents a multivariate analysis of nine individual indicators representing socio-economic deprivation at the sub-municipal level, based on data from 25 Italian municipal-ities. The aim is to investigate the internal heterogeneity of urban areas by examining the statistical properties and interrelationships of indicators reflecting different dimensions of local deprivation. The first phase explores the distributional characteristics of the individual indicators, high-lighting asymmetries, heavy tails, and outliers. Particular attention is given to extreme val-ues, which may reveal critical conditions in specific urban zones and influence the robust-ness of conventional statistical summaries. Principal Component Analysis is then applied to synthesise the complexity of the infor-mation, allowing dimensionality reduction and the identification of latent structures under-lying the data. Findings highlight recurring patterns of socio-economic disadvantage com-mon to several urban contexts, as well as context-specific vulnerabilities pointing to shared structural issues. The ultimate goal is to provide a statistical rationale for selecting the individual indicators used to compute the composite sub-municipal deprivation index. At the same time, the study offers a concise and interpretable representation of spatial disparities, with potential to inform local policy and planning interventions.
Copyright (c) 2026 Samanta Pietropaoli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Do royalties improve local socio-economic conditions? Evidence from municipalities in Basilicata
This study aims to analyze the economic impact of royalties on local territories, with particular focus on the shares allocated directly to municipalities where hydrocarbon deposits are located. Following an initial descriptive analysis of the royalties paid by oil companies to local authorities over the period 2008-2024, the study proceeds with non-parametric analyses conducted on a set of municipal-level variables. The objective is to assess whether significant socio-economic differences exist between municipalities that receive royalties and those that do not. The data used originate from the "A misura di Comune" information system – ISTAT’s system of municipal indicators – as well as from official statistical sources such as Demographic Balances and the Population Census, and open data provided by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security.
Copyright (c) 2026 Agata Maria Madia Carucci, Giovanni Vannella https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Socioeconomic polarisation and green attitudes: evidence from ESS
This paper analyses the impact of income inequality on European citizens' attitudes towards the green transition, using data from Round 11 (2023) of the European Social Survey (ESS). Although there is extensive literature on the relationship between inequality and populist political attitudes, the same cannot be said when looking at the “green” orientation of the population. In particular, similar to the Kuznets curve, the relationship studied may take a non-linear form: in a non-polarised context, greater inequality should lead to a strengthening of environmentalist attitudes, while in a polarised context the sign of the relationship should be reversed. From a methodological point of view, the Gini index is calculated to measure inequality, while a binary logistic regression model is estimated to understand the probability of voting for green parties, considering not only polarisation but also individual socio-economic control variables. In addition, a Multilevel Linear Probability Model was used, which also allows for the impact of aggregate factors such as gross domestic product, population density and perceptions of environmental quality to be taken into account. The results show that higher levels of inequality are associated with a lower propensity to vote green. The study contributes to the literature by highlighting how socio-economic polarisation can influence environmental attitudes and support for ecological transition in Europe.
Copyright (c) 2026 Vincenzo Marinello, Rossella Maria Pia Di Rocco, Giulio Pedrini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Beyond household income: social determinants of child food insecurity in Italy
Food insecurity is the inability to acquire or consume adequate or sufficient food, in socially acceptable ways. So, people are food insecure when they lack regular access to enough safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development, and an active and healthy life. Household food security in high-income countries has received increasing attention from policymakers and researchers over the past decades. An emerging body of literature has linked food insecurity to a variety of negative outcomes, particularly for children, confirming the importance of food security as an indicator of well-being and a legitimate target of public concern. In particular, children in food-insecure households may be at risk of poor health, developmental or behavioural problems. Understanding the determinants of food insecurity is crucial for developing child-specific effective national and local policies. While household income level is definitely linked to food insecurity, recent studies have also shown that socio-demographic factors – such as, education level – play a significant role. This study aims to identify, beyond the income-related measures, the social factors that impact on child food insecurity in the Italian context, using data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC, hereafter) national survey. Households with minors have been targeted from the dataset for this study. Through multivariate statistical analysis, the principal social determinants of child food insecurity have been investigated.
Copyright (c) 2026 Livia Celardo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Mapping the invisible: interdimensional geographies of urban food insecurity
This research proposes an interdimensional framework for analysing urban food insecurity from a spatial and systemic perspective. The study focuses on the Metropolitan City of Rome, a heterogeneous territory of 121 municipalities that combines dense urban centres, peri-urban transition zones, and rural agricultural areas, while displaying significant socioeconomic inequalities and infrastructural disparities. The framework integrates five analytical dimensions—economic food self-sufficiency, physical food self-sufficiency, healthy diet affordability, physical accessibility, and solidarity-based provisioning—drawing on georeferenced, administrative, and socioeconomic data. The multi-scalar analysis identifies “blacked-out food areas”, that is, territories where all dimensions of food access collapse simultaneously, revealing structural vulnerabilities that conventional indicators fail to capture. By shifting attention from emergency responses to systemic territorial diagnostics, the research develops a replicable model for place-based food policies. It also highlights the need for multi-level governance to reduce disparities, strengthen resilience, and rebuild inclusive food environments, where food access is understood not only as nutrition but as a component of people’s substantive freedoms.
Copyright (c) 2026 Daniela Bernaschi, Davide Marino https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Transitioning towards a more sustainable diet: red and processed meat consumption in Italian households
Food-consumption habits are central to both the health and environmental debates. In particular, meat production and consumption are major concerns due to the impact of livestock on global warming and environmental degradation. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that livestock farming accounts for a significant share of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, highlighting the need to shift diets to limit these emissions. Promoting healthier, more sustainable diets is seen as a way to mitigate climate change and global temperature rise, making red and processed meat a key factor. In this contribution, we measure changes in red and processed meat consumption in Italy over the decade 2012-2022 and examine the socio-demographic and household factors associated with these eating behaviours. We use data collected by the Italian National Institute of Statistics through the Aspects of Daily Life Multipurpose Survey. We first assess the effects of age and individual propensity on variation in red and processed meat consumption using the Kitagawa decomposition. We then define two indicators to capture the individual environmental sensitivity and explore how these, along with household and other behavioural factors, relate to individual propensity. We identify several significant household-level factors, such as household size, and individual-level characteristics, including environmental sensitivity.
Copyright (c) 2026 Emanuela Furfaro, Giulia Rivellini, Laura Terzera https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
From regional attractiveness to distance learning in tertiary education: an analysis of some determinants before and after Covid-19
The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to distance education, helping to reduce the spatial, temporal and economic barriers that constrain student mobility. Recent studies have investigated both the trajectories of interregional mobility and the determinants of success of digital educational models. This paper analyzes the evolution of regional university attractiveness and the diffusion of distance education in Italy at two key moments: a.y. 2016/17 (pre-pandemic) and a.y. 2022/23 (post-pandemic), with the aim of assessing the impact of the increase in online educational offerings on interregional student mobility. The analysis is based on an original dataset that integrates institutional sources (ANS, MIUR - Educational Offerings, TEHA Index) and uses OLS regression models, considering the Attractiveness Index (AI) and Distance Learning Enrollment Rate (RDL) as dependent variables. Explanatory variables include indicators related to university policies, type of educational offerings and territorial attractiveness. The results point to significant determinants and suggest a substitution effect between physical and virtual mobility, shaping a possible paradigm shift towards a more flexible, hybrid and territorially accessible university system.
Copyright (c) 2026 Raffaella Rubino, Thaís García-Pereiro, Anna Paterno https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The educational pathways of young people in metropolitan cities. A multidimensional analysis across urban contexts
An unequal territorial distribution of educational and scholastic supply limits accessibility to a complete educational and education system and the development of specific skills and abilities, exposing young people to a condition of educational and social fragility. In this study we develop an analysis of the educational and schooling pathways of young people aged 0-24 in the 14 Italian metropolitan cities and we verify whether there is a territorial differential, between more urbanised contexts and municipalities distant from the capital city, in the use of the educational and schooling system, in the supply structures and in the levels of education achieved.
Copyright (c) 2026 Debora Tronu, Vito Fabio Bellafiore, Lucia Martina, Donatella Cangialosi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Flourishing and time use among university students: preliminary evidence from ad hoc survey data
This study examines the relationship between university students’ time use and psychological flourishing, focusing on the mediating role of leisure. Using cross-sectional survey data from the University of Messina (spring 2024) analysed with post-stratification weights, a Generalized Structural Equation Model disentangle direct and indirect associations between sociodemographic, attitudinal, and behavioural factors and eudaimonic well-being. Active forms of leisure (volunteering, sport, and general leisure), are positively associated with flourishing, whereas passive media use shows a negative link. Commuting indirectly reduces flourishing by limiting participation in active leisure. Students with more traditional gender-role attitudes report higher flourishing, possibly due to cultural value alignment. The findings underscore the importance of promoting inclusive and meaningful leisure opportunities to foster student well-being in higher education.
Copyright (c) 2026 Maria Gabriella Campolo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
National targets vs. Local actions: analyzing Italian municipalities’ childcare provision choices with a sample-selection-corrected classification model
In decentralized countries, policies designed at the central level are frequently assigned to local governments for implementation. The central government sets the targets to be achieved and provides the funding, while local governments can decide whether, and to what extent, they participate in these programs. A recently launched program in Italy in the field of childcare follows this general framework. The central government allocated additional grants to municipalities, earmarked for the enhancement of nursery services, consistent with a national target. Individual municipalities utilized these funds to varying extents. This paper aims to investigate the key determinants of the choices made by different municipalities. We employ a sample-corrected model to account for the fact that only a set of municipalities received additional resources. The estimation process shows that demand-side factors and technological factors are the most relevant in explaining the different choices made by municipalities. The results suggest that the program design should be better tailored to the specific characteristics of the local environment to implement a more gradual activation of childcare services.
Copyright (c) 2026 Alessandro Cremaschini, Marco Mastracci, Francesco Porcelli, Alberto Zanardi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Explicit and implicit school leaving: how to combine the two measures?
Insufficient mastery of fundamental skills hinders entry into the labor market and, more broadly, impedes the attainment of a high quality of life. Early Leavers from Education and Training (ELET), defined by ISTAT as the proportion of 18 to 24-year-olds holding at most a secondary school leaving certificate and not currently enrolled in any educational or training program, serves as the established indicator for early school leaving. This metric is standardized at the European level. The European Community had set a target for Italy to achieve a 10% ELET rate by 2020. In 2020, Italy's ELET rate stood at 14.2%, decreasing to 9.8% in 2024. However, ELET data alone do not fully capture the scope of the early school leaving problem. Students who complete upper secondary education without acquiring the minimum required competencies are not accounted for in this calculation. INVALSI data allows for the observation of this phenomenon, which we term Implicit Leavers from Education and Training (ILET). Implicit school leaving constitutes a problem of equal significance to explicit early school leaving. Quantifying the share of ILET is challenging, but since 2019, INVALSI assessments have provided a representation of this phenomenon. Individuals who, despite graduating, do not achieve at least Level 3 in the Italian language and Mathematics tests, and who fail to reach Level B1 in Reading and Listening in English, possess competence levels aligning with the educational objectives set for eighth-grade students—considerably below the expected proficiency for their educational attainment. The ability to measure the overall phenomenon of school leaving furnishes schools and policymakers with crucial information. This paper aims to estimate the total school leaving rate by statistically matching data from ISTAT (for ELET) and INVALSI (for ILET). A general dispersion estimate will be derived using ISTAT data for ELET and INVALSI data for ILET at the regional level.
Copyright (c) 2026 Barbara Baldazzi, Patrizia Falzetti, Paola Giangiacomo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The socio-economic gender gap in Italy: a territorial analysis
This paper proposes an experimental analysis of socio-economic gender inequality in Italy using the information potential of integrated administrative archives. There are several international indices to measure gender inequality at the national level, but they are not able to reflect territorial heterogeneity. Thus, a measure of socio-economic gender gap has been created to allow a comparative analysis of the Italian provinces/metropolitan cities. A set of indicators are analysed and a composite index is constructed. The dimension with the best performance in Italy is education; women have better values than men in the individual indicators. The analysis of the individual indicators of work and income confirms the strong disadvantage of women. It also shows a North-South dualism: the gender gap in the work dimension is greater in the Southern provinces, while the gender gap in income is greater in the North, especially in the North-East. The composite index highlights a greater gender gap in some provinces of the South but also in some provinces of Central and Northern Italy.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sara Casacci https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Regional disparities and social deprivation in Spain: a NUTS2-level analysis using the DP2 methodology
Between 2019 and 2023, Spain faced a sequence of major socioeconomic shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, and rising inflationary pressures. These events interacted with pre-existing territorial inequalities, producing persistent and spatially uneven patterns of material and social deprivation. This paper investigates regional disparities in deprivation across Spanish NUTS2 regions over the period 2019–2023 by constructing a multidimensional composite indicator based on the DP2 methodology (Peña, 1977; Somarriba & Peña, 2009). The study pursues three objectives: (i) to operationalize deprivation through a coherent set of harmonized indicators derived from EU-SILC and Eurostat regional statistics; (ii) to compute a DP2-based index that reduces redundancy among correlated indicators through an iterative correction mechanism; and (iii) to identify persistent spatial gradients and crisis-related changes in deprivation levels across regions. The results highlight a stable north–south divide, with southern and insular territories systematically displaying higher deprivation scores and confirm the sensitivity of regional deprivation to external shocks, particularly in regions dependent on vulnerable economic sectors. The findings provide policy-relevant evidence supporting the need for place-based and multidimensional strategies aimed at strengthening territorial cohesion and reducing social vulnerability.
Copyright (c) 2026 Margaret Antonicelli, Enrico Ivaldi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Young adults resident in Italy: a local-level analysis of characteristics and demo-social weakness
Some territories in Italy have experienced a persistent population loss in recent decades. The decline, due to reduced births and emigration, has contributed to population ageing and depopulation in many areas. Italy is experiencing dejuvenation (degiovanimento) due to the decrease of young people, too. The study focuses on young adults (25-49 years). The aim is to highlight the differences across Italy when the focus is placed on the local level, by a synthetic index to measure the level of ‘demo-social weakness of municipalities (for young adults)’. Five demographic and socio-economic indicators on young adults resident in Italian municipalities are calculated. For each municipality, indicators are compared to the respective national values through the location quotients (LQ). From the combination of the LQ values, criticality profiles are identified and finally summarised in a single measure. The LQs and the synthetic index are represented on maps to allow for visual assessment and highlight territorial disparities. Other geographical peculiarities are included in the analysis to investigate which types of municipalities present more critical elements in the index of demo-social weakness of young adults in Italy. The results show that criticality is not solely linked to belonging to a geographical area or spatial peripherality: despite the presence of services, some municipalities are not immune to criticality, while others, even without essential services, show a positive demographic and social situation, suggesting the influence of factors other than distance from services alone.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mariangela Verrascina https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Longitudinal data on Labour Force in Italy: new methods and results from 2018 – 2024
The Labour Force Survey - the main official source of information about the Italian labour market conducted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics - in addition to produce cross-sectional estimates, provides longitudinal labor market data. These data are obtained matching the members of the households who were interviewed in different periods due to the rotational scheme of the survey: during 15 months, each sampled household is interviewed for 4 quarters and individual records can be matched to produce 12-months longitudinal data (almost 50% of the total sample). The longitudinal data are built matching those of two quarters and the weights used for providing the estimates are obtained solving two calibration problems. In this contribution, we describe the methodology to measure the accuracy of the longitudinal estimates on annual average and examine, considering the sampling error, the movements in the last years of individuals aged 15-64 among labour market employment status during 2018-2024, drawing a detailed picture also due to the availability of household characteristics.
Copyright (c) 2026 Alessandra Masi, Cristiano Marini, Alessio Guandalini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Towards the digital transition in data collection: the case of the household budget survey
The Household Budget Survey (HBS) is a key tool for collecting data on Italian households’ consumption habits. Traditionally based on a paper “Diary” and CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) interviews, the survey is now undergoing a digital transition. Istat is exploring the adoption of a mobile app with real-time validation and user-friendly features, aiming to reduce respondent fatigue and improve data quality. This study focuses on feedback from the 2023 HBS survey to assess perceptions of burden, preferences for digital tools, and the need for assistance during Diary completion. The analysis explores differences by age, education, and occupational status. Results highlight that older and less educated respondents experience greater difficulties and show lower digital readiness, while younger and more educated individuals are more open to digital modes. These findings support a digital transformation strategy that includes inclusive design and tailored support to bridge technological and socio-cultural gaps.
Copyright (c) 2026 Elena Cezza, Gabriella D'Ambrosio, Loredana De Gaetano, Edoardo Raimondi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Perceived accessibility of transport systems in Italy: a statistical analysis using “Aspect of daily life” survey
This study aims at exploring transport accessibility in Italy using data from the Aspect of Daily Life survey conducted by the Italian National Statistical Office (ISTAT). The aim is to identify the main determinants of perceived accessibility, in order to guide targeted policy interventions focused on improving public transport perceptions. The methodological framework is based on Covariance based - Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results indicate that confidence towards local and national institutions as well as transport affordability increase the perceived accessibility of public transports. Moreover, the quality of the local viability is negatively related with accessibility perception of public transportation.
Copyright (c) 2026 Filippo Gregori, Ilaria Benedetti, Luca Secondi https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Tourists’ presence flash estimation by Mobile Network Operators data
The use of big data to anticipate the release of official statistics is attracting growing attention and interest within the scientific community. This paper presents a methodological contribution to flash estimation of overnight stays in Italian municipalities using administrative and mobile network operator (MNO) data. Three forecasting strategies: Simplistic, Quasi-Transfer Learning (QTL), and Augmented Learning (AL) are compared across different models (Linear, Random Forest, and Ensemble). The application focuses on Emilia-Romagna municipalities, evaluating predictive accuracy through repeated cross-validation. Results show that both QTL and AL outperform traditional methods, especially in terms of mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and confidence interval stability.
Copyright (c) 2026 Tiziana Tuoto, Cristina Faricelli, Alessandro Piovani https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Sub-national spatial price indices for water services in Italy: a preliminary estimation
Italy exhibits pronounced territorial economic disparities, making an accurate measurement of regional price level differences essential for assessing inequalities in real income, household consumption expenditure, and poverty. To this end, the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat) is carrying out a project to compute Sub-national Spatial Price Indices (SSPIs) for the 12 Divisions of the ECOICOP (European Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose) classification. These indices are crucial for enabling more robust regional comparisons in economic analysis and for supporting evidence-based policymaking. Initial results, based on 2022 data, have been produced for five divisions and reveal substantial differences in price levels across Italian regions. Work is currently underway for Division 04 “Housing, Water, Gas, Electricity and Other Fuels”. In this paper, we present the first results of SSPI estimation for two Basic Headings (BHs) within Division 4: “Water supply” and “Sewage collection.” The analysis is based on 2023 Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, whose characteristics vary depending on the municipality of observation. To ensure the comparability required for SSPI computation, these data are standardized prior to estimation. The indices are estimated using a Regional Product Dummy (RPD) model, taking into account differences in consumption levels in accordance with Eurostat methodology. Preliminary findings highlight substantial regional disparities in price levels for the services examined, underscoring the importance of sub-national price measurement for understanding real consumption and household living conditions.
Copyright (c) 2026 Agostina Zanoli, Cristina Dormi, Barbara Dramis https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Listening to pilgrims: users reviews as a tool to improve urban reception polices during the Jubilee in Rome
The Jubilee 2025 is expected to attract millions of pilgrims to Rome, placing significant pressure on public services and urban infrastructure. This study explores the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) for the automated analysis of online reviews, with the aim of monitoring the perceived quality of the pilgrims’ experience. A corpus of 2,217 user reviews from Google Maps - 1427 related to worship places and 790 to hospitality facilities - was processed through a modular pipeline including text pre-processing, sentiment analysis, and extraction of suggestions and complaints. Results highlight marked differences between the two categories: reviews of worship sites tend to be highly positive and emotionally polarized, while hospitality-related reviews are more nuanced and contain a higher density of constructive feedback. The proposed methodology offers a scalable, low-cost tool for civic listening and urban planning, providing actionable insights that can support public administration in managing complex events such as the Jubilee.
Copyright (c) 2026 Sandro Stancampiano https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Smart Specialisation Strategy (s3), business behaviours and territories: a statistical analysis of environmental and digital choices based on the Istat permanent census of enterprises
The Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) guides regional policies towards innovation-driven investments aligned with territorial strengths. Despite the widespread adoption of S3, empirical evidence on how the attitudes of firms influence investment choices within regional specialisation domains remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analysing non-linear relationships between firms' environmental awareness, technological modernisation, and investment behaviours. The analysis utilises data from the 2022 ISTAT Permanent Census of Enterprises, which developed a composite index to identify specialised firms by territorial and sectoral criteria. To assess the relationships between environmental sensitivity and sustainable investments, as well as technological modernisation attitudes and digitalisation investments, Spearman’s rank correlations were calculated to determine relationships at both the regional and specialisation-domain levels, as well as cluster analyses. The findings highlight the potential of differentiated environmental and digital interventions tailored to sector-specific contexts. Future studies might investigate causal dynamics via longitudinal analyses to gain deeper insights into these relationships.
Copyright (c) 2026 Annamaria Fiore, Lucia Mongelli, Sergio Salamone https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Smart surveys and the digital divide in Italy: the influence of socio-demographic characteristics on the smart tasks’ performance
Smart surveys combine data provided by the respondent, either in a traditional way via a web questionnaire or through smart instruments (active mode), with data collected by sensors embedded in smart devices (passive mode). This approach reduces the burden on respondents and improves the quality and timeliness of the results, especially in complex surveys. Within the framework of the European Statistical System, Istat participated in the Smart Surveys Implementation project (2023-2025), in partnership with other national statistical institutes and some European universities. As part of the project, an experimental survey named “New Ways of Measuring” was conducted in Italy, the Netherlands, and Slovenia in a harmonised manner with the aim of assessing the respondents’ attitudes towards the new ways of collecting data in smart surveys. The purpose of this study is to investigate how socio-demographic characteristics influence the performance of smart tasks in the Italian context. The findings provide valuable insights into the relationship between innovations in survey techniques and digital inequality.
Copyright (c) 2026 Monica Perez, Barbara D'Amen, Barbara Maria Rosa Lorè, Alessandra Nuccitelli https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The remainder as a tool to increase response rate: the Italian permanent censuses of economic unit
The continuous declining response rate in the surveys conducted by the National Institute of Statistics is countered, in the first instance, with the application of a reminder strategy. But is this really the winning strategy? What is behind the sometimes-frantic rush to send a reminder? What is the institute doing to optimise this path? What other elements can interact to support the improvement of the response rate? The aim of the paper is precisely to answer these questions by comparing the experiences of the major business surveys, i.e. the Permanent Censuses of Economic Units.
Copyright (c) 2026 Claudio Ceccarelli, Cecilia Gandolfo, Marcella Pietrantonio, Veronica De Angelis, Carolina Mauriello https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Monitoring process and non-sampling errors control in IT-LFS sample survey
This study presents strategies to minimise non-sampling errors in the IT Labour Force Survey. Emphasis is placed on the rigorous monitoring of interviews and processing data to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the collected information. Ongoing data analysis is conducted to promptly identify and address inconsistencies or biases, thereby enhancing data quality. In the context of the LFS, this takes on a very high value due to the complexity of the defining framework and the breadth of the concepts involved. Several strategies are developed to ensure these objectives: i) instructional notes and ad hoc training sessions are systematically implemented to enhance the proficiency of interviewers and ensure standardised data collection procedures; ii) real-time remote monitoring of CATI interviews: listening to the conversation between the interviewer and respondent, as well as viewing the interviewer’s screen in real-time, through remote tools; iii) on-site monitoring: ISTAT staff periodically visit the interview sites to observe interviews, ensuring adherence to quality standards directly; iv) post-interview monitoring and data analysis to evaluate the logical flow of the questionnaire as well as the consistency of the collected information with the data time series. To assess the impact of interviewers on the quality of survey results, a synthetic indicator was developed to highlight areas significantly influenced by interviewer effects (as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient), support corrective measures through evaluations at the individual-interviewer level, and plan targeted training activities. These strategies help identify and correct potential sources of non-sampling error in relevant process parameters and ensure a thorough evaluation of both methodological and content-related aspects of the interviews, enabling timely interventions when necessary.
Copyright (c) 2026 Serena Capuano, Francesca Carta, Alessandro Martini, Alessia Sabbatini https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Terrorism incidents and characteristics, a multilevel latent class model
The aim of this study is to explore the impact of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center on the characteristics of terrorism worldwide and in individual countries using information from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), a longitudinal dataset that provides detailed data on terrorist events worldwide. We focus on terrorist activity within a country, organizing the data by attacks and countries to detect latent patterns. We restrict our attention on a limited period of time, namely 7 years, and apply a multilevel latent class model that enables for simultaneous clustering of attacks and events into groups exhibiting distinctive profiles based on observed terrorism-related variables.
Copyright (c) 2026 Luciano Nieddu, Roberta Varriale https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Innovative data collection strategies: Istat survey on « wellbeing and safety of people »
The ISTAT survey "Wellbeing and Safety of People" analysed subjective well-being and perceived safety in Italy. It involves a sample of about 25,000 individuals aged 16–75, with 21,000 Italians interviewed via CATI (telephone) and 4,500 foreigners via CAPI (face-to-face). A key innovation was the contact strategy for CATI interviews: participants received an informative letter and a reminder, encouraging them voluntarily provide a phone number through a toll-free number or an ISTAT webpage (via tax code or QR code). Another methodological novelty was the formation of interview quartets, prioritizing individuals who had proactively shared their contact details, thereby reinforcing the link between voluntary action and participation. This paper has the goals to assess the impact of the communication strategy and reminders on response rates and participation patterns by age and geographical area. The approach offers useful insights to improve citizen engagement in future surveys and could serve as a replicable model to reduce territorial inequalities in participation.
Copyright (c) 2026 Federica Pellizzaro, Lorella Sicuro https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Social quality as a multidimensional construct for Active Ageing: evidence from Structural Equation Modeling
Active Ageing policies in Europe often focus on elderly’s productivity, overlooking broader structural and relational factors. To address this gap, we propose Social Quality (SQ) as a theoretical and methodological framework encompassing four dimensions: Social Empowerment, Social Cohesion, Social Inclusion, and Socioeconomic Security. Using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) on data from the Italian ISTAT “Aspects of Daily Life” survey (2022), we validated a new SQ measure in a sample of adults aged 55–74. Results show robust links between SQ and subjective well-being, highlighting the importance of network resources and institutional support for older individuals’ participation and overall quality of life.
Copyright (c) 2026 Adriana Cerasuolo https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Exploring the link between self-rated health and vulnerability among refugees in Italy
The literature indicates that migrants tend to be a selected group from the population of their country of origin, particularly with respect to health status. In contrast, asylum seekers and refugees typically represent a less selected group as highlighted by empirical evidence. The health status of these specific subgroups of migrants remains under-researched for the Italian context. However, asylum seekers and refugees may have specific health needs stemming from their pre-migration and travel experiences that warrant further investigation. This study addresses this gap by examining self-rated health among asylum seekers and refugees residing in Italy. Health status is analyzed in relation to socio-demographic characteristics and various dimensions of vulnerability. We draw on data from a unique survey conducted in 2024 on asylum seekers and refugees living in Italy with a total sample of 1,327 individuals. Our results highlight a positive relation between social support networks and health status. Conversely, experiences of discrimination, economic deprivation, female gender, and older age are negatively associated with health outcomes.
Copyright (c) 2026 Eralba Cela, Eleonora Miaci, Elisa Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Luigi Campaniello, Ezio Sorti https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
R&D expenditure and regional innovation in Italy: evidence from a panel data analysis
This study investigates the relationship between Research and Development (R&D) expenditure and innovation across Italian regions, employing patent applications as a proxy for innovation output. The primary objective is to assess the extent to which different types of R&D expenditure — higher education, business, and public sector — contribute to regional innovation capacity, under the assumption that knowledge constitutes a fundamental driver of economic growth. The findings reveal that higher education R&D expenditure has a significant and positive long-term impact on patent production, while business and public R&D expenditures show no statistically significant effects. These results highlight the central role of universities in Italy’s innovation system and suggest policy implications aimed at enhancing university-industry collaboration and improving the effectiveness of public R&D funding.
Copyright (c) 2026 Andrea Ciccarelli, Audrey De Dominicis, Greta Torquati https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Notaries as “public good” intermediaries: analysis of their functions using OECD PMR and the World Bank B-Ready indicators
The exploration of OECD PMR and World Bank data, allowed to understand the impact of regulation on the notarial activity as well as the notarial performances (property transfer and company incorporation) compared to countries not adopting notaries. The last edition of the PMR indicator, as in the past OECD report, shows a trend of negative correlation between level of regulation and cost paid by the consumer for the property transfer. A higher level of regulation therefore tendo to produce better results for consumers precisely because the notary is part of the administration of justice and his services represent a "public good". As regards the comparison of scores between countries that adopt the notary and others that adopt other systems, the analysis of the B-Ready data shows better performances of the countries with notaries both for real estate transfers and for company incorporation. These findings invite a broader reconsideration of how regulation is conceptualized and measured in the context of legal services. From an economic standpoint, the civil law notariat is not a regulatory anomaly, but a functionally efficient institutional design that internalizes market failures, such as information asymmetry, contractual incompleteness, and enforcement risk, at the very heart of transactional life. The data presented throughout the paper demonstrate that regulation does not necessarily entail inefficiency. On the contrary, well-calibrated regulatory frameworks—such as those governing notaries—may reduce total transaction costs by providing legal certainty ex ante, thereby lowering litigation, renegotiation, and enforcement costs ex post. Therefore, this paper calls for a redefinition of what constitutes “efficient regulation” in the legal sector. It advocates for evaluation tools that take into account not only market openness but also the institutional role of legal professionals in delivering public value through trust, risk reduction, and systemic coherence. Such a shift is not merely technical; it is foundational for ensuring that regulatory reform enhances both market performance and legal robustness.
Copyright (c) 2026 Bruno Deffains, Claudio Ceccarelli, Antonio Cappiello https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Rome (un)changing: persistence and peculiarities of its population
Rome — the largest municipality in Italy and one of the largest European capitals — offers a revealing case for understanding how national demographic decline translates into urban change. Combining long-run census evidence with annual resident-population stocks, demographic-balance components, and a municipality-level analysis, the study shows that Rome’s recent trajectory broadly parallels the national pattern but with a delayed transition to decline. The decomposition of annual change indicates that natural decrease has become structurally negative, while migration plays a decisive role: international migration remains systematically positive, whereas internal mobility changes sign over time and is crucial in shaping shifts from growth to decline. As of 1 January 2025, Rome’s population structure is close to the national profile in terms of ageing, yet it differs from other large cities in its level of ageing and internationalisation, with a particularly small child population. Within the city, Rome’s 15 administrative subdivisions (“municipi”) exhibit extreme heterogeneity in size, population, growth and structure: only a small number of peripheral municipi continue to grow, while others — most notably the historic centre — experience marked decline.
Copyright (c) 2026 Cecilia Reynaud https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Innovation drivers at firm level: the role of university collaboration in R&D (preliminary remarks)
Numerous studies agree that innovation has a key role in economic development. A common conclusion among these studies is the central importance of innovation in fostering economic development, with R&D investments seen as essential to enhancing national competitiveness. Within this framework, collaborative networks between firms and universities play a strategic role, as they facilitate knowledge transfer. Building on the work of Ciccarelli et al. (2025), which analyzed the macroeconomic spillovers of universities and firms R&D regional expenditure on value added, this study shifts the focus to the micro-level in order to provide a more comprehensive understanding of these effects. Using data from Permanent Business Census carried out by ISTAT since 2019, this paper shows the importance of R&D, and particularly the effect on firm performance of collaboration with universities.
Copyright (c) 2026 Andrea Ciccarelli, Audrey De Dominicis, Alessandro Faramondi, Silvia Lombardi, Ilaria Straccamore https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Migrants' socio-economic integration: an analysis of the Italian case
Numerous studies have shown that securing a first job is a crucial step in the integration of migrants. In Italy, the labour market is highly segmented, often penalising migrants based on their gender, country of origin, age at arrival, as well as their migration motives and long-term settlement intentions. This study uses unique data from the 2024 FOLCSI Survey, funded by AGE-IT Project Spoke 1, to analyse the socio-demographic and migration determinants associated with access to first paid employment in Italy. Binary logistic regression models are used to examine how individual and migratory characteristics influence the likelihood of obtaining a first paid job. The results highlight significant disadvantages for women and non-economic migrants, while factors such as age at arrival and educational attainment also play a crucial role. When analysed separately by gender, the results confirm the existence of structural barriers that hinder access to employment at the beginning of the migration process. This highlights the importance of considering individual characteristics upon arrival in order to better understand employment disparities among migrants.
Copyright (c) 2026 Roberta Defazio, Anna Paterno https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Life expectancy and environment in the Mediterranean area: statistical relationships and spurious correlations
Several interrelated factors are behind the good health and life expectancy of local populations. Today, large datasets are available at UN level to analyse the relationships between economic, social and environmental factors. All dimensions that are now considered essential for a sound assessment of the sustainability of national development paths. Using a clustering analysis, this study focuses on the Mediterranean area to highlight how variations in life expectancy across the region are shaped by factors such as economic conditions, healthcare systems and political stability of the countries, rather than climate or physical geography alone. The application of multivariate techniques allows evaluating the multiple relationship among the indicators nowadays available in the WB statistical databases, taking into account the limitations in the data while their correlations, eventual connections or spurious correlations. The paper highlights further data and development needed in the future. Based on present results, some useful conclusions for policy are drowned.
Copyright (c) 2026 Edoardo Pizzoli, Martina Patone https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0