Securitization and Special Purpose Vehicles in an International Setting: a Systemic View

The present work tries to display a comprehensive and comparative study of the different legal and regulatory problems involved in international securitization transactions. First, an introduction to securitization is provided, with the basic elements of the transaction, followed by the different varieties of it, including dynamic securitization and synthetic securitization structures. Together with this introduction to the intricacies of the structure, a insight into the influence of securitization in the financial and economic crisis of 2007-2009 is provided too; as well as an overview of the process of regulatory competition and cooperation that constitutes the framework for the international aspects of securitization. The next Chapter focuses on the aspects that constitute the foundations of structured finance: the inception of the vehicle, and the transfer of risks associated to the securitized assets, with particular emphasis on the validity of those elements, and how a securitization transaction could be threatened at its root. In this sense, special importance is given to the validity of the trust as an instrument of finance, to the assignment of future receivables or receivables in block, and to the importance of formalities for the validity of corporations, trusts, assignments, etc., and the interaction of such formalities contained in general corporate, trust and assignment law with those contemplated under specific securitization regulations. Then, the next Chapter (III) focuses on creditor protection aspects. As such, we provide some insights on the debate on the capital structure of the firm, and its inadequacy to assess the financial soundness problems inherent to securitization. Then, we proceed to analyze the importance of rules on creditor protection in the context of securitization. The corollary is in the rules in case of insolvency. In this sense, we divide the cases where a party involved in the transaction goes bankrupt, from those where the transaction itself collapses. Finally, we focus on the scenario where a substance over form analysis may compromise some of the elements of the structure (notably the limited liability of the sponsor, and/or the transfer of assets) by means of veil piercing, substantive consolidation, or recharacterization theories. Once these elements have been covered, the next Chapters focus on the regulatory aspects involved in the transaction. Chapter IV is more referred to “market” regulations, i.e. those concerned with information disclosure and other rules (appointment of the indenture trustee, and elaboration of a rating by a rating agency) concerning the offering of asset-backed securities to the public. Chapter V, on the other hand, focuses on “prudential” regulation of the entity entrusted with securitizing assets (the so-called Special Purpose vehicle), and other entities involved in the process. Regarding the SPV, a reference is made to licensing requirements, restriction of activities and governance structures to prevent abuses. Regarding the sponsor of the transaction, a focus is made on provisions on sound originating practices, and the servicing function. Finally, we study accounting and banking regulations, including the Basel I and Basel II Frameworks, which determine the consolidation of the SPV, and the de-recognition of the securitized asset from the originating company’s balance-sheet, as well as the posterior treatment of those assets, in particular by banks. Chapters VI-IX are concerned with liability matters. Chapter VI is an introduction to the different sources of liability. Chapter VII focuses on the liability by the SPV and its management for the information supplied to investors, the management of the asset pool, and the breach of loyalty (or fiduciary) duties. Chapter VIII rather refers to the liability of the originator as a result of such information and statements, but also as a result of inadequate and reckless originating or servicing practices. Chapter IX finally focuses on third parties entrusted with the soundness of the transaction towards the market, the so-called gatekeepers. In this respect, we make special emphasis on the liability of indenture trustees, underwriters and rating agencies. Chapters X and XI focus on the international aspects of securitization. Chapter X contains a conflicts of laws analysis of the different aspects of structured finance. In this respect, a study is made of the laws applicable to the vehicle, to the transfer of risks (either by assignment or by means of derivatives contracts), to liability issues; and a study is also made of the competent jurisdiction (and applicable law) in bankruptcy cases; as well as in cases where a substance-over-form is performed. Then, special attention is also devoted to the role of financial and securities regulations; as well as to their territorial limits, and extraterritoriality problems involved. Chapter XI supplements the prior Chapter, for it analyzes the limits to the States’ exercise of regulatory power by the personal and “market” freedoms included in the US Constitution or the EU Treaties. A reference is also made to the (still insufficient) rules from the WTO Framework, and their significance to the States’ recognition and regulation of securitization transactions.

Il conflitto fra trasparenza sui mercati finanziari ed esigenza di riservatezza della società

The thesis main topic is the conflict between disclosure in financial markets and the need for confidentiality of the firm. After a recognition of the major dynamics of information production and dissemination in the stock market, the analysis moves to the interactions between the information that a firm is tipically interested in keeping confidential, such as trade secrets or the data usually covered by patent protection, and the countervailing demand for disclosure arising from finacial markets. The analysis demonstrates that despite the seeming divergence between informational contents tipically disclosed to investors and information usually covered by intellectual property protection, the overlapping areas are nonetheless wide and the conflict between transparency in financial markets and the firm’s need for confidentiality arises frequently and sistematically. Indeed, the company’s disclosure policy is based on a continuous trade-off between the costs and the benefits related to the public dissemination of information. Such costs are mainly represented by the competitive harm caused by competitors’ access to sensitive data, while the benefits mainly refer to the lower cost of capital that the firm obtains as a consequence of more disclosure. Secrecy shields the value of costly produced information against third parties’ free riding and constitutes therefore a means to protect the firm’s incentives toward the production of new information and especially toward technological and business innovation. Excessively demanding standards of transparency in financial markets might hinder such set of incentives and thus jeopardize the dynamics of innovation production. Within Italian securities regulation, there are two sets of rules mostly relevant with respect to such an issue: the first one is the rule that mandates issuers to promptly disclose all price-sensitive information to the market on an ongoing basis; the second one is the duty to disclose in the prospectus all the information “necessary to enable investors to make an informed assessment” of the issuers’ financial and economic perspectives. Both rules impose high disclosure standards and have potentially unlimited scope. Yet, they have safe harbours aimed at protecting the issuer need for confidentiality. Despite the structural incompatibility between public dissemination of information and the firm’s need to keep certain data confidential, there are certain ways to convey information to the market while preserving at the same time the firm’s need for confidentality. Such means are insider trading and selective disclosure: both are based on mechanics whereby the process of price reaction to the new information takes place without any corresponding activity of public release of data. Therefore, they offer a solution to the conflict between disclosure and the need for confidentiality that enhances market efficiency and preserves at the same time the private set of incentives toward innovation.

Technical innovations for the diagnosis and the rehabilitation of motor and perceptive impairments of the child with Cerebral Palsy

The treatment of the Cerebral Palsy (CP) is considered as the “core problem” for the whole field of the pediatric rehabilitation. The reason why this pathology has such a primary role, can be ascribed to two main aspects. First of all CP is the form of disability most frequent in childhood (one new case per 500 birth alive, (1)), secondarily the functional recovery of the “spastic” child is, historically, the clinical field in which the majority of the therapeutic methods and techniques (physiotherapy, orthotic, pharmacologic, orthopedic-surgical, neurosurgical) were first applied and tested. The currently accepted definition of CP – Group of disorders of the development of movement and posture causing activity limitation (2) – is the result of a recent update by the World Health Organization to the language of the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health, from the original proposal of Ingram – A persistent but not unchangeable disorder of posture and movement – dated 1955 (3). This definition considers CP as a permanent ailment, i.e. a “fixed” condition, that however can be modified both functionally and structurally by means of child spontaneous evolution and treatments carried out during childhood. The lesion that causes the palsy, happens in a structurally immature brain in the pre-, peri- or post-birth period (but only during the firsts months of life). The most frequent causes of CP are: prematurity, insufficient cerebral perfusion, arterial haemorrhage, venous infarction, hypoxia caused by various origin (for example from the ingestion of amniotic liquid), malnutrition, infection and maternal or fetal poisoning. In addition to these causes, traumas and malformations have to be included. The lesion, whether focused or spread over the nervous system, impairs the whole functioning of the Central Nervous System (CNS). As a consequence, they affect the construction of the adaptive functions (4), first of all posture control, locomotion and manipulation. The palsy itself does not vary over time, however it assumes an unavoidable “evolutionary” feature when during growth the child is requested to meet new and different needs through the construction of new and different functions. It is essential to consider that clinically CP is not only a direct expression of structural impairment, that is of etiology, pathogenesis and lesion timing, but it is mainly the manifestation of the path followed by the CNS to “re”-construct the adaptive functions “despite” the presence of the damage. “Palsy” is “the form of the function that is implemented by an individual whose CNS has been damaged in order to satisfy the demands coming from the environment” (4). Therefore it is only possible to establish general relations between lesion site, nature and size, and palsy and recovery processes. It is quite common to observe that children with very similar neuroimaging can have very different clinical manifestations of CP and, on the other hand, children with very similar motor behaviors can have completely different lesion histories. A very clear example of this is represented by hemiplegic forms, which show bilateral hemispheric lesions in a high percentage of cases. The first section of this thesis is aimed at guiding the interpretation of CP. First of all the issue of the detection of the palsy is treated from historical viewpoint. Consequently, an extended analysis of the current definition of CP, as internationally accepted, is provided. The definition is then outlined in terms of a space dimension and then of a time dimension, hence it is highlighted where this definition is unacceptably lacking. The last part of the first section further stresses the importance of shifting from the traditional concept of CP as a palsy of development (defect analysis) towards the notion of development of palsy, i.e., as the product of the relationship that the individual however tries to dynamically build with the surrounding environment (resource semeiotics) starting and growing from a different availability of resources, needs, dreams, rights and duties (4). In the scientific and clinic community no common classification system of CP has so far been universally accepted. Besides, no standard operative method or technique have been acknowledged to effectively assess the different disabilities and impairments exhibited by children with CP. CP is still “an artificial concept, comprising several causes and clinical syndromes that have been grouped together for a convenience of management” (5). The lack of standard and common protocols able to effectively diagnose the palsy, and as a consequence to establish specific treatments and prognosis, is mainly because of the difficulty to elevate this field to a level based on scientific evidence. A solution aimed at overcoming the current incomplete treatment of CP children is represented by the clinical systematic adoption of objective tools able to measure motor defects and movement impairments. A widespread application of reliable instruments and techniques able to objectively evaluate both the form of the palsy (diagnosis) and the efficacy of the treatments provided (prognosis), constitutes a valuable method able to validate care protocols, establish the efficacy of classification systems and assess the validity of definitions. Since the ‘80s, instruments specifically oriented to the analysis of the human movement have been advantageously designed and applied in the context of CP with the aim of measuring motor deficits and, especially, gait deviations. The gait analysis (GA) technique has been increasingly used over the years to assess, analyze, classify, and support the process of clinical decisions making, allowing for a complete investigation of gait with an increased temporal and spatial resolution. GA has provided a basis for improving the outcome of surgical and nonsurgical treatments and for introducing a new modus operandi in the identification of defects and functional adaptations to the musculoskeletal disorders. Historically, the first laboratories set up for gait analysis developed their own protocol (set of procedures for data collection and for data reduction) independently, according to performances of the technologies available at that time. In particular, the stereophotogrammetric systems mainly based on optoelectronic technology, soon became a gold-standard for motion analysis. They have been successfully applied especially for scientific purposes. Nowadays the optoelectronic systems have significantly improved their performances in term of spatial and temporal resolution, however many laboratories continue to use the protocols designed on the technology available in the ‘70s and now out-of-date. Furthermore, these protocols are not coherent both for the biomechanical models and for the adopted collection procedures. In spite of these differences, GA data are shared, exchanged and interpreted irrespectively to the adopted protocol without a full awareness to what extent these protocols are compatible and comparable with each other. Following the extraordinary advances in computer science and electronics, new systems for GA no longer based on optoelectronic technology, are now becoming available. They are the Inertial and Magnetic Measurement Systems (IMMSs), based on miniature MEMS (Microelectromechanical systems) inertial sensor technology. These systems are cost effective, wearable and fully portable motion analysis systems, these features gives IMMSs the potential to be used both outside specialized laboratories and to consecutive collect series of tens of gait cycles. The recognition and selection of the most representative gait cycle is then easier and more reliable especially in CP children, considering their relevant gait cycle variability. The second section of this thesis is focused on GA. In particular, it is firstly aimed at examining the differences among five most representative GA protocols in order to assess the state of the art with respect to the inter-protocol variability. The design of a new protocol is then proposed and presented with the aim of achieving gait analysis on CP children by means of IMMS. The protocol, named ‘Outwalk’, contains original and innovative solutions oriented at obtaining joint kinematic with calibration procedures extremely comfortable for the patients. The results of a first in-vivo validation of Outwalk on healthy subjects are then provided. In particular, this study was carried out by comparing Outwalk used in combination with an IMMS with respect to a reference protocol and an optoelectronic system. In order to set a more accurate and precise comparison of the systems and the protocols, ad hoc methods were designed and an original formulation of the statistical parameter coefficient of multiple correlation was developed and effectively applied. On the basis of the experimental design proposed for the validation on healthy subjects, a first assessment of Outwalk, together with an IMMS, was also carried out on CP children. The third section of this thesis is dedicated to the treatment of walking in CP children. Commonly prescribed treatments in addressing gait abnormalities in CP children include physical therapy, surgery (orthopedic and rhizotomy), and orthoses. The orthotic approach is conservative, being reversible, and widespread in many therapeutic regimes. Orthoses are used to improve the gait of children with CP, by preventing deformities, controlling joint position, and offering an effective lever for the ankle joint. Orthoses are prescribed for the additional aims of increasing walking speed, improving stability, preventing stumbling, and decreasing muscular fatigue. The ankle-foot orthosis (AFO), with a rigid ankle, are primarily designed to prevent equinus and other foot deformities with a positive effect also on more proximal joints. However, AFOs prevent the natural excursion of the tibio-tarsic joint during the second rocker, hence hampering the natural leaning progression of the whole body under the effect of the inertia (6). A new modular (submalleolar) astragalus-calcanear orthosis, named OMAC, has recently been proposed with the intention of substituting the prescription of AFOs in those CP children exhibiting a flat and valgus-pronated foot. The aim of this section is thus to present the mechanical and technical features of the OMAC by means of an accurate description of the device. In particular, the integral document of the deposited Italian patent, is provided. A preliminary validation of OMAC with respect to AFO is also reported as resulted from an experimental campaign on diplegic CP children, during a three month period, aimed at quantitatively assessing the benefit provided by the two orthoses on walking and at qualitatively evaluating the changes in the quality of life and motor abilities. As already stated, CP is universally considered as a persistent but not unchangeable disorder of posture and movement. Conversely to this definition, some clinicians (4) have recently pointed out that movement disorders may be primarily caused by the presence of perceptive disorders, where perception is not merely the acquisition of sensory information, but an active process aimed at guiding the execution of movements through the integration of sensory information properly representing the state of one’s body and of the environment. Children with perceptive impairments show an overall fear of moving and the onset of strongly unnatural walking schemes directly caused by the presence of perceptive system disorders. The fourth section of the thesis thus deals with accurately defining the perceptive impairment exhibited by diplegic CP children. A detailed description of the clinical signs revealing the presence of the perceptive impairment, and a classification scheme of the clinical aspects of perceptual disorders is provided. In the end, a functional reaching test is proposed as an instrumental test able to disclosure the perceptive impairment. References 1. Prevalence and characteristics of children with cerebral palsy in Europe. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2002 Set;44(9):633-640. 2. Bax M, Goldstein M, Rosenbaum P, Leviton A, Paneth N, Dan B, et al. Proposed definition and classification of cerebral palsy, April 2005. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2005 Ago;47(8):571-576. 3. Ingram TT. A study of cerebral palsy in the childhood population of Edinburgh. Arch. Dis. Child. 1955 Apr;30(150):85-98. 4. Ferrari A, Cioni G. The spastic forms of cerebral palsy : a guide to the assessment of adaptive functions. Milan: Springer; 2009. 5. Olney SJ, Wright MJ. Cerebral Palsy. Campbell S et al. Physical Therapy for Children. 2nd Ed. Philadelphia: Saunders. 2000;:533-570. 6. Desloovere K, Molenaers G, Van Gestel L, Huenaerts C, Van Campenhout A, Callewaert B, et al. How can push-off be preserved during use of an ankle foot orthosis in children with hemiplegia? A prospective controlled study. Gait Posture. 2006 Ott;24(2):142-151.

Il giudizio di bilanciamento tra interessi pubblici e privati: un modello formale.

In this work, I argue that administrative discretional decision-making, achieving a public interest to protect, is an evaluation process that occurs through the reasonable and proportional comparison of several private (secondary) interests conflicting with a single public (primary) interest. I suggest that the dynamics of weighing competing interests are similar to the procedure for balancing constitutional rights. Thus, drawing on Robert Alexy's constitutional balancing model, I propose a model that is applicable to discretionary administrative decisions, in which the outcome of the proportional weighing of secondary interests works as a "moderation factor" for the primary interest. In my model, the outcomes of the discretional process can be converted into numerical values, simplifying decision consistency so as to make it simple, complete and reasonable at the same time.

Società di capitali amministratrici di società di persone

The present work focuses on a specific aspect of the general issue concerning the possible consequences of the reform of business corporations (“società di capitali”) on the discipline of partnerships (“società di persone”). After the reform of business law enacted with legislative decree n. 6/2003, the majority of the literature, in the light of the provisions of art. 2361 co. 2 civil code and art. 111-duodecies of the regulatory provisions (“disposizioni di attuazione”) of the civil code itself, maintains the possibility for a business corporation to be executive of a partnership. As a matter of fact, whenever all the members of a partnership are actually business corporations, it shall be possible that either one of the latter becomes the executive, either such role is played by a third party, i. e. a non-partner. After displaying the possible advantages and disadvantages stemming from a business corporation managing a partnership, the analysis investigates the legal feasibility of the case in point. First of all, the reasons supporting the theory under which a legal person cannot be manager of a partnership are examined in depth; an overview of the principal EU Member States’ legal systems and of the discipline of the European Economic Interest Grouping and of European Corporate is then provider for. At the outset of such analysis, the author asserts the legal possibility for a legal person to act as manager of a corporation, including a partnership. Afterwards, the investigation covers the issue of the executive-member in the partnerships. Initially, an overview of the literature concerning the legal nature of the management is offered; then, the three different categories of partnership are analyzed, in order to understand whether such legal persons can be managed by a third party (i.e. a non-member). On the basis of the existing strict connection between executive powers and unlimited liability, the author concludes that only the members shall be manager of the partnerships. Another chapter of the thesis is centred, from the one hand, on the textual data that, after the reform of 2003, support the aforesaid conclusion; from the other hand, on the peculiar features of the corporate business that is executive of a partnership. In particular, the attention is focused on the necessity or on the mere opportunity of an article of association explicitly providing that a corporate business can be executive of the partnership; on the practical ways by which the former shall manage the latter (especially on the necessity of nominating a permanent representative of the legal person and on the possibility to designate the procurators to this end); on the disclosure obligations applicable to the case in point.

I limiti al diritto di proprietà derivanti dagli strumenti di pianificazione urbanistica. I vincoli urbanistici.

Nella prima parte viene ricostruito il concetto di vincolo espropriativo alla luce dell’elaborazione della giurisprudenza della Corte costituzionale e della Corte EDU, giungendo alla conclusione che rientrano in tale concetto le limitazioni al diritto di proprietà che: - derivano da scelte discrezionali dell’Amministrazione non correlate alle caratteristiche oggettive del bene; - superano la normale tollerabilità nel senso che impediscono al proprietario la prosecuzione dell’uso in essere o incidono sul valore di mercato del bene in modo sproporzionato rispetto alle oggettive caratteristiche del bene e all’interesse pubblico perseguito. Ragione di fondo della teoria dei vincoli è censurare l’eccessiva discrezionalità del potere urbanistico, imponendo una maggiore obiettività e controllabilità delle scelte urbanistiche. Dalla teoria dei vincoli consegue altresì che nell’esercizio del potere urbanistico l’Amministrazione, pur potendo differenziare il territorio, deve perseguire l’obiettivo del riequilibrio economico degli interessi incisi dalle sue determinazioni. L’obbligo della corresponsione dell’indennizzo costituisce la prima forma di perequazione urbanistica. Nel terzo e nel quarto capitolo viene analizzata la giurisprudenza civile e amministrativa in tema di vincoli urbanistici, rilevandone la non corrispondenza rispetto all’elaborazione della Corte costituzionale e l’incongruità dei risultati applicativi. Si evidenzia in particolare la necessità del superamento del criterio basato sulla distinzione zonizzazioni-localizzazioni e di considerare conformative unicamente quelle destinazioni realizzabili ad iniziativa privata che in concreto consentano al proprietario di conseguire un’utilità economica proporzionata al valore di mercato del bene. Nel quinto capitolo viene analizzato il rapporto tra teoria dei vincoli e perequazione urbanistica, individuandosi il discrimine tra i due diversi istituti non solo nel consenso, ma anche nella proporzionalità delle reciproche prestazioni negoziali. Attraverso la perequazione non può essere attribuito al proprietario un’utilità inferiore a quella che gli deriverebbe dall’indennità di esproprio.

Il corpo e l'individuo tra proprietà ed autodeterminazione. Con particolare riferimento al fenomeno delle biobanche

La bioetica è il luogo ideale per cercare risposte ai grandi interrogativi concernenti la vita, la morte e la cura dell'essere umano. I recenti dibattiti sull'uso, ed il temuto abuso, del corpo umano in medicina hanno messo in evidenza la necessità di una discussione approfondita sul potere di scelta che l'individuo può esercitare sulla propria mente e sul proprio corpo. Spinta dal desidero di indagare l'estensione di tale potere di scelta ho voluto analizzare le tematiche riguardanti “il corpo”, “l'individuo”, “la proprietà” e “l'autodeterminazione”. L'analisi è stata condotta individuando alcuni dei differenti significati che questi termini assumono nei diversi ambiti che la bioetica lambisce e mostrando, in particolare, la visione di tale realtà attraverso le lenti del giurista. A chi appartiene il corpo? Chi ha il potere di decidere su di esso? Il potere di scelta valica gli antichi i confini legati al corpo del paziente e coinvolge tessuti, organi e cellule staccati dal corpo umano, parti che un tempo erano considerati scarti operatori sono oggi divenuti tesori inestimabili per la ricerca. L'importanza assunta dai campioni biologici ha portato alla creazione di biobanche nelle quali sono raccolti, catalogati e il DNA studiato in campioni biologici Le biobanche riflettono le tensioni della bioetica e del biodititto. Lo studio delle biobanche riguarda, tra l'altro, la riceca dell'equilibrio tra le diverse esigenze meritevoli di tutela: in primo luogo il diritto alla privacy, diritto a che le “proprie informazioni” non vengano divulgate ed il diritto a non essere discriminato ed in secondo luogo le necessità dettate dalla ricerca e dalla scienza medica. Nel 2009 la rivista Times messo biobanche tra le 10 idee in grado di cambiare il mondo anche in considarazione della medicina personalizzata e del fatto che costituiscono una la speranza per la ricerca contro le malattie attuali e future.

Il principio di precauzione in diritto penale

Oggetto della ricerca è la rilevanza nell’ambito del diritto penale del principio di precauzione. Quest’ultimo deve la sua diffusione e popolarità al fatto di presentarsi come criterio guida al problema del rischio e dell’incertezza. L’esigenza di adottare scelte normative in condizioni di incertezza scientifica è infatti oggi ineludibile. Si cercherà in primo luogo di circoscrivere l’oggetto dell’indagine analizzando il rilievo che il principio di precauzione ha a livello legislativo e giurisprudenziale. Quindi si analizzeranno le problematiche che il ricorso allo stesso suscita con riferimento alla struttura classica del reato e legate al contesto di incertezza nel quale viene invocato. Tali problematiche si riferiscono alla possibilità o meno di dare rilevanza al modello del reato di pericolo, alla ricostruzione del nesso causale e all’influenza che il principio di precauzione può determinare nell’accertamento dell’elemento soggettivo delle colpa. Si concluderà l’analisi analizzando le diverse posizioni assunte dalla dottrina italiana circa l’opportunità o meno dell’intervento penale in contesti di incertezza scientifica, individuando, in caso di risposta affermativa, le modalità di intervento.

Essays in Media and Finance

This Ph.D. thesis consists in three research papers focused on the relationship between media industry and the financial sector. The importance of a correct understanding what is the effect of media on financial markets is becoming increasingly important as long as fully informed markets hypothesis has been challenged. Therefore, if financial markets do not have access to complete information, the importance of information professionals, the media, follows. On the other side, another challenge for economic and finance scholar is to understand how financial features are able to influence media and to condition information disclosure. The main aim of this Ph.D. dissertation is to contribute to a better comprehension for both the phenomena. The first paper analyzes the effects of owning equity shares in a newspaper- publishing firm. The main findings show how for a firm being part of the ownership structure of a media firm ends to receive more and better coverage. This confirms the view in which owning a media outlet is a source of conflicts of interest. The second paper focuses on the effect of media-delivered information on financial markets. In the framework of IPO in the U.S. market, we found empirical evidence of a significant effect of the media role in the IPO pricing. Specifically, increasing the quantity and the quality of the coverage increases the first-day returns (i.e. the underpricing). Finally the third paper tries to summarize what has been done in studying the relationship between media and financial industries, putting together contributes from economic, business, and financial scholars. The main finding of this dissertation is therefore to have underlined the importance and the effectiveness of the relationship between media industry and the financial sector, contributing to the stream of research that investigates about the media role and media effectiveness in the financial and business sectors.

Experiments on Pro-Sociality and Environmental Issues

The thesis comprises three essays that use experimental methods, one about other-regarding motivations in economic behavior and the others on pro-social behavior in two environmental economics problems. The first chapter studies how the expectations of the others and the concern to maintain a balance between effort exerted and rewards obtained interact in shaping the behavior in a modified dictator game. We find that dictators condition their choices on recipients' expectations only when there is a high probability that the the recipient will not be compensated for her effort. Otherwise, dictators tend to balance the efforts and rewards of the recipients, irrespective of the recipients' expectations. In the second chapter, I investigate the problem of local opposition to large public projects (e.g. landfills, incinerators, etc.). In particular, the experiment shows how the uncertainty about the project's quality makes the community living in the host site skeptical about the project. I also test whether side-transfers and costly information disclosure can help to increase the efficiency. Both tools succesfully make the host more willing to accept the project, but they lead to the realization of different types of projects. The last chapter is an experiment on climate negotiations. To avoid the global warming, countries are called to cooperate in the abatement of their emissions. We study whether the dynamic aspect of the climate change makes cooperation across countries behaviorally more difficult. We also consider inequality across countries as a possible factor that hinders international cooperation.