Benedetto Torrisi

University of Catania | UNICT · Department of Economics and Business

This paper provides new evidence on the quantification of economic losses and/or gains from skilled human capital mobility in terms of GDP and productivity in several EU countries during and after the Great Recession. We construct two novel indicators to quantify and compare the economic effects of human capital mobility across EU countries in 2008...

The multivariate nature of academic well-being makes difficult to provide a single definition, and finding adequate measures is a difficult task. We accomplished this purpose using job satisfaction and work engagement as measures for academic well-being thanks to the results obtained from the project PIR 2012 “Productivity of Italian Researchers” a...

“Fake news” is information that generally spreads on the web, which mimics the form of reliable news media content. In this paper, we use a classifier to distinguish a reliable source from a fake news website based on information potentially available on websites, such as the presence of a “contact us” section or a secured connection. This framewor...

Purpose. In the era of big data investors deal every day with a huge flow of information. Given a model populated by economic agents with limited computational capacity, the paper shows how “too much” information could cause financial markets to depart from the assumption of informational efficiency. The purpose of the paper is to show that as info...

The reform of Italian public administration, which started in the 1990s, shifted the consolidated paradigm towards a results-oriented management of the res publica. The new regulatory framework emphasised the role of the evaluation process carried out by the designated audit authorities (OIV or NDV); legislators provided a new information system pr...

This work aims to show whether working in a good organisational atmosphere (job satisfaction) in the academic sector influences the propensity to migrate. This theory was tested using two surveys administered to Italian researchers abroad (IRA) and Italian researchers in Italy (IRI). The main purposes were: first, to study the relation among job sa...

In 1988, three laboratories performed a radiocarbon analysis of the Turin Shroud. The results, which were centralized by the British Museum and published in Nature in 1989, provided ‘conclusive evidence’ of the medieval origin of the artefact. However, the raw data were never released by the institutions. In 2017, in response to a legal request, al...

The efficient market hypothesis has been considered one of the most controversial arguments in finance, with the academia divided between who claims the impossibility of beating the market and who believes that it is possible to gain over the average profits. If the hypothesis holds, it means, as suggested by Burton Malkiel, that a blindfolded monk...

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible relationship between malocclusion and body posture anomalies. The original sample involved 127 children (45 males and 82 females) with mixed dentition. Clinical examination of oral cavity was performed by an orthodontist, who recorded molar and canine relationship, cross-bite, lower middle-line...

In this work we investigated empirically if the behaviour of daily log-returns of 12 emerging economies’ stock market indices corroborates the “fat tails” hypothesis and if these series show long memory. These findings are important to assess the probability of observing “extreme” events, the distribution for financial models and the predictability...

Various works have already showed that common shocks and cross-country financial linkages caused the banking systems of several countries to be highly interconnected with the result that during bad times, banking crises may arise simultaneously in different countries. Our aim is to provide further evidence on the topic using a dataset made by dicho...

'Fake news' is information that generally spreads on the web, which only mimics the form of reliable news media content. The phenomenon has assumed uncontrolled proportions in recent years rising the concern of authorities and citizens. In this paper we present a classifier able to distinguish a reliable source from a fake news website. We have pre...

Before the massive spread of computer technology, information was far from complex. The development of technology shifted the paradigm: from individuals who faced scarce and costly information to individuals who face massive amounts of information accessible at low costs. Nowadays we are living in the era of big data and investors deal every day wi...

The efficient market hypothesis has been considered one of the most controversial arguments in finance, with the academia divided between who claims the impossibility of beating the market and who believes that it is possible to gain over the average profits. If the hypothesis holds, it means, as suggested by Burton Malkiel, that a blindfolded monk...

“brain drain” is an increasingly widespread and studied phenomenon. In the literature, however, less attention is devoted to academic “brain drain.” This chapter aims to identify the characteristics of the phenomenon of academic “brain drain” in Italy. Through empirical analysis, the authors identify a number of causes and factors affecting the phe...

The asymmetries academic salary theme comparisons fit in the context of topics such as the measurement of productivity, academic labour market, welfare organization and brain drain. From the research of academic positions for each European country, we imagined the standardization of the academic positions into a single European model, according to...

The existing studies investigating well-being in public universities indicate that there are unresolved issues: how does one measure the quality of work and the quality of the organisation in the university sector? What is the quality of life for Italian researchers in the workplace? What information can provide results in terms of suggesting new g...

This study represents one of the first attempts to use empirical analysis to estimate academic productivity complex and proves the thesis that academic productivity is a function of multidimensional combination of the work of academic researchers: the scientific work, education, and external relationships. Given the complexity of academic productiv...

Do the best Italian academics move abroad? What is the academic productivity of an Italian researcher working in Italy compared with one working abroad? Does academic productivity depend on their well-being at work? The aim of this study is to find explanations for these questions and to demonstrate the relationship that exists between academic pro...

Few empirical studies have sought to ascertain the propensity with which Italian researchers return to Italy after a period spent abroad. Research into this question mainly draws on generalized databases (macro data), often with only dichotomous variables (returns vs. does not return). The main objective of the paper is to fill the information gap...

Return migration is the positive counterpart of brain drain. The effects of the brain drain in Italy could be negative:this paper showsthat highly skilled migrants decide not to return to their native country.

Many studies have been carried out to assess the prevalence, risk factors and co-morbidities of peripheral artery disease (PAD). By contrast, to date there is a lack of data on patients with high-ABI. This study aimed at estimating the prevalence of increased ABI (ABI>1.4) and to evaluate the involvement of traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk fact...

To study the behavior of Italian researchers living in Italy with a view to creating appropriate policies to tackle the brain drain and discourage academics from emigrating, we constructed a survey based on a sample of 4700 Italian researchers (assistant professors) in several universities in Italy. The outlook is far from rosy: Italian researchers...

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is under diagnosed and early diagnosis decreases consequences. We screened unrecognized PAD focusing on arterial co-morbidities. In the 3412 subjects, screened from 10 general practices in the city of Catania (Sicily, Italy), ankle brachial index (ABI) measurements were performed. An ABI < or =0.9 was considered as...

Contrary to current thinking which views the European brain drain as a transitory phenomenon, this paper shows, using a micro-data analysis, that, as far as Italy is concerned, such migration is permanent. The present study provides new empirical evidence on the propensity to return. The empirical approach and analytical models used outline the pro...

This study analyzes the effects of right-wing extremism on the well-being of immigrants based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1984 to 2006 merged with state-level information on election outcomes. The results show that the life satisfaction of immigrants is significantly reduced if right-wing extremism in the nativ...

The theory on the economic development attributed to the tourism sector plays a central role in the growth process of some zones of the world. Therefore, to determine the competition level and economic attraction of a territory, it is necessary to measure the most important sectors. Today, the Mediterranean area represents one of the prime areas of...

In the last decade there's been a growing interest in the Regions with special autonomy, in particular from a political point of view, and less from a scientific one. In Italy, some Regions were given special autonomy after the coming into force of the Republican Constitution. In Spain, such regions are called "Comunidades Autonomas". They are simi...

The aim of this retrospective study was to establish whether Fong's risk score can predict rate of resectability and whether laparoscopic exploration with ultrasonography can reduce the number of useless laparotomies to any extent. Fong's score was calculated for each of the 43 potential resectable patients. We analysed: the relation between score...

Since, during the menstrual cycle, changes in neuronal activity and in auditory, olfactory, and taste thresholds were found, visual evoked potentials were investigated. In 50 healthy women the latency and the amplitude of P100 wave of pattern reversal visual evoked potentials were measured during the different menstrual phases (follicular, periovul...

To assess prospectively the features of the macular surface in silicone oil-filled eyes after surgery by analyzing whether silicone oil affects optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements and their reproducibility and whether a statistical correlation exists between postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and foveal thickness measured...

Twenty-five percent of radically treated colorectal cancer patients already have occult hepatic metastases (OHM) that will later be observed during postoperative follow-up. Instrumental examinations, i.e., intraoperative ultrasound or Doppler perfusion index, have not improved diagnosis. As carcinoembyonic antigen (CEA) levels are useful to reveal...

Increased generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress may be of crucial importance in the pathogenesis of endothelial damage. Furthermore, there is understood to be a relationship between endothelial damage, glycemic control, disorders of lipid metabolism, and coagulative hemostatic disorders. This study investigated within- an...

Ultrasonography (US) is a useful diagnostic tool in detecting early vascular diseases in women and is particularly relevant in the elderly population. Increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) is a predictive marker of onset of atherosclerosis and is associated with vascular events. The objective of the present study was to determine ca...

To evaluate the efficacy of cryopexy versus transpupillary frequency-doubled (532 nm) Nd:YAG laser-retinopexy according to anatomic and functional success and postoperative complications. Seven hundred three patients with primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment were enrolled. They underwent scleral-buckling surgery using randomly transpupillary f...

AIM AND SETTING: This study investigated correlations between insulinemia, insulin sensitivity, body mass index, lipids and lipoproteins with intima-media thickness in a group of 25 (age range 40-55 years) postmenopausal women (minimum duration of menopause 2 years) not on hormone replacement treatment. Uni and multivariate correlations showed a di...

The aim of this study was to introduce a new paradigm for keratoconus assessment, the keratoconus index (KI), generated from the ratio of peripheral corneal thickness (PCT) to the thinnest corneal thickness (TCT), and calculated by a computer-assisted procedure after ultrabiomicroscope (UBM) examination. Then we compared KI and the keratoconus seve...

Purpose: The aim of this study was to introduce a new paradigm for keratoconus assessment, the keratoconus index (KI), generated from the ratio of peripheral corneal thickness (PCT) to the thinnest corneal thickness (TCT), and calculated by a computer-assisted procedure after ultrabiomicroscope (UBM) examination. Then we compared KI and the keratoc...

Carotid artery atherosclerosis, age, family history, smoking, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia represent risk factors of cerebrovascular events (stroke and transient ischemic attack). Hence, preventive treatment is vital for patients presenting these factors. Seven hundred and sixty-six patients (348 men and 418 women; age...

Controversy exists over the prophylactic treatment of predisposing lesions to prevent retinal detachment. Seven hundred sixty consecutive phakic fellow eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in the first eye were examined by the same vitreoretinal surgeon before detachment surgery and for a follow-up period ranging from 1 to 72 months, with a...

Aim: Instillation-induced toxicity of BCG immunotherapy represent a real drawback. We decided to carry out a multicentric study to evaluate the tolerability of intravesical immunotherapy with BCG and in particular its effect on patient compliance and quality of life (QoL).Methods: A total of 92 patients were enrolled in the study, males and females...

To assess the existence of any correlation between the quantity of silicone oil emulsified in the anterior chamber and the incidence of high intraocular pressure in vitrectomized eyes. Forty-nine eyes of 49 patients underwent vitrectomy with silicone oil injection as an adjuvant procedure. At the time of observation, between September 1999 and Sept...

At a regional level the study of the infrastructures becomes really complicate when we consider: the territory equipment and the different potentiality of its development. Usually to this articulation corresponds even an analogue no homogeneity of the socio-economical conditions characterizing the various territorial areas. It is one of the most in...

Problems related to the identification of the complex of variables are present in researches regarding the division -related to many phenomena- of a territory in homogeneous areas. The complex of variables must individuate the hypothesis in a univocal way and define the relation among the areas. On the other hand the complex of definite indicators...

The banking market changes, the globalization of trade relations, the territorial location, the differences in interest rates, the informative asymmetries are some of the aspects that explain the credit rationing phenomenon.Among these the firm dimension plays a crucial role.Theories and some evidence confirm the inverse relation between firm dimen...

The article presents new estimates of the brain drain, experienced by Italian country, based on a new data set that draws on sample data and register data collected in different countries with high attraction of scientific research. Motivation is a critical dimension of capacity, defined as "the ability of people, institutions and societies to perf...