Applied Statistics (Part I, Part II)

Prof. Giovanni Camillo Porzio

porzio@unicas.it;
Marted ore 15:00-16:00 (previo appuntamento).
Stanza 9.02 Ottavo piano Torre B Folcara
Per appuntameno in altro orario/giorno, contattare porzio (at) unicas.it
Tel: (+39) 0776 299 3448
Fax: (+39) 0776 299 4834
ECTS: 10
Prerequisites: None
Contents: Simple Linear Regression. Multiple Regression. Weighted regression and Lack of
Fit. Polynomial Regression. Regression with categorical predictors. Transformations.
Regression Diagnostics: Residuals, Outliers and Influence. Nonconstant Variance. Variance
Stabilizing Transformations. Graphs for Model Assessment. Variable Selection. Nonlinear
Regression. Binary response regression. Structural Equation Models and their applications.
Textbooks:
R.D. Cook & S. Weisberg (1999). Applied Regression Including Computing and Graphics. New
York: Wiley
S. Weisberg (2005). Applied Linear Regression, third edition. New York: Wiley.
Aims: The aim of this course is to provide students with some logical and technical
statistical tools which may be exploited to tackle economics and business issues starting
from data. The exploratory data analysis and model building perspective is adopted. Room
willl be devoted to applications and case studies.
Teaching and examination methods: Written + oral final exam.

Business English
Prof. Jane Marie Gheghetta

jm.gherghetta@unicas.it;
0776/299.4715

ECTS: 5
Prerequisites: Learners knowledge of English: (at least) level B1 Common European
Framework of Reference (CEFR).
Contents: Grammar, vocabulary, functional language, cultural awareness.
The main topics to be discussed in the course include: Human Resources, Organisations,
Change, Responsibility, Governance, Start-ups, Resources, Power, E-marketing, Risk,
Misconduct, Development.
Textbooks:
Intelligent Business Advanced Coursebook; Trappe T.,Tullis G., Pearson-Longman, Essex
Aims: Enable learners to:
consolidate and enhance all 4 language skills
communicate clearly and effectively in an English-speaking work and academic context
acquire linguistic competency at level C1: effective operational proficiency (CEFR).
Teaching and examination methods: The lessons will be organized around various
thematic units taken from Intelligent Business Advanced Coursebook and other authentic
sources such as newspapers, specialized journals and the Internet. Students will focus on the
4 language skills through a wide range of activities such as role-play, case study and
practical exercises in the context of economics, business and social issues. Classes will be
student-centred in order to advance learning, develop confidence in using L2 and improve
overall language usage.
Final examination:
The examination consists in:

 a conversation based on topics dealt with during the course

answers to specific questions on the coursebook units (Intelligent Business Advanced)
multimedia presentation & discussion.

Business Law - Part I

Prof. Corrado Bocci
ECTS: 5
Prerequisites: None
Contents: The course first examines the fundamentals of the Italian legal system with a
special emphasis on company and trade law. In order to assure that students have a great
understanding of the increasing significance of business organizations in contemporary
society, the course includes analysis of Community Regulations that permit the creation and
management of companies with a European dimension such as the Regulations about
European company (SE) model or the European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG). New
legal fields will be considered with an international perspective, such as intellectual
property, business associations, antitrust, securities, financial market and dispute resolution
systems, including litigation and arbitration. With these foundations, students will have to
consider all the dynamic financial and economic forces driving economic internalization and
trade liberalization. Finally, the course purposes to acquaint students with engaging in a
series of simulations based on real-life legal and business case studies that allow them to
apply their knowledge.
Course content
1) Private enterprise and fundamental constitutional principles Commercial
undertakings Special regulatory categories: agricultural undertaking, small and mediumsized undertakings Private enterprise outside of the market: the model of social
undertaking Advertising and commercial undertakings Legal accounting Commercial
representation The hidden entrepreneur. The objective and subjective elements of civil
liability. 2) The intellectual property law. Inventions and patents Registered trade
marks. 3) Business and the market.Freedom of establishment Open competition and
antitrust in the Community law Protection of competition and the market. Abuse of
dominant position. Cartels which have as their object or effect the material prevention,
restriction or distortion of competition Business contracts and contractual principles.
4) Companies and corporate governance.Non-stock corporation: a) causal structures.
Limited partnership; b) ordinance, profits, losses; c) administration; d) creditors rights; e)
dissolution Joint stock companies. Types of companies Public limited liability companies:
a) Shares and securities; b) separation between ownership and control; c) the corporate
governance: Assembly, Administration, Controls; d) shareholders and creditors rights; e)

maintenance and alteration of capital; f) division and merger by acquisition or by the

formation of new companies. Private limited-liability companies: a) formation; b) regulation
of the activity; c) governance, administration and control; d) the model of a single member
company; e) shareholders and creditors rights. Investment companies with variable capital
The regulatory regime of investment firms performing investment services and investment
activities. Cooperatives The regulatory regime of holding companies. 5) Types of
companies regulated by Community law: a) the European Economic Interest Grouping
(EEIG); b) the European company (SE); c) the European Cooperative Society (SCE). 6) Group
claimant procedures. Bankruptcy Failure proceedings. Substantive and judicial effects
of declaration of failure Closing of failure Other procedures. 7) Credit securities.
Specifications: a) abstraction; b) incorporated rights. The bill of exchange. The draft. The
cheque. 8) The global trading systems. Rules of negotiating and lex mercatoria.
International business transaction. Dispute resolution systems: a) litigation; b) arbitration.
Textbooks:
Didactic materials provided in class.
Aims: To acquaint students with fundamentals of commercial law and techniques of legal
interpretation in accordance with the principles laid down in the Community competition and
trade law, especially in the field of corporate governance, company law, commercial and
financial market. To gain institutional knowledge in the field of intellectual property law,
international business transaction and group claimant procedures.
Teaching and examination methods: Lectures; written and oral exam.
Didactic materials:

Robert W. Emerson, J.D., Business Law, Barrons, 5th edition, 2009, chapters 14, 15,16 and 17;

Italian Business Law, Alessandro De Nicola, Marco Carone, Egea, 2008, chapters 1 (p. 3-22)
and 3 (p. 35-41)

Total Quality Management

Prof. Lucio Cappelli

cappelli@eco.unicas.it
luciocappelli@libero.it
0776.2993760
portatile 335331126.

ECTS: 5
Prerequisites: None
Contents:
I) Quality and economic theory
- price and quality, the role of information, adverse selection and moral hazard: problems and
solutions
In this first part the problem of quality is considered from the economic theory point of view. The
purpose is to provide the students with the theoretical connection between the concept of quality
and its economic origin.
II) History and evolution in the meaning of quality concept
- quality and markets changes, the role of the consumer, quality in the industrialization process;
the pioneers of quality, the Japanese revolution (CWQC); from quality control to quality
management; the principles of the Total Quality.
This part furnish a brief survey about the historical evolution of the concept of quality, starting
just before the industrializing process, throughout the market changing, toward the role of the

pioneers of quality and the appearance of the Company Wide Quality Control in Japan. The
aim of this section is to help students in order to place the quality concept and its evolution
inside a correct geographical and historical location.
III) Total Quality Management: principles and tools
1. The basic principles of TQM and the strategic tools: the continual improvement, the
involvement of the human resources, the role of the organization leadership, the involvement of
the supplies, the customer satisfaction.
2. The technical tools: the seven basic control tools, the PDCA method, the Quality Function
Deployment, the benchmarking, six sigma; BSC, ISO 9001:2008.
In this part the principles of the Total Quality Management are examined and some technical
tools are considered. The goal is to give the students the basis to recognize quality and its
related instruments as a strategic method to manage both the particular company processes
and the organization as a whole.
IV) The way to excellence
- quality versus excellence? the Kanos approach, the EFQM model, the CAF model.
- the self-assessment approach
This part considers some models that implement the concept of excellence in their principles.
The aim of this section is to give to the students a valid suggestion about the developments
forward the quality question, with a particular attention to the European context.
Textbooks:
Management della Qualit, Lucio Cappelli, MariaFrancesca Renzi, Cedam 2010 (an English
version is under translation).
Quality Management for Organizational Excellence: Introduction to Total Quality (sixth Edition),
David L.Goetsch Stanley Davis, Pearson Education, 2009.
TQM: Text with Cases (Third Edition), John S.Oakland, Butterwhort-Heinemann, 2003.

Aims: In the present markets, based on the globalization phenomenon and on the central role
played by the consumer, quality remain a fundamental competitive factor for every
organizations. At the light of this evidence, the course will offer an examine of the major aspects
connected to the general topic of quality, from the evolution of the concept of quality to the most
recent developing concerning the excellence models. In particular, the purpose of the course is
to provide students with the full comprehension of the principles, models and tools in the field of
Total Quality Management.
Teaching and examination methods: Lectures; written and oral exam.

Regional Economics
Prof. Domenico de Vincenzo
domenico.devincenzo@unicas.it
tel. +39 0776 2993436 - fax +39 0776 302312

ECTS: 5
Prerequisites: None
Contents: Individual Location Decisions. Location Factors. Spatial Patterns of Differential
Advantage in Specific Location Factors. Land Use. Competition for the Use of Land. Rent and
Land Value. Spatial Structure of Urban Areas. The Location of Urban Places. Trends in Urban
Patterns. The Nature of a Region. Delimiting Functional Regions. The Location of People. How
Regions Develop. Regional Objectives and Policies.
Textbook(s):
Edgar M. Hoover and Frank Giarratani, An Introduction to Regional Economics, Regional
Research Institute, 1999
Aims: The course aims to provide competencies on both economic geography and spatial
economics, focusing on growth, behaviour, and economic performance of cities and regions
Teaching and examination methods: Lectures. Oral examination.

International Economics and Globalization (Part I, Part II)

Prof. Daniela Federici - Part I

d.federici@unicas.it
0776/299.4666

Prof. Valentino Parisi - Part II

valentino.parisi@unicas.it
tel: +39 0776 2994664
fax: +39 0776 2994834

ECTS: 10
Prerequisites: Economics - Intermediate level
Contents: The course analyzes the challenges and opportunities firms face in the global
economy.
The course has a modular structure and is divided into two parts.
The first part is designed to provide a thorough understanding of the economics of multinational
enterprises (MNEs). The module explores the nature, extent and the pattern of foreign direct
investment (FDI), the motives for foreign production and the determinants of MNEs activity.
The second part of the course focuses on aspects of international capital taxation, specifically
on the effects of corporate taxation on multinational enterprises, tax competition and tax
coordination, the debate in Europe on the possible introduction of a common consolidated tax
base for multinationals.
Topics to be covered include:
Business across borders; the advantages and the disadvantages of the different modes of firm
internationalization, role of the multinational firms.

Taxation of multinationals: the credit and the deduction system; multinationals taxation and
firms financial structure; tax competition and tax coordination; the debate in Europe on a
common consolidated tax base.
Textbooks:
For the first part:
- K. Head, Elements of Multinational strategy, Berlin, Springer, 2008
- R. E. Caves, Multinational Enterprises and Economic Analysis, Cambridge University Press,
2007
- T. Mayer and G. Ottaviano, The Happy Few: The internationalisation of European firms,
Bruegel Blueprint 3, Brussels , 2007.
For the second part:
- Clemens Fuest, Bernd Huber, and Jack Mintz, Capital Mobility and Tax Competition.
Foundations and Trends in Microeconomics, Vol. 1, No 1 (2005) 162.
- Jean Hindriks, Gareth Myles, Intermediate Public Economics, Ch. 18 (par. 18.1, 18.2, 18.3),
The MIT Press, 2006.
Further readings will be provided during the course.
Aims: By the end of the course the student will master economic concepts that are useful for
the analysis of the internationalization activities of firms and the international taxation.
Teaching and examination methods: Lectures; written and oral exam.

International Accounting

Prof. Rosa Lombardi

Telefono:
0776 2994759
E.mail:
rosa.lombardi@unicas.it
rosa_lombardi@haas.berkeley.edu

Dott.ssa Alessandra LARDO (e-mail: a.lardo@unicas.it)

ECTS: 5
Prerequisites: None
Contents:
1. Introduction to International Financial Reporting Standards
2. Balance sheet
3. Statement of income, change in equity, and recognized income and expense
4. Cash flow statement
5. Property, plant and equipment
6. Intangible assets
7. Interests in financial instruments, associates, joint ventures and investment property
8. Business combinations and consolidated financial statement
9. Comparison of IFRS and US GAAP
Textbooks:

Barry J. Epstein, Eva K. Jermakowicz, IFRS Interpretation and Application of International

Financial Reporting Standards Wiley, Hoboken, 2007.
Aims: The course aims to analyse and to provide the conceptual framework for interpretation
and application of international financial reporting standards.
Teaching and examination methods: Oral lesson; oral exam.

Critical Thinking

Prof. Colin Biggs

ECTS: 5
Prerequisites: None
Contents:
1. Introduction to critical thinking as a systematic approach to teaching students how to think. 2.
Deductive reasoning. 3. Inductive reasoning. 4. Abductive reasoning. 5. Cultural differences in
critical thinking. 6/7. Common forms of fallacious reasoning/ thinking. 8. Reasoning with
numbers. 9/10. Behavioural economics and reasoning. 11/12. Presentations using critical
thinking. 13/14. Projects using critical thinking. 15. Implications for economics and business. 16.
Developing critical thinking as a life skill.
Textbook:
Franklin, D. and Andrews, J. (eds). Megachange: The World in 2050, The Economist, 2012.
Aims: This is a practical course designed to teach students not what to think, but how to think.
Each session will therefore be highly participative. Students will be expected to come to each
class having prepared a case study, or analysed an argument, or having undertaken another
similar small assignment set in advance by the professor. Classes will contain a mix of lecture
material and interactive exercises, with students working as appropriate in pairs and small
groups.
The course is divided into two halves.
In the first half students will be introduced to different types of reason and thinking, to common
mistakes in thinking, both verbally and numerically, and to important cultural differences in the
way people think and reason.
The second half of the course explores the insights of behavioural economics and considers the
types of implication of critical thinking for economics and business. During the second half
students will be required to make presentations using critical thinking, and to undertake a short
project (which will be guided and supported by the professor).

Teaching and examination methods: Lectures, group and project work, case studies, and
selected readings; course assessment by project work and final written exam.