Javier Lera (p), David Cantarero, Sara Pinillos-Franco

Mihai Tivadar

Objective: Exploring and disentangle the role of social capital in the probability of suffering from depression among older adults in Europe. We hypothesize that both forms of social capital are positively associated with mental health.

Methods: We utilized data from the 4th, 6th, and 8th waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), comprising 13 countries that were consistently present in all survey waves. Our assessment of social capital was based on a diverse set of variables, allowing the construction of two distinct scales to measure bonding and bridging social capital. Additionally, we incorporated individuals' assessments of their satisfaction with both their social networks and their engagement in bridging social capital activities. We control for personal and socioeconomic characteristics (paying special attention to the role of gender and marital/cohabitation status) and health-related variables. To reach our goals multilevel logistic growth models were performed.

Results: Our models prove that higher levels of social capital reduced the probability of reporting depression even when we control for personal and health characteristics. The protection from the bonding social capital would be higher than the one from the bridging one (14,1% and 9% reduction in the depression level respectively) We also found differences in the protective effect of social capital depending on the gender and marital /cohabitation status. More precisely, we found that women are more vulnerable to depression and social capital is not as protective for them in comparison to their male peers.

Discussion: The last decades have witnessed significant developments in the field of mental health care for people over 50 in Europe especially in the social awareness and political responses. Nevertheless, there is still effort to be done in several fields such as country cooperation or paying more attention to prevention and early intervention programs. At this regard, social capital (both bridging and bonding) could reduce the odds of suffering from mental problems such as depression. Our analysis can be used to better design new policies and programs that specifically address the main challenges and the most vulnerable people.

Konstantinos Laskaratos (p)

Javier Lera

In this paper, we will examine how social inequalities impact the harmonious coexistence of citizens, ultimately acting as obstacles to peaceful living, development, and progress of nations. After identifying dominant forms of discrimination in contemporary states (gender, race, age, religion, education level, social or economic status, etc.), we will analyse them in light of the need to expand "social acceptance," aiming for a more harmonious and functional coexistence of local communities. Through literature references and examples, we will document how traditional structures (such as educational institutions) and influential cultural entities (such as museums and galleries) could decisively contribute to uprooting outdated perceptions and limiting inequalities rather than perpetuating them. In this context, the role of lifelong education of the social collective will be highlighted in the battle against divisions, recognizing the role of technology in the modern era of information and knowledge for achieving this goal. The paper will present – emphasizing on the Greek example- the historical role that Mass Media has played in narrowing the gap between citizens. Furthermore, it will highlight the emerging opportunities and possibilities in the era of "political correctness," social movements (#me too, Black Lives Matter, etc.), and social media. The aim of this paper is to ascertain the extent to which central goals of the United Nations' Agenda 2030 - such as peace, justice, gender equality, reduction of inequalities, poverty alleviation, and hunger reduction - can strengthen our planet.

Elsa Amaddeo (p), Angela Stefania Bergantino , Giulio Fusco, Mario Intini

Konstantinos Laskaratos

Scientific literature has defined Special Economic Zones (SEZ) as economic policy tools to attract productive activities in a limited geographical area and empower local economies. The first special economic zone in Europe took place Airport in Ireland in 1959. Starting from this first experience, the demand for establishing SEZ has grown globally, particularly in those territories characterized by emerging and transition economies.
Nowadays, the number of SEZs established has grown significantly compared to previous years. From 845 SEZs registered worldwide in 1997, today there are around 4,300 distributed across 135 countries.
Among these, Italy represents one of the last countries to have introduced SEZs. These zones, located in the southern regions, offer fiscal and administrative advantages to existing or potential companies operating in those areas in order to attract foreign direct investments and facilitate the economic growth of a territory.
In these scenarios the aim of this paper is to assess the possible impact of the SEZs on the behaviour and performance of Italian companies, focusing of the favourable tax regime, implemented in 2020 through a 50% reduction in corporate income tax and the introduction of tax credit on investments in structural goods, implemented in 2018.
The sample of the analysis consists of the listed firms located in a SEZ region and belonging to the manufacturing sector, this being the sector generating most of the employment and value added of the italian economy (around 70%). The data have been collected from AIDA, the Bureau Van Dijk database, and cover the period 2016-2022.
Using policy evaluation techniques, the purpose of this work is the identification and subsequent analysis of the effects of the SEZ favourable tax regime on firms’ behaviour and economic performance. In particular, the treated group will consist of all the firms that are located in a SEZ area, while the control group will take into account firms that are located in the same region as the SEZ ones but not in a SEZ area. To identify those firms, the georeferenced data from the Agenzia del Territorio have been analyzed and compared to the geographical coordinates of the registered office of the firms of the sample.
This study represents one of the initial efforts to understand the impact of the SEZ industrial policy in Italy. The results of this work can be a support tool and provide input related to the necessity of an extended and unique SEZ area.

Mihai Tivadar (p), Yves Schaeffer

Elsa Amaddeo

The between-group spatial environmental inequalities arise from the fact that social groups are spatially distributed differently relative to an environmental variable (such as natural amenities or environmental hazards). Intuitively, when members of two groups have similar spatial distributions, environmental inequalities should be nonexistent. Thus, segregation and environmental inequalities are phenomena linked by a key variable: space. Despite this strong connection, the number of studies interested in the association between spatial segregation and spatial environmental inequality is small, and a formal demonstration of the links between these phenomena is missing.
Environmental inequalities may occur between individuals (also called vertical inequalities) and between social groups (horizontal or between-group inequalities) (Boyce et al., 2016). In the case of horizontal spatial environmental inequalities, they arise from the fact that social groups are distributed differently in space relative to an environmental variable. On a methodological level, existing studies are mainly based on between-group comparisons of means or medians, bivariate correlations, and multivariate regressions, and no conceptual and mathematical connection is made between spatial segregation metrics and the measurement of environmental inequalities.
In a recent work, Schaeffer and Tivadar (2019) proposed a structured methodology to measure horizontal spatial environmental inequalities using indices from residential segregation literature. The authors adapted two types of segregation indices for environmental inequalities measurement. First, they based their analysis on spatial dissimilarity for the examination of areal-level environmental data, such as vegetation cover or pollution loads in census blocks. Second, they employed relative centralization for the analysis of multiple points environmental data, such as geocoded hazardous sites or urban parks. However, a formal description of the connections between segregation and environmental inequalities is still missing.
In this article, we demonstrate mathematically that spatial environmental inequalities and spatial segregations are linked: the level of environmental inequalities is bounded by the level of segregation. Put differently, social segregation is a necessary but insufficient condition for environmental inequalities: if the segregation level is low, inequalities will also be low, and with high levels of segregation, the inequalities can be high as well (but not necessarily).
To verify these results, we conduct an empirical analysis of the relationship between the two phenomena in French urban areas. First, we analyse the pattern of environmental inequalities for poor households in French urban areas and test whether there is a strong relationship between segregation and environmental inequalities, and whether there are any significant differences between types of urban areas.