Bocconi University

Climbing fibre (CF) inputs to Purkinje cells (PCs) instruct plasticity and learning in the cerebellum1-3. Paradoxically, CFs also excite molecular layer interneurons (MLIs)4,5, a cell type that inhibits PCs and can restrict plasticity and learning6,7. However, two types of MLI with opposing influences have recently been identified: MLI1s inhibit PCs, reduce dendritic calcium signals and suppress plasticity of granule cell to PC synapses2,6-9, whereas MLI2s inhibit MLI1s and disinhibit PCs8. To determine how CFs can activate MLIs without also suppressing the PC calcium signals necessary for plasticity and learning, we investigated the specificity of CF inputs onto MLIs. Serial electron microscopy reconstructions indicate that CFs contact both MLI subtypes without making conventional synapses, but more CFs contact each MLI2 through more sites with larger contact areas. Slice experiments indicate that CFs preferentially excite MLI2s through glutamate spillover4,5. In agreement with these anatomical and slice experiments, in vivo Neuropixels recordings show that spontaneous CF activity excites MLI2s, inhibits MLI1s and disinhibits PCs. By contrast, learning-related sensory stimulation produces more complex responses, driving convergent CF and granule cell inputs that could either activate or suppress MLI1s. This balance was robustly shifted towards MLI1 suppression when CFs were synchronously active, in turn elevating the PC dendritic calcium signals necessary for long-term depression. These data provide mechanistic insight into why CF synchrony can be highly effective at inducing cerebellar learning2,3 by revealing a critical disinhibitory circuit that allows CFs to act through MLIs to enhance PC dendritic calcium signals necessary for plasticity.

Primary dealers are sophisticated investors appointed by sovereign issuers to buy, promote, and distribute sovereign debt that develop a deep knowledge of sovereign debt markets. This study examines domestic primary dealers’ sovereign debt classification, which is presumed to reflect their superior information sets on expected sovereign yields. We hypothesize that when this classification is disclosed in financial statements, peer banks adjust their asset allocation accordingly. We first document the predictive ability of domestic primary dealers’ sovereign debt classification for future sovereign yields. Next, using a sample of 6,437 bank-year observations over the 2012–2019 period and after controlling for publicly available information and other determinants of banks’ asset allocation decisions, we show that peer banks divest financial instruments and increase loans when domestic primary dealers disclose more sovereign debt at amortised cost. These effects are more pronounced among peer banks facing greater informational disadvantages.

ABSTRACT This paper provides a first assessment of the financial performance of worker buyouts in Italy in a comparative fashion. Drawing on a dataset of 138 active worker buyouts in Italy between 2021 and 2023, the study employs descriptive evidence and mean-difference tests to assess the drivers of the capital structures of both worker buyouts and all Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The analysis reveals that worker buyouts systematically present higher leverage and a lower incidence of zero-leverage compared to the population of Italian SMEs, underscoring the crucial role of external financing and institutional support in sustaining this organizational model. From a policy perspective, the evidence points to the need for stronger equity bases to reduce long-term vulnerability and to facilitate generational renewal.

The increasing volume and diversity of Earth Observation (EO) and climate data produced by Copernicus missions and the Destination Earth (DestinE) initiative pose a major challenge for interoperability and large-scale analysis. Today, global datasets are distributed on heterogeneous spatial grids, forcing users to repeatedly perform ad-hoc regridding steps, which are costly, error-prone, and difficult to reproduce.The GRID4EARTH project addresses this issue by promoting a common Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS) as a foundation for analysis-ready Earth data. In this context, HEALPix emerges as a strong candidate due to its equal-area property, hierarchical structure, and long-standing adoption in global modelling and large-scale data analysis. These properties enable efficient multi-resolution workflows, scalable data access, and natural integration with modern cloud-native formats such as Zarr.However, a key limitation remains: HEALPix is formally defined on the sphere, whereas EO are naturally referenced to the WGS84 ellipsoid. While often ignored at coarse resolutions, this mismatch introduces non-negligible area distortions at Copernicus resolutions and may bias zonal or regional analyses.To overcome this limitation, GRID4EARTH explores anextension of HEALPix to the WGS84 ellipsoid using the authalic sphere associated with the ellipsoid. By preserving equal-area properties on the ellipsoid, this approach provides a consistent spatial framework bridging spherical climate models and ellipsoidal EO. It enables a unified representation for DestinE model outputs and Copernicus satellite data, while remaining compatible with existing HEALPix-based tools and workflows.This contribution presents the motivation, principles, and expected benefits of ellipsoidal HEALPix within GRID4EARTH, and discusses its role as a practical and scalable DGGS for next-generation Earth system data infrastructures.

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between family firm internationalization and short-term accounting performance (return on assets (ROA)) and long-term market-based performance (average market value (AMV)), considering the unique context of socioemotional wealth (SEW) preservation. Design/methodology/approach Utilizing a sample of 641 observations pertaining to Italian and German family-owned firms, we empirically test two hypotheses with regression analysis: (1) a positive linear impact of internationalization on ROA and (2) a U-shaped curvilinear impact on AMV. Findings Our results confirm a positive linear relationship between family firm internationalization and short-term ROA, indicating immediate financial benefits from initial global engagement. Furthermore, we find support for a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between internationalization and AMV. This suggests that while early internationalization may initially temper market valuation, deeper and more extensive international engagement ultimately can contribute to enhancing long-term value. Practical implications Family business managers should recognize that even modest internationalization can yield short-term financial gains. For long-term value creation, a sustained and strategic approach to internationalization is crucial, requiring patience through initial market reactions. Policymakers can support family firms in navigating these complex internationalization trajectories. Originality/value Overall, our analysis enriches the family business and international business literature by offering a dual-perspective analysis of internationalization's impact on financial performance. It provides a more granular understanding of how family firms reconcile SEW preservation with global expansion, moving beyond a simple trade-off to a dynamic process of value creation.

Abstract Children with a disability require a greater level of care, which may profoundly affect the lives of their parents as their primary caregivers. However, empirical evidence to quantify the parental care burden of child disability remains scarce. This study aims to uncover the extent to which a child’s disability affects the parental care burden by investigating fathers’ and mothers’ time spent on housework and childcare. Exploiting data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and applying propensity-score matching, we compare the individual time fathers and mothers spend on parental care for children with and without a disability, as well as the division of parental care time within couples. Our findings indicate a parental care burden of child disability of an additional 19 minutes per day for fathers and 26 minutes per day for mothers. This extra burden is most significant for mothers of children with a disability aged 0 to 2, with 1 hour and 25 minutes per day. Furthermore, the parental care burden is particularly pronounced in fathers of later birth cohorts, and parents with a lower educational attainment level, with multiple children, or residing in West Germany. While the parental care burden of child disability is disproportionally higher for mothers than fathers, we find no evidence for an association with the division of parental care time within couples. Our study is the first to provide quantitative evidence for the increased parental care burden of child disability from a population perspective, potentially explaining adverse spillover effects on family dynamics and all family members’ wellbeing and health.

We review the development of research in Decision Analysis (DA) over the past fifty years. After presenting the axiomatic foundations and discussing the DA process, we start with value-focused thinking as a problem structuring method. We then analyze the model building phase, with a focus on graphical models for decision-making under uncertainty: belief networks, decision trees, and influence diagrams. Next, we analyze how DA research has dealt with uncertainty focusing on the areas of elicitation, aggregation, and evaluation. We then discuss sensitivity analysis, describing local and global techniques, from one-way sensitivity analysis to the value of information. Finally, we review the literature on information acquisition and discuss the role of information value in this context. • We investigate the intersections between Decision Analysis and Operations Research in the last 50 years. • We review advances in value-focused thinking. • We investigate progress in the development of graphical models. • We detail the literature development in addressing uncertainty and sensitivity analysis. • We present the developments in information acquisition.

Small independent retailers are having to cope with an increasingly hostile environment, and the sector is experiencing numerous challenges in terms of customer needs, technological advancements, and intensifying competition from large retailers and e-commerce platforms. This study explores how small retailers implement customer orientation to generate innovation, adopting a micro-foundational perspective within the dynamic capabilities approach. The focus of the research is on how the interaction between customer orientation and innovation is put into practice in small independent retailers through concrete behaviours, repeated actions, and operational choices. We conducted a multi-case study involving a sample of 15 small retailers, with the results revealing how different dimensions of innovation, including retailing mix levers, relationship-oriented, technological, and sustainability, are simultaneously customer-driven and -oriented due to their micro-foundations of sensing, seizing, and transforming. By identifying micro-organizational practices through which customer orientation and innovation influence each other, the study develops a framework that advances a micro-foundational perspective within the dynamic capabilities approach. The final section of the paper presents theoretical and practical implications with a view to improving the competitiveness of small retail businesses in the current hostile and challenging environment.

Abstract Policymakers influence citizens’ behavior through language and through policy. In this study, we build on this distinction and use Large Language Models to study how fathers are talked about, i.e., portrayals of fathers, in parliamentary documents. The case is Sweden, a forerunner in policies encouraging an engaged father. Portrayals of fathers are related to policymaking and to fathers’ use of parental leave. The results show that an active fatherhood role dominates over a passive role in this type of documents, and that an active positive role dominates over an active negative role. However, over time (1993–2021) there is a narrowing of the gap between mentions of active positive and active negative fatherhood roles, which coincides with stalled developments in fathers’ use of parental leave. We conclude that portrayals of fathers are more mixed than expected and theorize about a signaling mechanism through which language surrounding fathers may influence their behavior.