The first objective of this study is to analyze visitors’ perceived value of four Italian small areas, that have been granted the European Regional Development Fund’s financing for developing sustainable tourism. The second objective of this work is to investigate the influences of socio-demographic and trip-related characteristics on the tourists’ assessments of the main aspects of such destinations, for detecting variables useful for market segmentation and for designing better-targeted marketing actions. These areas host protected natural reserves, historical heritage, rural or mountain traditions, and ways of life, the conservation of which is combined with local economic growth through the development of green, cultural, and slow tourism. Thus, insights on how visitors’ perceived value is configured there might provide hints useful for upgrading the local tourism supply consistently with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 for sustainable development and the European Green Deal Strategy. Results confirm that the perceived value is a fundamental construct, as it strongly and positively influences satisfaction, intention to recommend, and destination image. The value of sustainable destinations, as perceived by visitors, is mainly based on the affective benefits that sustainable experiences provide, starting from positive social interactions making tourists feel welcomed. The tourist segment valorizing sustainable destinations is mostly composed of old people and low-income travelers, who seek basic services and facilities, as their satisfaction depends mainly on relaxing immersed in pristine nature.

In the framework of inequality measures decompositions, this article introduces an immediate and straightforward simplification for the Gini index when a population is divided in two subgroups. Since one of the key points in inequality analysis is represented by the role of overlapping units, a simulation study is developed in order to analyze the effects of the overlapping component on inequality decomposition. Simple expressions for the measurement of either overlapping component and inequality between are derived, which allow to correctly evaluate and compare the effects of different factors on total inequality.

The presence of a relation between firm size and asset returns is investigated by referring to the Italian Stock Exchange. In order to explain asset return variability, the excess return on a market portfolio as well as the difference between the return on a portfolio of small stocks and the return on a portfolio of large stocks are considered. The resultant two-factor model seems to improve the explanation of the returns of the portfolios formed on size.