Trade theory traces back different patterns of internationalization to heterogeneity between firms, measured both through differences in productivity levels and size. In this paper we analyze the link between heterogeneity within sectors and internationalization choices, namely trade and foreign...

The recent process of globalization has been characterized by a rapid increase of foreign direct investments (FDIs), outpacing the simultaneous expansion of arms-length trade (exporting). Trade theory traces back different patterns of internationalization to differences in productivity levels...

Economic theory suggests that firm’s investment depend on future growth opportunities, measured for example by price-earnings ratios, but might be dampened by inefficient financial markets. This paper tests these hypotheses using an unbalanced panel of 9,000 listed firms from 41 developed and...

Over the time a large number of reciprocal preferential trade agreements (RTAs) have been concluded among countries. Recently many studies have used gravity equations in order to estimate the effect of RTAs on trade flows between partners. These studies report very different estimates, since...

The paper compares the essential features of the Italian banking system with those of the other large euro-area countries. The analysis focuses on banks? size, ownership and competitiveness, their role in financing firms, the composition of their balance sheets and their degree of...

We study the performance of the so called Made in Italy agri-food exports over the last fifteen years, merging the strand of analysis that estimated price and demand elasticities with that considering more explicitly the role of product quality. We proceed in three steps. First, we estimate the...

The consolidation process that characterized the banking industry in the last decades has been widely analyzed, but very few studies have investigated what are the reasons why a number of announced deals were not concluded. We fill this gap in the literature analyzing the characteristics of...

Endogenous growth has set a new paradigm for macroeconomic analysis. This paper overviews the most relevant theoretical contributions of this literature for the analysis of open economies, highlighting their implications both for the effects of crosscountry integration on output convergence and...

This paper investigates the determinants of the pattern of banks' foreign investment. We extended previous analyses in three directions. First, we use a unique database that includes information on 260 large banks from OECD countries and all their foreign branches and subsidiaries in each one of...