We study the role of employment protection legislation (EPL) in explaining the relative small average size of Italian firms. We construct a simple model that shows that the smooth relation between size and growth probability is disturbed in proximity of the thresholds at which EPL applies...

Since the mid-1980s fixed-term contracts have been used in many European countries to reduce firing costs. As this strategy may have led to segmented labour markets, recent policy interventions have enhanced permanent jobs by cutting their labour costs. Efficient design of these policies...

This paper examines how business investment responds to investment tax credit, as enacted by Italy�s Law 388/2000. To assess whether the programme made investments possible that otherwise would not have been made, it exploits some features of the tax credit scheme, such as the fact that...

Using data on a sample of Italian manufacturing companies, this paper analyzes the location (at home or abroad) and the mode of organization (outsourcing versus integration) of intermediate inputs production. We find evidence of a productivity ordering (largely consistent with the assumptions in...

This work presents, in a single framework, the results of several recent studies, carried out by Bank of Italy researchers, on the internationalization of the Italian productive system. The notion of internationalization is considered not only from the perspective of direct investments abroad...

Since the early 1990s internationalization has moved forward very rapidly. With the reorganization of production processes on a global scale, the average growth rate of foreign direct investment (FDI) has exceeded that of GDP and trade, and its geographical and sectoral distribution has changed....

The paper presents an overview of available statistics on the internationalization of the Italian economy. The different sources are compared in terms of completeness, consistency and compatibility, timeliness, relevance and frequency of revisions, presence of systematic biases and significant...

TThis paper investigates which factors determine a bank's decision to expand its activities abroad and what determines its choice of the countries to invest in. The empirical analysis is conducted using firm-level data on foreign subsidiaries for a representative sample of nearly 2,500 OECD...

Using several data sources, we assess the impact of Italy's outward foreign direct investment (FDI) on local employment growth between 1996 and 2001 for 12 manufacturing industries and 103 administrative provinces. Our main result is that, controlling for the local industrial structure and area...