The paper evaluates the effectiveness of a major Italian place-based policy (Contratti di Programma), by means of which the state approves and finances industrial projects proposed by private firms. Using the areas to be exposed to the same policy at a later date as counterfactuals, the study...

The 1998 reform of the Italian retail trade sector delegated to the regional governments the regulation of entry of large retail shops. We use the local variation in regulation to determine the effects of entry barriers on firm performance for a representative sample of medium and large retail...

In this collection of papers we first analyze the evolution of the Italian food industry and the retail trade sector during the past decade (Chapters 1 and 2). Chapter 3 describes the structure of large retailers and buying groups in Italy. Chapter 4 proposes alternative measures of the degree...

The aim of this work is to provide information of use in evaluating Italian local public entities from two angles. 1) computerization and supply of web-services; 2) �accounting transparency� and use of accounting information for internal control and benchmarking. The analysis is based...

In this paper we examine the Italian regional policies launched in the second half of the 1990s and aimed at promoting the development of Southern Italy. Ten years on, the goals have not been reached, either in terms of social and economic development, or of the performance of firms receiving...

The aim of this study is to develop a new method to measure local endowments of transport infrastructures. Starting from the analytical approach of the �new economic geography�, which emphasizes the role of spatial location in determining the growth performance of an economy, it is...

Following the constitutional reform of 2001, which gave increased autonomy Italian regions, and the new European guidelines from the Lisbon Agenda, there has been an upturn in regional legislative activity concerning innovation, leading to a critical review of the instruments adopted, mainly...

The aim of this work is to provide information of use in evaluating Italian local public entities from two angles. 1) computerization and supply of web-services; 2) �accounting transparency� and use of accounting information for internal control and benchmarking. The analysis is based...

This paper explores the interactions between external trade and regional disparities in the Italian economy since unification. It argues that the advantage of the North was initially based on natural advantage (in particular the endowment of water, intensive in silk production). From 1880...

In 150 years, the trends in regional disparities in economic development within Italy have differed depending on whether they are gauged by longitude or by latitude. The disparities between western and eastern regions first widened and then closed; the North-South gap, by contrast, remains the...