This paper examines the product specialisation of Italian exports over the period 1985-2001 to identify the roots of Italy�s sluggish export performance with respect to world trade in the second half of the 1990s. In particular, the analysis focuses on the role of product specialisation in...

This paper compares main European countries and the euro area specialization patterns. The analysis, that covers the period 1988-1997 and is based on a detailed sectoral breakdown, provides evidence to assess the degree of structural differences and convergence among European countries, which...

Do tariffs inhibit trade flows by limiting the entry of exporting firms (`extensive margin') or by restricting the average volume exported by each firm (`intensive margin')? Using a gravity equation approach, we analyze how the decrease in tariffs promoted during the 1990s by the Uruguay Round...

The paper investigates the dynamics of export relationships � defined as shipments by a given firm to a given destination in a given year � in a panel of almost 25,000 French exporters over the five-year period 1995-1999. It describes how the relationships evolve over time, presenting...

How are the dynamics of foreign and domestic sales correlated at the firm level? The question is relevant in that the sign of the correlation shapes the international transmission of shocks and the effects of policy measures. From a theoretical perspective, the correlation could be either zero,...

This paper compares the evolution of trade specialisation, by technological content, of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardia, Marche, Veneto and the Italian average over 1992-2002. It is shown that, over the period, the four regions� export performance has been negatively affected by the stationarity...

Between the 1880s and the 1930s, three "regulatory cycles" can be identified in Italy. In the underlying model, each financial crisis gives rise to a regulatory change, which is circumvented in due time by financial innovation, that can then contribute to the outbreak of a new financial crisis....

The paper focuses on the creation of information for decision-making when agents' effort is non observable and rewards are indirect, that is, only based on the final decision. Following Dewatripont and Tirole (1999), the paper shows that the creation of advocates of special interests, as opposed...

The book brings together a series of research papers presented at a workshop on "The trends of Italy's international tourism", held at the Bank of Italy in Rome on 22 June 2012, on occasion of the release, on Bank of Italy's website, of microdata from the Survey on international tourism in...

What is the relationship between real exchange rate misalignments and economic growth? And what effect, if any, did undervaluations or overvaluations of the lira/euro have on Italy's growth? We address these questions by presenting, first, three main facts: (i) there is a positive relationship...