We compare the magnitude of local productivity advantages associated with two different spatial concentration patterns in Italy � urban areas and industrial districts. The former have high population density and host a wide range of economic activities, while the latter are marked by a high...

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...

Many empirical studies have found both inter-industry and intra-industry externalities in the form of local knowledge spillovers in research. This paper makes some assumptions reflecting these empirical regularities in order to analyse their implications for the allocation of economic activities...

We propose a theory-based approach to testing the presence of the 'home market effect' in a multi-country world. Our framework extends Krugman's (1980, Am. Econ. Rev. 70(5), 950-959) model, in which the appeal of a country as a production site depends on both the relative size of its domestic...

We develop a multi-country Dixit-Stiglitz trade model and analyze how industry location and welfare respond to changes in: (i) transport frictions (e.g., infrastructure, transportation technology); and (ii) non-transport frictions (e.g., tariffs, standards and regulations). We show that changes...

This paper is concerned with spatial agglomeration across industrial sectors in Italy. Following the seminal article by Ellison and Glaeser, agglomeration indexes that simultaneously control for the effect of chance and size structure of industries are presented. In particular, I compute...

A number of empirical studies have analyzed the effect of agglomeration on multinational investment, verifying whether the agglomerated areas attract foreign direct investment inflows. Despite the large number of papers, no systematic attempt has been made to disentangle whether FDI are...

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the size and the industrial and geographic distribution of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector in Italy. The discussion is organized into two sections. The first, based on OECD list of countries in "ICT Intensity Groups", show...

This paper evaluates the effects of unanticipated monetary policy shocks on Italian output on the basis of highly disaggregated data and a VAR methodology. The impact of unexpected changes in the money market interest rate on the pattern of industrial production - based on qualitative business...