This paper studies costs and benefits of firm networks, and related industrial policies, with a focus on the �network contract� recently introduced in the Italian legislation. Incentives to networks creation could be useful to foster future mergers, but may prove ineffective as a...

In this paper we examine the main aspects of Italian factoring market and its evolution during last two decades. Moreover, we analyze the characteristics of firms accessing this kind of financing. In Italy factoring market size is the third in the world in absolute terms (amount of turnover),...

Why do some countries suffer from backward financial institutions and weak corporate governance rules? We show that, even if, overall, the economy would benefit corporate governance reforms, not all the agents would stand to gain from the improvement. In particular, entrepreneurs and firms that...