One of the objectives of the reforms and liberalization of the last 15 years in local public services was to reduce the traditional fragmentation of production. This was to be achieved through restructuring that reduced inefficiencies and made it more possible to exploit economies of scale,...

Italy is the European country where firms with fewer than 10 employees account for the largest share of value added and employment. On the basis of data from the company balance sheets and the Central Credit Register during the period 2003-2010, this work contributes to the analysis of these...

Nell'ultimo decennio, ma soprattutto nella recente crisi economica mondiale, il divario tra l'industria del Mezzogiorno e quella del Centro Nord si è ampliato: gli investimenti e l'occupazione industriale si sono ridotti in misura assai più intensa che al Centro Nord; il contributo delle...

In the last decade the Italian economy has underperformed compared both with the previous decades and with the main European countries. It is widely acknowledged that this evolution reflects unresolved structural problems, which have become more urgent in view of the major changes in the world...

This work compares cooperatives with other firms along two lines: (1) a description of structural development; and (2) a comparison of the strategies in response to the changes in the competitive environment in the last decade. Between 2001 and 2009, compared with other types of firms, Italian...

We study how net employment growth rates differ by firm age and size. For this purpose, we exploit a long panel dataset collecting information for all Italian private firms with at least one employee. We find that firm size is not a crucial determinant of firm growth, once age is controlled for....

This paper investigates the contribution of allocative efficiency to aggregate labor productivity growth in Italy between 2005 and 2013. Exploiting a unique dataset that covers the universe of active firms, we find that allocative efficiency accounted for 35 per cent of aggregate productivity in...

Il lavoro documenta la recente evoluzione del sistema industriale italiano e discute i principali fattori che influiscono sulla sua competitività. Dall'analisi emerge un quadro di diffusa debolezza. In tutti i comparti industriali i livelli produttivi sono inferiori a quelli precedenti la...

The paper analyses the main differences in the financial structure of Italian and European non financial corporations in the 2004-2007 period, that is during the years before the financial crisis. The research is based on individual balance sheets of Amadeus (Analyse Major Databases from...

This paper studies the case of the Marche footwear districts. Statistical evidence and interviews with entrepreneurs suggest that the traditional inter-firm relationships within these districts have significantly changed during the past decade. Some leading firms have been building up more...