This paper examines the role of removing obstacles to competition in product markets in raising growth and productivity …. Using firm-level data from Italy during 2003-13 and OECD measures of product market regulation, we estimate the effect of …

Italy''s medium-term economic performance has raised ""standard"" competitiveness concerns as unit labor costs surged …, which partly reflect nonprice economic restructuring, have supported Italy''s real exports after 2005 (as in Germany but … to Italy''s ""restructuring story,"" including quality upgrading, geographical trade diversification, and outsourcing …

This paper investigates the empirical relationship between competition in the financial sector and the creation of … firms in the non-financial sector. It finds that bank competition has an overall positive effect on firm creation. However …, consistent with theories of banking arguing that competition may reduce the availability of credit to informationally opaque …

In Italy, price-based competitiveness measures are not always an accurate predictor of trade outcomes. This paper … Italy’s export market share. Overall, Italy maintains a high-quality export mix, and the adaptability of small … sectors are weighed down by the structural barriers that have depressed productivity more broadly. Italy’s future …