The paper surveys the literature on the measurement of innovation activity and evaluates the position of Italy with respect to the other major European countries. Innovation has been measured from different perspectives: the environment in which firms operate, firms' commitment, its outcome....

The World Bank's procurement sector performs yearly operations ranging from $20 to $40 billion, half of which financing civil works. The share of contracts assigned to Italian firms peaked at 4 per cent in 2007-2012 (6 per cent in the civil works sector), significantly improving the level of the...

The supply chain of the real estate sector accounts for one fifth of Italian GDP; its importance for the banking system is even greater: lending to this sector accounts for more than one third of total loans to the private sector. The crisis in the construction and real estate sector started...