This paper assesses the role of competition in explaining the efficiency in the Italian manufacturing. Technical efficiency differentials have been measured by applying Data Evelopment Analysis (D.E.A.) methods on a panel of 420 firms from 32 industries at 3- digit level, over the period...

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...