This paper explores the two alternative hypotheses of "self-selection" and "learning by exporting" across different Italian manufacturing firms. Using matched sampling techniques that control for selection bias, we estimate whether new export-oriented firms are more efficient than domestic...

We examine whether offshoring firms outperform purely domestic firms – in terms of efficiency, innovativeness and skill composition – in the peculiar context of Italy, the G7 country with the largest shadow-economy share. We posit that manufacturing firms – to counter emerging economies'...

This study aims at analysing possible synergies between the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the Smart Specialisation Strategies for 2021- 2027 of Italian regions. Although Smart Specialisation Strategies are not explicitly mentioned in the Plan, we found that sixteen...