Italy ranked last in terms of manufacturing productivity growth according to OECD estimates over the last decade, with a flat, if not declining, trend. In this work we investigate the underlying firm-level dynamics of enterprises on the basis of a database developed by the Italian Statistical...

Typically, firms change their size through a row of discrete leaps over time. A very basic model allowing for discontinuous growth can be based on a couple of assumptions: (a) in the short run, the firm’s equipment and organization provide the maximum profit only for a given production level,...

Liquidity is an important indicator of the state of health of firms. It is, also, a measure of early warning of a possible forthcoming company default. During the global crisis Italian enterprises suffer from a decrease of liquidity index. It is important to analyze this phenomenon from the...

Typically, firms change their size through a row of discrete leaps over time. A very basic model allowing for discontinuous growth can be based on a couple of assumptions: (a) in the short run, the firm’s equipment and organization provide the maximum profit only for a given production level,...

This paper presents a firm-level analysis of multifactor productivity (MFP) in Italy between 1998 and 2004. Using data envelopment analysis (DEA) technique, MFP change are measured for 31 industries and decomposed into efficiency change and technical change (which in turn is interpreted as the...