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 grounds of a database developed by the Italian Statistical...

By exploring a rich dataset that links international trade transactions to a panel of Italian manufacturing firms, this paper provides new evidence on the role of financial constraints on price variations across exporting firms. After controlling for relevant firm characteristics and potential...

Using a rich firm-level dataset on the Italian manufacturing industry, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the role that firms and market characteristics play in shaping firms’ trade activities. We enhance the previous analyses by considering firms’ engagement in international...

Italy’s manufacturing performance in the last decade was the worst of all the other major OECD countries. The study investigates the micro-dynamics underlying the aggregate trend. While labor productivity in most manufacturing sectors has remained almost flat, distribution support has widened....

Using data on cross border transactions together with an informative measure of financing constraints this paper provides new evidence that limited access to external capital narrows the scale of foreign sales, the exporters? product scope and the number of trade partners. It shows that...

This paper contributes to the relatively new literature on the role of intermediaries in international trade. Using Italian firm-level data, we document significant differences between exporters of different types and highlight the role of country-specific fixed cost in the choice of direct...

Using firm-level data on the Italian manufacturing industry, we examine how trade activities are related to workforce composition and wages. We contribute to empirical research on these issues in three ways. First, we provide new evidence that is consistent with multi-attribute models on firm...

This paper contributes to the relatively new literature on the role of intermediaries in international trade. Using Italian firm-level data, we document significant differences between exporters of different types and highlight the role of country-specific fixed cost in the choice of direct...

This paper contributes to the relatively new literature on the role of intermediaries in international trade. Using Italian firm-level data, we document significant differences between exporters of different types and highlight the role of country-specific fixed cost in the choice of direct...

This paper introduces imports in intermediate inputs into a standard heterogeneous firms model of trade with asymmetric countries. The model highlights how imports from a specific country affects a firm's decision to export to that country (the extensive margin), as well as its export value (the...