This paper aims to test several hypotheses on determinants of the quality of trade in crosscountr... more This paper aims to test several hypotheses on determinants of the quality of trade in crosscountry regressions, taking a sample of trade competitors in EU markets. The hypotheses are those underlying two models of vertical intra-industry trade: the so-called neo-Heckscher-Ohlin model, and an economic geography model based on market size and economic integration. The explanatory variables significantly affect the dependent variable, and we conclude that these variables give rise to specialization in different segments of the quality spectrum. Information is drawn from the analysis with respect to Central and Eastern European (CEE) specialization in low-quality exports to EU markets. In particular, the estimates suggest the existence of a process of the "crowding out" of existing human capital due to the process of economic transition. Moreover, the smaller market size of the EU-accession countries could contribute to strengthening the CEE disadvantage in high-quality segments of production. Changes in the pattern of trade of Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies have profoundly affected the EU economies. Predictions regarding the employment
Economic shocks are often difficult to predict, as they are independent of the will of the econom... more Economic shocks are often difficult to predict, as they are independent of the will of the economic agents affected and, therefore, exogenous to their choices. However, the effects of such shocks when they occur impact on national economies, business performance, and employment of individuals, thus shaking countries’ economies, and often with long-lasting effects. Although it is difficult to predict their occurrence, it is possible to withstand the consequences of exogenous shocks and be more resilient should they occur. Investing in order to be at the frontier of innovation is one of the tools that economies can adopt to protect their agents, thus defending them from the downturns that can result from unexpected economic events. In this paper, we study whether being more innovative does protect Italian provinces from the negative effects of exogenous shocks, with a focus on employment levels. The object of the analysis is, more specifically, the role of the innovation stock in prot...
This study investigates the role of digital capacities in the internationalisation processes of I... more This study investigates the role of digital capacities in the internationalisation processes of Italian provinces using a panel dataset built upon the territorial statistical database of ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics) for the period 2014-2017. The purpose is to explore the link between three internationalisation indicators (export value, export intensity and export in most dynamics sectors) and two ICT drivers (use of e-business digital technologies, such as cloud computing, and use of social media) expected to enable firms to share information along the supply chain and to ease firms' communication and fixed cost investment. To purge the analysis from unobserved determinants of export performance and ICT adoption reverse causation problems, the identification relies on an instrumental variables approach that addresses the endogeneity of our two variables of interest related to ICT. The results show a significant relationship between the ICT capacities related to cloud adoption and our export indicators confirming the role of e-business digital technologies in explaining the export performance of Italian provinces. The use of social media also appears weakly able to impact on the export performances indicators. These results are robust to our endogeneity checks.
ABSTRACT This paper examines the immigration-trade links for OECD countries for the 2000–2015 per... more ABSTRACT This paper examines the immigration-trade links for OECD countries for the 2000–2015 period. By decomposing the overall effect of the presence of immigrants on the export of the hosting countries according to the methodology proposed by Hummels and Klenow (2005), we investigate if there is a migration-driven increase in the number of export relationships (extensive margin) and/or simply a growth of pre-existing export relationships (intensive margin) decomposed by an increase in quantity and price. We consider the country of origin of immigrants and their level(s) of education. Our results confirm the existence of a pro-export effect of immigrants attributable to the contribution of international networks regarding the reduction in information costs, which is especially strong for developed countries as sources of migration. However, when we look at the heterogeneous impact of different levels of immigrants’ education, we find that the pro-trade effect is due to the contribution of less- and more educated immigrants to the reduction of trade costs, while the medium educated do not spur bilateral trade significantly. We address the potential endogeneity problems by adopting an instrumental variable (IV) approach based on shift-share IV and pull-and-push factors that could induce international migration.
The COVID-19 pandemic provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn more about how businesse... more The COVID-19 pandemic provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn more about how businesses are affected by and adapt to large-scale, unforeseen shocks. Our research examines the worries of a sample of Italian publicly traded companies about the spread of COVID-19. The information was gathered from a dataset employing text-based estimates of the main concerns listed companies have about the development of COVID-19 and other pandemic diseases. These data can be used to determine whether companies stand to earn or lose money because of a particular outbreak. We concentrate on the data for Italy, which allows us to quantify which of the sample’s Italian enterprises are more exposed and thus affected, the severity of risk perception, and the firm’s attitude towards the shock exposure. We attempt to explain how firm perceptions of the COVID-19 crisis are correlated with various types of indicators related to economic and financial status, such as financial position (total debt exposure and short-term exposure), ROI, and ROE during the COVID-19 crisis, i.e. the main firms’ responses to such a large shock.
This report summarizes the findings of a research project using firm level data on Italian and Tu... more This report summarizes the findings of a research project using firm level data on Italian and Turkish manufacturing industries. In this project we study the dynamics of firm survival and growth, and the spillover effects from foreign-owned to domestic firms. First, we investigate the differences in survival patterns of foreign-owned and domestic firms and test the hypothesis that foreign multinational enterprises (FMNEs) display “foot-loose” behavior. Secondly, we analyse the effects of FDI on the survival and growth prospects of domestic firms by disentangling horizontal and vertical spillovers. We use hazard models for the econometric analysis of firm survival and the system-GMM and Heckman selection models for the analysis of firm (employment) growth. In the case of Italy, a comparison of survival rates of domestic and foreign firms shows that foreign firms are more likely to survive than domestic firms, although the survival rates of foreign firms are not much different than those of Italian multinational firms. To check for a more general applicability of this preliminary finding, we estimate the hazard functions for the domestic and foreign firms, controlling for a number of sector-specific and firm-specific characteristics. The results reveal that foreign firms are more “foot-loose” compared to their domestic counterparts while Italian multinationals exhibit lower hazard rates with respect to both domestic non-multinational firms and to foreign multinationals. Besides, the foreign firms’ likelihood of exit compared to domestic firms is higher in sectors with low technology- and knowledge-intensity. In the Turkish case, the simple comparison of survival rates also highlights that foreign firms are more likely to survive than Turkish firms, although the survival rates of foreign firms are not different from those of large domestic firms. Since foreign firms usually start with a larger size, use more capital-intensive technologies, survival rates may reflect the impact of entry characteristics. The hazard function estimates reveal that, when we control for sector-specific variables, foreign firms still have higher survival probabilities, but once firm-specific variables are included in the hazard function model, they appear more “foot-loose” for the 1983-2001 period. Foreign firms are more likely to survive than the domestic firms in the 2003-2009 period even after firm-specific variables are taken into account, but the inclusion of firm-specific variables reduces the impact of foreign ownership on the likelihood of survival considerably. These results for Italy and Turkey indicate that foreign ownership has not necessarily a positive impact on firm survival. Conversely, there is evidence that multinational experience matters for survival because multinational firms have larger size and may employ more capital-intensive technologies thanks to their superior financial strength and experience in other markets. Other firm-level characteristics (size, skill level, etc) are also crucial for survival. The exit behavior of foreign firms is also quite related to the technological environment due to the role played by opportunity costs, which are more relevant in low-tech industries, and by sunk investments costs, which (on average) are lower in more traditional sectors. The mixed results for Turkey across the two periods considered also highlight the importance of the institutional setting for firm survival and growth. Turkey experienced two different policy and growth regimes in the 1990s and 2000s. The 1990s, which is labeled by some researchers as the “lost decade”, is characterized by extreme uncertainty and boom-and-bust cycles, whereas the Turkish economy achieved a high and stable growth performance in the 8 2000s. In terms of industrial policy, the foot-loose behavior of foreign multinationals should be taken into account in designing investment incentives to attract foreign multinationals also pursuing sector specific policies and institutional reforms ensuring that managers have the right incentives to make long-term investment and to enhance absorptive capacity development. Besides, to improve the likelihood of firm survival, policy makers should target firm-specific characteristics that are crucial determinants of performance gaps in survival, primarily size, productivity and multinational activities. Concerning the issue of how the presence of foreign firms affects the domestic firms’ survival and employment growth, our findings suggest that there is a huge degree of heterogeneity across firms, periods and sectors in both countries. However, positive evidence in favour of positive spillovers is not overwhelming. In the case of Italy, the survival of domestic firms is positively affected by the increased presence of foreign firms within the same industry, but this only occurs in low- and medium-low tech industries. This result may be due to the fact that domestic firms in medium-high tech…
Mediterranean Migration and the Labour Markets, 2019
This chapter investigates how firms’ productivity in Turkey is affected at spatial level by agglo... more This chapter investigates how firms’ productivity in Turkey is affected at spatial level by agglomeration of firms, clustering of innovation and localization of foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the Marshall theory, specialization economies increase the interaction between firms and workers, and speed up the process of innovation and growth, as firm agglomeration in the same sector produces positive externalities and facilitates the growth of all manufacturing units within it. FDI is found to be an important channel for transfer of technology and the modern, advanced technologies introduced by multinational firms can diffuse to domestic firms through spillovers. One of the first attempts to identify the effects of regional agglomeration was made by E. Taymaz and G. Saatci. Polarization of activities was confirmed to be an enhancing factor of firm performance. A model of development based on strong polarization is confirmed to be enhancing in most cases firm performance and growth
In this paper we explore how firms’ productivity is affected by agglomeration of firms, clusterin... more In this paper we explore how firms’ productivity is affected by agglomeration of firms, clustering of innovation and localisation of FDI in Turkey, Italy and Tunisia. We also control for the impact of firm characteristics on firm productivity (specifically the role of size, ownership and firm innovation) and of spatial features (the higher output of foreign firms, the distance from the main town, the regional infrastructures and the regional attractiveness). The firm’s absorptive capacity is also taken into account by interacting the main variables of agglomeration and innovation at region sector level with size and technology level of the firm. We use three separate unbalanced panels for different periods based on national data bases. For the three case studies our analysis builds upon similar specifications of panel estimates for output by GMM system methodology to address simultaneity and endogeneity on inputs and also the possible endogeneity between agglomeration and productivity. Overall, the estimation results suggest some common findings for the three case studies: there are significant productivity enhancing agglomeration effects, in particular there are significant spillovers between firms operating in the same sector and region, spillovers from innovation at local level are also strong, and higher output of foreign firms produce positive spillovers on productivity in the province. However, spillovers are specific to technologically more sophisticated firms.
A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and C... more A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European Countries * Despite the EU emphasis on the 1995 Barcelona process, trade integration with the Mediterranean (MED) countries is still underdeveloped. To contrast the success of EU integration with MED countries and that with the new EU members, we compute the trade potential of these EU partners from 1995 to 2002 using an "out-of-sample" methodology. The coefficients are taken from different panel estimators of the gravity equation relative to intra-EU trade. Our analysis suggests the existence of sizeable, unexploited trade potential with both groups of partners, although the ratio of potential to actual trade with the MED countries is much larger (from 1.7 to 2.5 times), more dispersed and stable compared to that with the CEECs. Moreover, the potential tends to converge to actual trade in a much longer time in the case of MED countries.
A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and C... more A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European Countries * Despite the EU emphasis on the 1995 Barcelona process, trade integration with the Mediterranean (MED) countries is still underdeveloped. To contrast the success of EU integration with MED countries and that with the new EU members, we compute the trade potential of these EU partners from 1995 to 2002 using an "out-of-sample" methodology. The coefficients are taken from different panel estimators of the gravity equation relative to intra-EU trade. Our analysis suggests the existence of sizeable, unexploited trade potential with both groups of partners, although the ratio of potential to actual trade with the MED countries is much larger (from 1.7 to 2.5 times), more dispersed and stable compared to that with the CEECs. Moreover, the potential tends to converge to actual trade in a much longer time in the case of MED countries.
Making use of an original data set we investigate the employment dynamics of a panel of Italian m... more Making use of an original data set we investigate the employment dynamics of a panel of Italian manufacturing firms over 2002-2010, and check whether, during the onset of the financial crisis (2008-2009), foreign multinational firms (FM) operating in Italy show a different employment adjustment with respect to domestic multinationals (DM) and to non multinational firms (NM). This paper is the first to test this issue for Italy and follows the benchmarking literature on other countries. We carry out an extensive descriptive analysis relative to firm characteristics and to employment growth over the period disaggregated by the three firms types, also taking into account subsamples of firms with different size and geographical location. We also estimate a GMM System dynamic panel model allowing the global crisis to impact differently on firms employment. A strong evidence of heterogeneity in terms of productivity, wages and financial indicators and of regional location is observed acro...
This paper aims to test several hypotheses on determinants of the quality of trade in crosscountr... more This paper aims to test several hypotheses on determinants of the quality of trade in crosscountry regressions, taking a sample of trade competitors in EU markets. The hypotheses are those underlying two models of vertical intra-industry trade: the so-called neo-Heckscher-Ohlin model, and an economic geography model based on market size and economic integration. The explanatory variables significantly affect the dependent variable, and we conclude that these variables give rise to specialization in different segments of the quality spectrum. Information is drawn from the analysis with respect to Central and Eastern European (CEE) specialization in low-quality exports to EU markets. In particular, the estimates suggest the existence of a process of the "crowding out" of existing human capital due to the process of economic transition. Moreover, the smaller market size of the EU-accession countries could contribute to strengthening the CEE disadvantage in high-quality segments of production. Changes in the pattern of trade of Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies have profoundly affected the EU economies. Predictions regarding the employment
Economic shocks are often difficult to predict, as they are independent of the will of the econom... more Economic shocks are often difficult to predict, as they are independent of the will of the economic agents affected and, therefore, exogenous to their choices. However, the effects of such shocks when they occur impact on national economies, business performance, and employment of individuals, thus shaking countries’ economies, and often with long-lasting effects. Although it is difficult to predict their occurrence, it is possible to withstand the consequences of exogenous shocks and be more resilient should they occur. Investing in order to be at the frontier of innovation is one of the tools that economies can adopt to protect their agents, thus defending them from the downturns that can result from unexpected economic events. In this paper, we study whether being more innovative does protect Italian provinces from the negative effects of exogenous shocks, with a focus on employment levels. The object of the analysis is, more specifically, the role of the innovation stock in prot...
This study investigates the role of digital capacities in the internationalisation processes of I... more This study investigates the role of digital capacities in the internationalisation processes of Italian provinces using a panel dataset built upon the territorial statistical database of ISTAT (Italian National Institute of Statistics) for the period 2014-2017. The purpose is to explore the link between three internationalisation indicators (export value, export intensity and export in most dynamics sectors) and two ICT drivers (use of e-business digital technologies, such as cloud computing, and use of social media) expected to enable firms to share information along the supply chain and to ease firms' communication and fixed cost investment. To purge the analysis from unobserved determinants of export performance and ICT adoption reverse causation problems, the identification relies on an instrumental variables approach that addresses the endogeneity of our two variables of interest related to ICT. The results show a significant relationship between the ICT capacities related to cloud adoption and our export indicators confirming the role of e-business digital technologies in explaining the export performance of Italian provinces. The use of social media also appears weakly able to impact on the export performances indicators. These results are robust to our endogeneity checks.
ABSTRACT This paper examines the immigration-trade links for OECD countries for the 2000–2015 per... more ABSTRACT This paper examines the immigration-trade links for OECD countries for the 2000–2015 period. By decomposing the overall effect of the presence of immigrants on the export of the hosting countries according to the methodology proposed by Hummels and Klenow (2005), we investigate if there is a migration-driven increase in the number of export relationships (extensive margin) and/or simply a growth of pre-existing export relationships (intensive margin) decomposed by an increase in quantity and price. We consider the country of origin of immigrants and their level(s) of education. Our results confirm the existence of a pro-export effect of immigrants attributable to the contribution of international networks regarding the reduction in information costs, which is especially strong for developed countries as sources of migration. However, when we look at the heterogeneous impact of different levels of immigrants’ education, we find that the pro-trade effect is due to the contribution of less- and more educated immigrants to the reduction of trade costs, while the medium educated do not spur bilateral trade significantly. We address the potential endogeneity problems by adopting an instrumental variable (IV) approach based on shift-share IV and pull-and-push factors that could induce international migration.
The COVID-19 pandemic provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn more about how businesse... more The COVID-19 pandemic provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn more about how businesses are affected by and adapt to large-scale, unforeseen shocks. Our research examines the worries of a sample of Italian publicly traded companies about the spread of COVID-19. The information was gathered from a dataset employing text-based estimates of the main concerns listed companies have about the development of COVID-19 and other pandemic diseases. These data can be used to determine whether companies stand to earn or lose money because of a particular outbreak. We concentrate on the data for Italy, which allows us to quantify which of the sample’s Italian enterprises are more exposed and thus affected, the severity of risk perception, and the firm’s attitude towards the shock exposure. We attempt to explain how firm perceptions of the COVID-19 crisis are correlated with various types of indicators related to economic and financial status, such as financial position (total debt exposure and short-term exposure), ROI, and ROE during the COVID-19 crisis, i.e. the main firms’ responses to such a large shock.
This report summarizes the findings of a research project using firm level data on Italian and Tu... more This report summarizes the findings of a research project using firm level data on Italian and Turkish manufacturing industries. In this project we study the dynamics of firm survival and growth, and the spillover effects from foreign-owned to domestic firms. First, we investigate the differences in survival patterns of foreign-owned and domestic firms and test the hypothesis that foreign multinational enterprises (FMNEs) display “foot-loose” behavior. Secondly, we analyse the effects of FDI on the survival and growth prospects of domestic firms by disentangling horizontal and vertical spillovers. We use hazard models for the econometric analysis of firm survival and the system-GMM and Heckman selection models for the analysis of firm (employment) growth. In the case of Italy, a comparison of survival rates of domestic and foreign firms shows that foreign firms are more likely to survive than domestic firms, although the survival rates of foreign firms are not much different than those of Italian multinational firms. To check for a more general applicability of this preliminary finding, we estimate the hazard functions for the domestic and foreign firms, controlling for a number of sector-specific and firm-specific characteristics. The results reveal that foreign firms are more “foot-loose” compared to their domestic counterparts while Italian multinationals exhibit lower hazard rates with respect to both domestic non-multinational firms and to foreign multinationals. Besides, the foreign firms’ likelihood of exit compared to domestic firms is higher in sectors with low technology- and knowledge-intensity. In the Turkish case, the simple comparison of survival rates also highlights that foreign firms are more likely to survive than Turkish firms, although the survival rates of foreign firms are not different from those of large domestic firms. Since foreign firms usually start with a larger size, use more capital-intensive technologies, survival rates may reflect the impact of entry characteristics. The hazard function estimates reveal that, when we control for sector-specific variables, foreign firms still have higher survival probabilities, but once firm-specific variables are included in the hazard function model, they appear more “foot-loose” for the 1983-2001 period. Foreign firms are more likely to survive than the domestic firms in the 2003-2009 period even after firm-specific variables are taken into account, but the inclusion of firm-specific variables reduces the impact of foreign ownership on the likelihood of survival considerably. These results for Italy and Turkey indicate that foreign ownership has not necessarily a positive impact on firm survival. Conversely, there is evidence that multinational experience matters for survival because multinational firms have larger size and may employ more capital-intensive technologies thanks to their superior financial strength and experience in other markets. Other firm-level characteristics (size, skill level, etc) are also crucial for survival. The exit behavior of foreign firms is also quite related to the technological environment due to the role played by opportunity costs, which are more relevant in low-tech industries, and by sunk investments costs, which (on average) are lower in more traditional sectors. The mixed results for Turkey across the two periods considered also highlight the importance of the institutional setting for firm survival and growth. Turkey experienced two different policy and growth regimes in the 1990s and 2000s. The 1990s, which is labeled by some researchers as the “lost decade”, is characterized by extreme uncertainty and boom-and-bust cycles, whereas the Turkish economy achieved a high and stable growth performance in the 8 2000s. In terms of industrial policy, the foot-loose behavior of foreign multinationals should be taken into account in designing investment incentives to attract foreign multinationals also pursuing sector specific policies and institutional reforms ensuring that managers have the right incentives to make long-term investment and to enhance absorptive capacity development. Besides, to improve the likelihood of firm survival, policy makers should target firm-specific characteristics that are crucial determinants of performance gaps in survival, primarily size, productivity and multinational activities. Concerning the issue of how the presence of foreign firms affects the domestic firms’ survival and employment growth, our findings suggest that there is a huge degree of heterogeneity across firms, periods and sectors in both countries. However, positive evidence in favour of positive spillovers is not overwhelming. In the case of Italy, the survival of domestic firms is positively affected by the increased presence of foreign firms within the same industry, but this only occurs in low- and medium-low tech industries. This result may be due to the fact that domestic firms in medium-high tech…
Mediterranean Migration and the Labour Markets, 2019
This chapter investigates how firms’ productivity in Turkey is affected at spatial level by agglo... more This chapter investigates how firms’ productivity in Turkey is affected at spatial level by agglomeration of firms, clustering of innovation and localization of foreign direct investment (FDI). According to the Marshall theory, specialization economies increase the interaction between firms and workers, and speed up the process of innovation and growth, as firm agglomeration in the same sector produces positive externalities and facilitates the growth of all manufacturing units within it. FDI is found to be an important channel for transfer of technology and the modern, advanced technologies introduced by multinational firms can diffuse to domestic firms through spillovers. One of the first attempts to identify the effects of regional agglomeration was made by E. Taymaz and G. Saatci. Polarization of activities was confirmed to be an enhancing factor of firm performance. A model of development based on strong polarization is confirmed to be enhancing in most cases firm performance and growth
In this paper we explore how firms’ productivity is affected by agglomeration of firms, clusterin... more In this paper we explore how firms’ productivity is affected by agglomeration of firms, clustering of innovation and localisation of FDI in Turkey, Italy and Tunisia. We also control for the impact of firm characteristics on firm productivity (specifically the role of size, ownership and firm innovation) and of spatial features (the higher output of foreign firms, the distance from the main town, the regional infrastructures and the regional attractiveness). The firm’s absorptive capacity is also taken into account by interacting the main variables of agglomeration and innovation at region sector level with size and technology level of the firm. We use three separate unbalanced panels for different periods based on national data bases. For the three case studies our analysis builds upon similar specifications of panel estimates for output by GMM system methodology to address simultaneity and endogeneity on inputs and also the possible endogeneity between agglomeration and productivity. Overall, the estimation results suggest some common findings for the three case studies: there are significant productivity enhancing agglomeration effects, in particular there are significant spillovers between firms operating in the same sector and region, spillovers from innovation at local level are also strong, and higher output of foreign firms produce positive spillovers on productivity in the province. However, spillovers are specific to technologically more sophisticated firms.
A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and C... more A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European Countries * Despite the EU emphasis on the 1995 Barcelona process, trade integration with the Mediterranean (MED) countries is still underdeveloped. To contrast the success of EU integration with MED countries and that with the new EU members, we compute the trade potential of these EU partners from 1995 to 2002 using an "out-of-sample" methodology. The coefficients are taken from different panel estimators of the gravity equation relative to intra-EU trade. Our analysis suggests the existence of sizeable, unexploited trade potential with both groups of partners, although the ratio of potential to actual trade with the MED countries is much larger (from 1.7 to 2.5 times), more dispersed and stable compared to that with the CEECs. Moreover, the potential tends to converge to actual trade in a much longer time in the case of MED countries.
A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and C... more A Tale of Parallel Integration Processes. A Gravity Analysis of EU Trade with Mediterranean and Central and Eastern European Countries * Despite the EU emphasis on the 1995 Barcelona process, trade integration with the Mediterranean (MED) countries is still underdeveloped. To contrast the success of EU integration with MED countries and that with the new EU members, we compute the trade potential of these EU partners from 1995 to 2002 using an "out-of-sample" methodology. The coefficients are taken from different panel estimators of the gravity equation relative to intra-EU trade. Our analysis suggests the existence of sizeable, unexploited trade potential with both groups of partners, although the ratio of potential to actual trade with the MED countries is much larger (from 1.7 to 2.5 times), more dispersed and stable compared to that with the CEECs. Moreover, the potential tends to converge to actual trade in a much longer time in the case of MED countries.
Making use of an original data set we investigate the employment dynamics of a panel of Italian m... more Making use of an original data set we investigate the employment dynamics of a panel of Italian manufacturing firms over 2002-2010, and check whether, during the onset of the financial crisis (2008-2009), foreign multinational firms (FM) operating in Italy show a different employment adjustment with respect to domestic multinationals (DM) and to non multinational firms (NM). This paper is the first to test this issue for Italy and follows the benchmarking literature on other countries. We carry out an extensive descriptive analysis relative to firm characteristics and to employment growth over the period disaggregated by the three firms types, also taking into account subsamples of firms with different size and geographical location. We also estimate a GMM System dynamic panel model allowing the global crisis to impact differently on firms employment. A strong evidence of heterogeneity in terms of productivity, wages and financial indicators and of regional location is observed acro...
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Papers by Anna Ferragina