One of the things taught by Sebastiano Brusco is that the firm taken as a unit of analysis may turn out to be too large or too small. Too large when we address the problem of the minimum efficient size, which must refer, not to the firm as a whole, but to each single stage of the production...

This paper empirically investigates gross job flows and the growth patterns of continuing limited liability companies in Italy over the period 1996-2004, using original data on work forces and other characteristics of the firm. The descriptive analysis reveals that the magnitude of gross job...

Even before the global crisis, the Italian economy was in difficulties internationally, but slow growth and a declining share of world trade were accompanied by a perceptible process of manufacturing transformation. This paper, using data from the Bank of Italy�s survey of manufacturers,...

The debate in Italy on the recent disappointing performance of GDP growth has focused on the increasing competitive pressure exerted by firms located in the developing countries and specialized in key product sectors of Italian manufacturing. This paper contributes by explicitly quantifying the...

Italian Abstract: Downloadable document is inQuesto lavoro presenta in un quadro unitario i risultati delle ricerche di recente svolte in Banca d’Italia sul tema dell’internazionalizzazione del nostro sistema produttivo. L’internazionalizzazione è vista non solo come un investimento...

One of the objectives of the reforms and liberalization of the last 15 years in local public services was to reduce the traditional fragmentation of production. This was to be achieved through restructuring that reduced inefficiencies and made it more possible to exploit economies of scale,...

This study of the Italian wool-based textile industries (woollens, worsteds, and serges) seeks to examine its rise, expansion, and ultimate decline, over a period of five centuries (from ca. 1200 to ca. 1730) in the context of both international competition and economic conjoncture, in the...

Industrial districts palyed a very important role in the Italian economic development. This paper provides fresh evidence based on microdata (Veneto Worker Histories) and discusses the ambiguities in the district definition, its uncertain boundaries and the development into territorial...

One hundred and fifty years after the unification of Italy, the Mezzogiorno and Sicily, in particular, continue to be severely lagging behind the rest of Italy and its most developed part. This paper focuses on the productive districts regarding the industry to the light of the first three years...