This paper assesses the role of relationship lending in explaining simultaneously the innovation activity of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), their probability to export (i.e. the extensive margin) and their share of exports on total sales conditional on exporting (i.e. the intensive margin)....

A salient feature of the Italian economy is its high reliance on small firms and local productive systems. For this reason, a relevant policy question is how the Italian production system can deal with the growing competition in global markets. The literature suggests that Italian economic...