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The Italian Firms between Crisis and the new Globalization

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  • Antonio Accetturo
  • Anna Giunta
  • Salvatore Rossi

Abstract

This paper analyzes the characteristics of Italian firms involved in global value chains («intermediate» firms) by using the Bank of Italy survey on industrial companies. Intermediate firms show, on average, worse features than «final» firms: smaller size, lower share of white collars, lower productivity and export propensity. However we observe a strong heterogeneity, depending on the ability (and modalities) to upgrade along the value chains. There are wide differences between upgrading and non-upgrading (marginal) intermediate firms in terms of size, efficiency, human capital endowment and international competitiveness. During the 2008-2009 crisis, marginal intermediate firms performed definitely worse; moreover, facing a collapse in world trade, firms that were upgrading by expanding their international linkages were more severely hit than those that were differentiating their internal functions.

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  • Antonio Accetturo & Anna Giunta & Salvatore Rossi, 2011. "The Italian Firms between Crisis and the new Globalization," L'industria, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 145-164.
    • Handle: RePEc:mul:j0hje1:doi:10.1430/34268:y:2011:i:1:p:145-164
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marco Alderighi & Alberto A. Gaggero, 2012. "Air Accessibility and Export Capability of the Italian Manufacturing Industry," L'industria, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 4, pages 635-662.
    3. Nenci, Silvia & Fusacchia, Ilaria & Giunta, Anna & Montalbano, Pierluigi & Pietrobelli, Carlo, 2022. "Mapping global value chain participation and positioning in agriculture and food: stylised facts, empirical evidence and critical issues," Bio-based and Applied Economics Journal, Italian Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics (AIEAA), vol. 11(2), July.
    4. Giovannetti, Giorgia & Marvasi, Enrico, 2016. "Food exporters in global value chains: Evidence from Italy," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 110-125.
    5. Luigi Cannari, 2011. "Networks of Firms and Local Territory: A Comment," QA - Rivista dell'Associazione Rossi-Doria, Associazione Rossi Doria, issue 4, December.
    6. Giorgia Giovannetti & Enrico Marvasi & Marco Sanfilippo, 2015. "Supply chains and the internationalization of small firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 845-865, April.
    7. Valter Di Giacinto & Andrea Sechi & Alessandro Tosoni, 2022. "The performance of Italian Industrial Districts in and out of the 2008-2012 crisis," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 701, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    8. Giorgio Albareto & Paolo Finaldi Russo, 2012. "Financial fragility and growth prospects: credit rationing during the crisis," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 127, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    9. Enrico Beretta & Silvia Del Prete, 2013. "Banking consolidation and bank-firm credit relationships: the role of geographical features and relationship characteristics," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 901, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Emanuele Brancati & Raffaele Brancati & Andrea Maresca, 2017. "Global value chains, innovation and performance: firm-level evidence from the Great Recession," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(5), pages 1039-1073.
    11. Giorgia Giovannetti & Enrico Marvasi & Marco Sanfilippo, 2013. "Supply Chains and the Internalization of SMEs: Evidence from Italy," Working Papers - Economics wp2013_30.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    12. Raoul Minetti & Pierluigi Murro & Zeno Rotondi & Susan Chun Zhu, 2019. "Financial Constraints, Firms’ Supply Chains, and Internationalization," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(2), pages 327-375.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Fragmentation; Offshoring; Global Value Chains; Upgrading; Crisis; D230; L230; L240;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures

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