Public Policies for Italian SMEs: Instruments, Results and Current Trends

Following the recent publication of a number of studies on public interventions in Italy regarding SMEs – including crafts firms – this study has a twofold purpose: firstly, to provide a succinct account of the numerous further interventions undertaken for SMEs during the past decade; secondly, to examine the problems apparent in the current phase of structural crisis, also in light of the results obtained to date and those emerging from the official documentation, in order to conduct a critical evaluation of public policies for Italian SMEs. Consequently, the study divides substantially into two parts. The first one provides a survey of the industrial policy measures addressed to SMEs adopted both by the central government and the regional and local administrations during the period considered. The second part describes the state of progress currently achieved by such measures. It dwells in particular on the provision entitled “Industria 2015”, in regard to which it estimates the amount of the various financial incentives exclusively allocated to SMEs, thereby making a contribution of particular interest and originality to the scientific debate. Finally, the concluding section outlines the prospects for SMEs in the near future that seemingly emerge from the most recent provisions adopted at national level.