IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bdi/opques/qef_285_15.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Red tape reduction and firm entry: evidence from an Italian reform

Author

Listed:
  • Monica Amici

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Silvia Giacomelli

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Francesco Manaresi

    (Bank of Italy)

  • Marco Tonello

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

We estimate the effects of a simplification in the bureaucratic regulation for doing business on firm demographics in Italy, where a 2011 legislation reform required all municipalities to institute a one-stop shop for doing business. We use data for all Italian firms active in private non-financial industries and exploit the staggered implementation of the policy by municipalities in order to identify its causal effect. The results indicate that the one-stop shop increased entry rates and survival probability at one year. This effect is due essentially to sole proprietorships, which are plausibly those that benefit the most from reductions in red tape.

Suggested Citation

  • Monica Amici & Silvia Giacomelli & Francesco Manaresi & Marco Tonello, 2015. "Red tape reduction and firm entry: evidence from an Italian reform," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 285, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_285_15
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bancaditalia.it/pubblicazioni/qef/2015-0285/QEF_285.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Francesco Bripi, 2016. "The Role of Regulation on Entry: Evidence from the Italian Provinces," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 30(2), pages 383-411.
    2. Philippe Aghion & Robin Burgess & Stephen J. Redding & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2008. "The Unequal Effects of Liberalization: Evidence from Dismantling the License Raj in India," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1397-1412, September.
    3. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37.
    4. Axel Dreher & Martin Gassebner, 2013. "Greasing the wheels? The impact of regulations and corruption on firm entry," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 413-432, June.
    5. Lee Branstetter & Francisco Lima & Lowell J. Taylor & Ana Venâncio, 2014. "Do Entry Regulations Deter Entrepreneurship and Job Creation? Evidence from Recent Reforms in Portugal," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(577), pages 805-832, June.
    6. Kaplan, David S. & Piedra, Eduardo & Seira, Enrique, 2011. "Entry regulation and business start-ups: Evidence from Mexico," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(11), pages 1501-1515.
    7. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2011. "Robust Inference With Multiway Clustering," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 238-249, April.
    8. Antonio Ciccone & Elias Papaioannou, 2007. "Red Tape and Delayed Entry," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(2-3), pages 444-458, 04-05.
    9. Bruhn, Miriam, 2013. "A tale of two species: Revisiting the effect of registration reform on informal business owners in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 275-283.
    10. Fabiano Schivardi & Eliana Viviano, 2011. "Entry Barriers in Retail Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(551), pages 145-170, March.
    11. Klapper, Leora & Laeven, Luc & Rajan, Raghuram, 2006. "Entry regulation as a barrier to entrepreneurship," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(3), pages 591-629, December.
    12. Marianne Bertrand & Francis Kramarz, 2002. "Does Entry Regulation Hinder Job Creation? Evidence from the French Retail Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(4), pages 1369-1413.
    13. Christian Bjørnskov & Nicolai Foss, 2010. "Economic Freedom and Entrepreneurial Activity: Some Cross-Country Evidence," Springer Books, in: Andreas Freytag & Roy Thurik (ed.), Entrepreneurship and Culture, chapter 0, pages 201-225, Springer.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Schulz, Matthias & Urbig, Diemo & Procher, Vivien, 2016. "Hybrid entrepreneurship and public policy: The case of firm entry deregulation," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 272-286.
    2. Raffaela Giordano & Sergi Lanau & Pietro Tommasino & Petia Topalova, 2020. "Does public sector inefficiency constrain firm productivity? Evidence from Italian provinces," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 27(4), pages 1019-1049, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Francesco Bripi, 2016. "The Role of Regulation on Entry: Evidence from the Italian Provinces," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 30(2), pages 383-411.
    2. Philipp Lergetporer & Jens Ruhose & Lisa Simon, 2018. "Entry Barriers and the Labor Market Outcomes of Incumbent Workers: Evidence from a Deregulation Reform in the German Crafts Sector," CESifo Working Paper Series 7274, CESifo.
    3. Lisa Simon, 2019. "Microeconometric Analyses on Determinants of Individual Labour Market Outcomes," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 83.
    4. Susanne Prantl & Alexandra Spitz‐Oener, 2009. "How does entry regulation influence entry into self‐employment and occupational mobility?1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 17(4), pages 769-802, October.
    5. Sameeksha Desai & Johan E. Eklund & Emma Lappi, 2020. "Entry Regulation and Persistence of Profits in Incumbent Firms," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 57(3), pages 537-558, November.
    6. Mendoza, Ronald U. & Canare, Tristan A. & Ang, Alvin, 2015. "Doing Business: A Review of Literature and Its Role in APEC 2015," Research Paper Series DP 2015-37, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    7. John A. Dove, 2023. "One size fits all? The differential impact of federal regulation on early-stage entrepreneurial activity across US states," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 57-73, April.
    8. Amici, Monica & Giacomelli, Silvia & Manaresi, Francesco & Tonello, Marco, 2016. "Red tape reduction and firm entry: New evidence from an Italian reform," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 24-27.
    9. Ang, Alvin & Mendoza, Ronald U. & Canare, Tristan A., 2015. "Doing Business: A Review of Literature and Its Role in APEC 2015," Discussion Papers DP 2015-37, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    10. Marco Fregoni & Marco Leonardi & Sauro Mocetti, 2020. "The real effects of land use regulation: quasi-experimental evidence from a discontinuous policy variation," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1261, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    11. Lee Branstetter & Francisco Lima & Lowell J. Taylor & Ana Venâncio, 2014. "Do Entry Regulations Deter Entrepreneurship and Job Creation? Evidence from Recent Reforms in Portugal," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(577), pages 805-832, June.
    12. Chen, Shaojian & Mao, Hui & Feng, Zongxian, 2020. "Political uncertainty and firm entry: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing industries," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 16-30.
    13. Fernandes, Ana P. & Ferreira, Priscila & Alan Winters, L., 2014. "Firm entry deregulation, competition and returns to education and skill," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 210-230.
    14. Davis, Lewis S. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2016. "Culture and the regulation of entry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 1055-1083.
    15. Pourya Darnihamedani & Joern Hendrich Block & Jolanda Hessels & Aram Simonyan, 2018. "Taxes, start-up costs, and innovative entrepreneurship," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 355-369, August.
    16. Davud Rostam-Afschar, 2014. "Entry regulation and entrepreneurship: a natural experiment in German craftsmanship," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 1067-1101, November.
    17. Cui, Chuantao & Li, Leona Shao-Zhi, 2023. "Trade policy uncertainty and new firm entry: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    18. Chiara Tomasi & Fabio Pieri & Valentina Cecco, 2023. "Red tape and industry dynamics: a cross-country analysis," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(2), pages 283-320, June.
    19. Lucas, David & Boudreaux, Christopher, 2018. "Federal Regulation, Job Creation, and the Moderating Effect of State Economic Freedom," MPRA Paper 92593, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Ronald R. Kumar & Peter J. Stauvermann, 2020. "Economic and Social Sustainability: The Influence of Oligopolies on Inequality and Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-23, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    red tape costs; firm entry; one-stop shop;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • M13 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - New Firms; Startups
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_285_15. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bdigvit.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.