FINANCIAL AND LEGAL CONSTRAINTS TO FIRM GROWTH: THA CASE OF ITALY

The aim of this study is to confirm empirically the implications of the theory about the law-finance-growth nexus. In order to verify the predictions of the theory, a panel data including three different types of data is used. All the data are referred to Italian provinces. The empirical analysis shows that between firms’ growth and financial development there is a first-order relationship, while between firms’ growth and legal enforcement as measured by the efficiency of the judicial system there is a second-order relationship.enforcement, judicial efficiency, financial development, firm’s growth

FIRM’S FINANCING AND INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE IN THE LESS DEVELOPED REGIONS OF THE SOUTH ITALY

The paper shows that there is a relationship between firm’s financial condition and the industrial specialization model of the Italian Mezzogiorno, that is the least developed area of the country. In order to analyze the financial status of the firms, the approach of the theory of the finance is adopted. The empirical model proposed by the Gibrat law literature is used to produce the estimates of the relationship between firms’ growth and cash flow. Then, the indices measuring the “financial dependence†on the internal finance or the “financial constraints†to the firm growth of the Mezzogiorno’s industries are compared to those of the other Italian regions. Finally, the analysis of the between the emerging financial condition of the firms and both the firm side distribution of the individual industries and the composition of the manufacturing of the South Italy is proposed. Our econometric analyses, carried out on a representative sample of manufacturing firms, confirm that there is a robust relationship between financial status of the firms and the specialisation model of manufacturing of the Italian Mezzogiorno.financial constraints, internal finance, growth-cash flow relationship

The yield curve and the prediction on the business cycle: a VAR analysis for the European Union

The literature on the yield curve deals with the capacity to predict the future inflation and the future real growth from the term structure of the interest rates. The aim of the paper is to verify this predictive power of the yield curve for the European Union at 16 countries in the 1995-2008 years. With this regard we propose two VAR models. The former is derived from the standard approach, the later is an extended version considering explicitly the macroeconomic effects of the risk premium. We propose the estimates of the models and their out-of-sample forecasts through both the European Union GDP (Gross Domestic Product) quarterly series and the European Union IPI (Industrial Production Index) monthly series. We show that the our extended model performs better than the standard model and that the out-of-sample forecasts of the IPI monthly series are better than ones of the GDP quarterly series. Moreover the out-of-sample exercises seems us very useful because they show the crowding out arising from Lehman Brother’s unexpected crash and the becoming next fine tuning process.yield curve, monetary policy, business cycle, risk premium, real growth

Microstructure and mechanical behaviour of cemented soils lightened by foam

The management of large amounts of excavated soil is a primary problem in civil engineering. However, if the excavated soil can be reused as a material in the same construction project (or in a different one) for backfilling, trench reinstatement, soil embankments or substituting quarrying material in productive processes, it can be qualified as by-product with clear advantages in terms of environmental and economic costs. A suitable solution for reuse of excavated soil is the addition of cement and foam to produce lightweight cemented soils (LWCS). Lightweight cemented soil is prepared by mixing soil with water, cement and an air foam. The aim of this technique is to obtain a material with high workability in the fresh state (so that it can be transferred by pumping from batch plant to the construction site and poured) improved mechanical properties of the hardened paste given by the binding agent (as cement) and a specific low density (varying from 6 to 15 kN/m3) thanks to the addition of a foam. The fresh paste is self-levelling and no compaction is required, thus reducing construction time. In this experimental study, the influence of addition of cement and foam to soil on mineralogical and microstructural features is presented. Time dependent mineralogical and microstructural changes have been monitored at increasing curing time by means of X Ray Diffraction (XRD), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Mercury Intrusion Porosimetry (MIP). Mechanical behaviour of treated soil has been investigated by means of oedometric and direct shear tests. Chemo-physical evolution induced by cement addition is the major responsible for mechanical improvement shown by treated samples. Porosity of samples induced by foam addition plays a key role in the mechanical response of lightweight cemented samples, inducing a transition of stress-strain behaviour from brittle and dilative to ductile and contractile as foam content is increased. The Mohr Coulomb criterion was adopted to describe the failure surface of cemented and lightweight cemented soils. A unique failure surface which takes account of cement factor, curing time and amount of foam was determined

FINANCIAL AND LEGAL CONSTRAINTS TO FIRM GROWTH: THA CASE OF ITALY

The aim of this study is to confirm empirically the implications of the theory about the law-finance-growth nexus. In order to verify the predictions of the theory, a panel data including three different types of data is used. All the data are referred to Italian provinces. The empirical analysis shows that between firms’ growth and financial development there is a first-order relationship, while between firms’ growth and legal enforcement as measured by the efficiency of the judicial system there is a second-order relationship

FINANCIAL AND LEGAL CONSTRAINTS TO FIRM GROWTH: THA CASE OF ITALY

The aim of this study is to confirm empirically the implications of the theory about the law-finance-growth nexus. In order to verify the predictions of the theory, a panel data including three different types of data is used. All the data are referred to Italian provinces. The empirical analysis shows that between firms’ growth and financial development there is a first-order relationship, while between firms’ growth and legal enforcement as measured by the efficiency of the judicial system there is a second-order relationship

Access to bank financing and start‐up resilience: A survival analysis across business sectors in a time of crisis

The presence of exogenous global shocks due to the 2007/2008 economic and financial crisis and the current global pandemic crisis are deeply hampering economic operators’ overall ability to access credit. Small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups are most severely affected by credit rationing. This paper investigates whether access to bank loans in the early stage of a start-up’s lifecycle is a predictor of a firm’s default in a time of economic crisis. We ground our analysis on a firm-level longitudinal data set of Italian new capital companies born from 2004 to 2006. Implementing a discrete-time proportional hazard model we study their likelihood of default up to 2014 after controlling for a consistent number of other firms, industry and innovation related characteristics. The main findings confirm that access to bank loans significantly enhances the resilience of Italian start-ups. By taking into consideration the sectoral degree of innovation where firms operate, we also find that bank financing still exerts a positive influence on firm survival in both less and more innovative industries. However, there is evidence of a stronger positive influence on of long-term debt on the survival of firms operating in low- and medium-low innovative industries

The yield curve and the prediction on the business cycle: a VAR analysis for the European Union

The literature on the yield curve deals with the capacity to predict the future inflation and the future real growth from the term structure of the interest rates. The aim of the paper is to verify this predictive power of the yield curve for the European Union at 16 countries in the 1995-2008 years. With this regard we propose two VAR models. The former is derived from the standard approach, the later is an extended version considering explicitly the macroeconomic effects of the risk premium. We propose the estimates of the models and their out-of-sample forecasts through both the European Union GDP (Gross Domestic Product) quarterly series and the European Union IPI (Industrial Production Index) monthly series. We show that the our extended model performs better than the standard model and that the out-of-sample forecasts of the IPI monthly series are better than ones of the GDP quarterly series. Moreover the out-of-sample exercises seems us very useful because they show the crowding out arising from Lehman Brother’s unexpected crash and the becoming next fine tuning process

The yield curve and the prediction on the business cycle: a VAR analysis for the European Union

The literature on the yield curve deals with the capacity to predict the future inflation and the future real growth from the term structure of the interest rates. The aim of the paper is to verify this predictive power of the yield curve for the European Union at 16 countries in the 1995-2008 years. With this regard we propose two VAR models. The former is derived from the standard approach, the later is an extended version considering explicitly the macroeconomic effects of the risk premium. We propose the estimates of the models and their out-of-sample forecasts through both the European Union GDP (Gross Domestic Product) quarterly series and the European Union IPI (Industrial Production Index) monthly series. We show that the our extended model performs better than the standard model and that the out-of-sample forecasts of the IPI monthly series are better than ones of the GDP quarterly series. Moreover the out-of-sample exercises seems us very useful because they show the crowding out arising from Lehman Brother’s unexpected crash and the becoming next fine tuning process

Financial constraints and relationship lending in the growth of italian SMEs

Our study confirms that the financial constraints to SME’s growth tend to appear as an excess of sensibility of the investment expenditures on firm’s cash flow. Through the application of dynamic panel data techniques to an extended version of Eulero’s investment equation of a sample of Italian SMEs, the analysis shows that the growth of the subsample of the small firms in backward regions of Italy is more constrained by inside finance than that of firms in more developed regions. This is because the typical information opacity of SMEs is worsened here by the unsatisfactory development of financial markets. Moreover, our analysis ascertains that the small firms can significantly relax the constraints if they are able to establish a close relationship with the banks making easier the access of bank to firm’s information