Productivity and earnings at Firms\u2019 Local Unit Level: the case of Lombardy urban and non-urban agglomerations

We analyse business performance by using a unique dataset of the universe of Italian local business units. We investigate the pattern of both productivity and profitability by adopting a decomposition technique to document spatial variation across urban and non-urban areas. Aggregate evidence indicates that an urban \u2013 non-urban productivity divide exists, but this premium vanishes with respect to profitability. Plant-level estimations using a Hierarchical Linear Model show that area attractiveness positively affects productivity, whereas diseconomies of agglomeration negatively affect profitability. Coping with agglomeration costs is a priority for the regional policy if the productivity gains in urban areas could be transferred into new investment and growth opportunities

Driving business performance: innovation complementarities and persistence patterns

Complementarities between technological and non-technological innovation are crucial determinants of firm performance. This topic has not received the attention that it merits, as the focus has been primarily placed on technological innovation alone or on innovation efforts as measured by R&D or patent activities. The capacities to develop market-oriented behaviour and introduce new organisational innovations are the drivers - together with technological innovation - of a firm\u2019s productivity and profitability. We also underline how the impact of such activities is larger when they persist over time, thus introducing a more general concept of innovation persistency. We present an empirical model based on a large and new panel of Italian manufacturing firms covering the period 2000-2012 that enables us to derive the precise impacts of a firm\u2019s innovative effort - based on a broad definition that incorporates non-technological innovation and persistence - on its productivity and profitability

Persistent Product Innovation and Market-oriented Behaviour:the Impact on Firms'Performance

f innovation on firms\u2019 economic performance pinpointing complementarities between product and marketing innovation during the period 1998-2008. Firms\u2019 profitability and productivity are simultaneously estimated, thus allowing for consistent and robust estimates of the relationship being tested. The conceptual framework in which we have developed the analysis bridges the gap between the management (organization) approach, from which we grasp the notion of a firm\u2019s market orientation to innovation, and the economics of innovation perspective. The results show that being a persistent product-innovating and marketoriented firm significantly affects profitability, although the estimated impact is relatively mild. The gain in productivity determined by investing in R&D is relatively small and in line with the corresponding gain attributable to investing in marketing and organizational innovations. Conversely, capital deepening\u2014 as measured by the capital-labor ratio\u2014exerts a larger impact on productivity, thus underlining how knowledge capital plays a less relevant role. This result emphasizes a crucial weakness of Italian manufacturing firms, because knowledge investment is the key to future economic growth. The estimates we have presented cover a sufficiently long time interval, thus enabling us to perform different robustness tests

Urban non-urban agglomeration divide: is there a gap in productivity and wages?

This paper investigates the productivity-wage relation in the Italian Lombardy region using a novel and integrated database of firms\u2019 plant. We find that agglomeration economies play a significant role in affecting productivity and wages differentials at the local level. However, this effect depends on the technological and knowledge-based resources characterising the industrial mix within the urban and non-urban agglomerations, also controlling for firm-specific factors concerning, in particular, job-related characteristics. High-density urban areas show a positive wage gap in the high technology and knowledge-intensive services, brought about higher productivity. In contrast, manufacturing plants show a reduction of the gap only partially offset by sectoral specificities

Antimicrobial susceptibility and emerging resistance determinants (blaCTX-M, rmtB, fosA3) in clinical isolates from urinary tract infections in the Bolivian Chaco

Summary Background Bolivia is among the lowest-resourced South American countries, with very few data available on antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens. The phenotypic and molecular characterization of bacterial isolates responsible for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in the Bolivian Chaco are reported here. Methods All clinical isolates from UTIs collected in the Hospital Basico Villa Montes between June 2010 and January 2014 were analyzed ( N =213). Characterization included susceptibility testing, extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL) detection, identification of relevant resistance determinants (e.g., CTX-M-type ESBLs, 16S rRNA methyltransferases, glutathione S-transferases), and genotyping of CTX-M producers. Results Very high resistance rates were observed. Overall, the lowest susceptibility was observed for trimethoprim–sulphamethoxazole, tetracycline, nalidixic acid, amoxicillin–clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin. Of E. coli and K. pneumoniae , 11.6% were ESBL producers. Resistance to nitrofurantoin, amikacin, and fosfomycin remained low, and susceptibility to carbapenems was fully preserved. CTX-M-15 was the dominant CTX-M variant. Four E. coli ST131 (two being H30-Rx) were identified. Of note, isolates harbouring rmtB and fosA3 were detected. Conclusions Bolivia is not an exception to the very high resistance burden affecting many South American countries. Optimization of alternative approaches to monitor local antibiotic resistance trends in resource-limited settings is strongly encouraged to support the implementation of effective empiric treatment guidelines

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in hospitalized patients from the Bolivian Chaco

Summary Objectives Information is lacking on the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clonal lineages circulating in Bolivia. We investigated the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of S. aureus colonization in hospitalized patients from the Bolivian Chaco, and compared their features with those of the few clinical isolates available from that setting. Methods S. aureus nasal/inguinal colonization was investigated in 280 inpatients from eight hospitals in two point prevalence surveys (2012, n =90; 2013, n =190). Molecular characterization included genotyping ( spa typing, multilocus sequence typing, and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis), detection of virulence genes, and SCC mec typing. Results Forty-one inpatients (14.6%) were S. aureus nasal/inguinal carriers, of whom five were colonized by MRSA (1.8%). MRSA isolates mostly belonged to spa- type t701, harboured SCC mec IVc, and were negative for Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) genes. However, a USA300-related isolate was also detected, which showed the characteristics of the USA300 Latin American variant (USA300-LV; i.e., ST8, spa- type t008, SCC mec IVc, presence of PVL genes, absence of arc A). Notably, all the available MRSA clinical isolates ( n =5, collected during 2011–2013) were also identified as USA300-LV. Conclusions Overall, MRSA colonization in inpatients from the Bolivian Chaco was low. However, USA300-LV-related isolates were detected in colonization and infections, emphasizing the importance of implementing control measures to limit their further dissemination in this resource-limited area

Waiting for Godot: the failure of SMEs in the Italian Manufacturing Industry to grow

We use a panel of Italian manufacturing firms for the period 2001-2014 to analyse the distribution of firm size, and then test for the validity of Gibrat\u2019s law using unit root tests. Although Gibrat\u2019s Law is rejected and the estimates suggest that small firms grow faster than larger ones, we do not observe a significant change in the average size of companies at the end of the period under investigation. Also, by using a long-run Transition Probability Matrix, we verify that the steady-state distribution of firm size remains stable. The higher propensity to grow shown by smaller firms is confined to the size class in which the firm is established. We further investigate the relationship between the rate of growth in a firm\u2019s size conditional on specific firm and industry characteristics. Export intensity plays a significant role in affecting the size growth rate together with industry characteristics related to technological levels. Finally, we estimate the probability that a firm increases in size relative to the mean size prevailing in its own size class over a 14-year interval. This approach enables us to highlight those factors that affect this probability, thereby enabling us to underline how Gibrat\u2019s Law tests, although important, require complementary analysis to ascertain whether a firm\u2019s propensity to increase in size is a long run effect and thus a significant modification of the distribution of company size or only implies a marginal increase in size within a reference size class