The demand-pull effect of public procurement on innovation and industrial renewal

This article analyzes, empirically, the link between public procurement and innovation activities by taking into account the moderating effect played by import penetration on public procurement. Using industry-level information on patent applications for 24 countries over the period 1995-2012, we test the impact of public procurement on innovation activities and whether and in which direction import penetration on public procurement impacts on patenting. The econometric analysis relies on Poisson regression techniques aiming to investigate the correlation between patent counts, supply as well as demand-side determinants, controlling for country and sector heterogeneity. The obtained results confirm our main hypotheses. The dynamics of patenting is positively affected by the public procurement while a high degree of import penetration reduces the innovation enhancing effect exerted by public demand. Our results suggest that public demand may represent an effective tool for industrial policy to stimulate innovative activities, to shape the transformation of production systems and to foster industrial renewal. Moreover, the empirical evidence shows that the strategy regarding the degree of openness in public procurement towards non-domestic firms is a crucial policy choice capable of affecting the innovative potential of public demand

A fragile and divided european union meets Covid-19. Further disintegration or ‘Hamiltonian moment’?

Despite being symmetric in its very nature, the Covid-19 shock is affecting European economies in a very asymmetric way, threatening to deepen the divide between core and peripheral countries even more. It is not Covid-19 itself, however, but the contradictions within the EU’s growth model and institutional architecture that would be to blame for such an outcome. The dramatic impact of the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic and the threat that it poses to Eurozone survival seem to have forced a reluctant Germany into action: a minor step, but an important signal. This note analyses the crossroads currently facing Europe—the risk of disintegration vis-a-vis the opportunity for a ‘Hamiltonian moment’—discussing possible future scenarios in the light of past developments

A fragile and divided European Union meets Covid-19: further disintegration or ‘Hamiltonian moment’?

Despite being symmetric in its very nature, the Covid-19 shock is affecting European economies in a very asymmetric way, threatening to deepen the divide between core and peripheral countries even more. It is not Covid-19 itself, however, but the contradictions within the EU’s growth model and institutional architecture that would be to blame for such an outcome. The dramatic impact of the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic and the threat that it poses to Eurozone survival seem to have forced a reluctant Germany into action: a minor step, but an important signal. This note analyses the crossroads currently facing Europe—the risk of disintegration vis-a-vis the opportunity for a ‘Hamiltonian moment’— discussing possible future scenarios in the light of past developments

International production, structural change and public policies in times of pandemics

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the world economy at a pace never seen before. Both supply- and demand-side conditions have been affected, putting all relevant dimensions of the economy under unprecedent stress. At the time of writing this introduction, the virus is continuing to infect and kill large numbers of people in several countries, especially in the US, Brazil and India. In Europe, the contagion curve has flattened almost everywhere through the widespread application of draconian lockdown and social distancing measures. By drastically reducing interpersonal contacts, such measures were instrumental to mitigate the health consequences of the pandemic. At the same time, they caused a dramatic drop in global GDP and employment, resulting in a major economic slowdown which is paving the way for a recession even worse than the one triggered by the Great Financial Crisis of 2008

Innovation drivers of external competitiveness in the great recession

none4noThis paper explores the main drivers of firms' external competitiveness in times of crisis. We focus on the aftermath of the Great Recession (2008-2015) and present evidence based on a comprehensive survey of Italian companies (the MET dataset). Overall, our results highlight not only the strict correlation between internationalization and innovative activities but also a positive change of attitude of Italian firms towards these strategies. We show that, while structural factors play a key role for external competitiveness, other critical aspects trigger superior performances, especially strategic profiles, technological capabilities, and proactive behaviors such as innovativeness and R&D investment. Importantly, we document disproportionate effects of innovation for smaller and less productive companies. This points at dynamic strategies as a potential tool to fill the gap between larger/more productive companies and the set of less structured firms, a segment representing an ideal target for policy measures.openBrancati, Emanuele; Brancati, Raffaele; Guarascio, Dario; Zanfei, AntonelloBrancati, Emanuele; Brancati, Raffaele; Guarascio, Dario; Zanfei, Antonell

La crisis del euro en perspectiva

In this article we analyze the process of monetary integration in Europe, identifying the structural determinants and the dysfunctional elements in the institutions of the European Union. Secondly, we explain two prevailing discourses that fail in interpreting the events: on the one hand, a purely ideological position that see integration as a process of convergence that should not be interfered with; on the other hand, a purely idealist perspective, according to which the ideal of integration will prevail over any contradiction engendered by the institutional system. The combination of these two perspectives helped justify post crisis interventions (fiscal consolidation) and the institutional design that followed, which eventually aggravated the macroeconomic instability in the area.Este artículo analiza la integración monetaria europea, los determinantes estructurales y los elementos disfuncionales de las instituciones de la Unión. Además, revisa dos lecturas que fallan al interpretar los acontecimientos: una interpretación ideológica que ve en la integración un proceso de convergencia que no se debe interferir, y una visión idealista que sostiene que la integración debe prevalecer sobre toda contradicción generada a nivel institucional. Su combinación sirvió para justificar las intervenciones poscrisis (la austeridad) y la construcción institucional posterior, que agravaron la inestabilidad macroeconómica en Europa

Skill Gap, Mismatch, and the Dynamics of Italian Companies’ Productivity

Relying on a unique integrated database, this work explores the relationship between labour productivity, on one side; intensity and characteristics of companies’ skills need and degree of skill mismatch, on the other. The analysis focuses on a representative sample of Italian limited liability companies observed during the years 2012, 2014 and 2017. First, companies acknowledging the need to update their knowledge base display a higher productivity vis-à-vis other firms. Second, when it comes to the skill need distinguished by competence/knowledge domains (management, STEM, social and soft skills, technical operatives and humanities) it emerges that companies looking for technical operative and social skills show lower labour productivity as compared to other firms. On the contrary, companies characterized by a need in managerial, STEM or humanities-related skills show higher productivity. Third, the ability to match the skill need via new hiring is always positively correlated with firms’ productivity. This result is confirmed across all the adopted specifications

La crisi e le riforme del mercato del lavoro in Italia: un’analisi regionale del Jobs Act

This paper provides an analysis of the dynamics of the Italian labor market after the introduction of the Jobs Act analyzing, in particular, the regional dimension. In line with the evidence shown in Fana et al. (2016), we show that, after the Jobs Act, temporary employment increased more than permanent one. Moreover, it emerges as the slight increase in employment is significantly linked to the stabilization of existing contracts rather than the creation of new employment. The dynamics of employment at the regional level is characterized by a significant degree of heterogeneity. However, no specific regional patterns seems to emerge. The empirical analysis is based on data on the labor force (ISTAT) distinguished by regions and on administrative data (INPS) concerning the quantity, quality and duration of employment contracts.