ERAWATCH Country Reports 2013: Italy

The Analytical Country Reports analyse and assess in a structured manner the evolution of the national policy research and innovation in the perspective of the wider EU strategy and goals, with a particular focus on the performance of the national research and innovation (R&I) system, their broader policy mix and governance. The 2013 edition of the Country Reports highlight national policy and system developments occurring since late 2012 and assess, through dedicated sections: -National progress in addressing Research and Innovation system challenges; -National progress in addressing the 5 ERA priorities; -The progress at Member State level towards achieving the Innovation Union; -The status and relevant features of Regional and/or National Research and Innovation Strategies on Smart Specialisation (RIS3); -As far relevant, country Specific Research and Innovation (R&I) Recommendations. Detailed annexes in tabular form provide access to country information in a concise and synthetic manner. The reports were originally produced in December 2013, focusing on policy developments occurring over the preceding twelve months.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt

Research and innovation policy in Italy

Italy’s research and innovation are examined in this article moving from the structure of the country’s economy and innovation system, examining the dynamics of private and public activities and the impact of policies. As a result of the long recession started in 2008, industrial production and investment experienced dramatic reductions, weakening business performances in R&D and innovation; policies have relied on ‘horizontal’ tax incentives for R&D, patenting and new machinery, with limited effects. Austerity-driven reduction of public expenditure has led to major cuts in public R&D and university budgets, combined with new rules for evaluation and merit-based financing. As a result, gaps between Italy’s research and innovation and EU average performances have increased. Four key policy questions are identified: the possibility for Italians firms to grow with modest technological activities; the longer term impact of underfunding the public R&D and university system; the consequences of a low presence of university graduates in the labour force; the sustainability of the increasing regional divergence within Italy’s research and innovation system

ERAWATCH Country Reports 2012: Italy

This analytical country report is one of a series of annual ERAWATCH reports produced for EU Member States and Countries Associated to the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Union (FP7). The main objective of the ERAWATCH Annual Country Reports is to characterise and assess the performance of national research systems and related policies in a structured manner that is comparable across countries. The Country Report 2012 builds on and updates the 2011 edition. The report identifies the structural challenges of the national research and innovation system and assesses the match between the national priorities and the structural challenges, highlighting the latest developments, their dynamics and impact in the overall national context. They further analyse and assess the ability of the policy mix in place to consistently and efficiently tackle these challenges. These reports were originally produced in December 2012, focusing on policy developments over the previous twelve months. The reports were produced by independent experts under direct contract with IPTS. The analytical framework and the structure of the reports have been developed by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the Joint Research Centre (JRC-IPTS) and Directorate General for Research and Innovation with contributions from external experts.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt

Analysing firm's evolution: discontinuity and growth

Typically, firms change their size through a row of discrete leaps over time. A very basic model allowing for discontinuous growth can be based on a couple of assumptions: (a) in the short run, the firm’s equipment and organization provide the maximum profit only for a given production level, and diverging form it is costly; and (b) in the long run, the firm adjusts its size as if the current equipment had to be exploited until overall profits exceed a given threshold and those expected from the new desired plant for the current production level. Combining the latter two hypotheses entails a number of testable consequences, usually regarded as nuisance facts according to the traditional theories. First of all, the profitability should not be a continuous function of the firms’ size, but exhibits a number of peaks, each corresponding to a different locally optimal size. Secondly, when demand is growing, investment are expected to increase just when profits falls shorter some given threshold. The model has been tested by using a panel of data on the size and performances of Italian manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2007. Indeed, both the non-parametric analysis and a panel estimation confirm the presence of several “peaks” in the distribution of profitability by size. Furthermore, a negative statistical relationship is apparent between investment and profitability, controlling for the size of firms.Capacity utilization; Discontinuity; Firm’s size; Growth; Investment; Non parametric smoothing; Panel regression; Profit function

RIO Country Report 2017: Italy

The R&I Observatory country report 2017 provides a brief analysis of the R&I system covering the economic context, main actors, funding trends & human resources, policies to address R&I challenges, and R&I in national and regional smart specialisation strategies. Data is from Eurostat, unless otherwise referenced and is correct as at January 2018. Data used from other international sources is also correct to that date. The report provides a state-of-play and analysis of the national level R&I system and its challenges, to support the European Semester.JRC.B.7-Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growt

Research and innovation policy in Italy

Italy’s research and innovation are examined in this article moving from the structure of the country’s economy and innovation system, examining the dynamics of private and public activities and the impact of policies. As a result of the long recession started in 2008, industrial production and investment experienced dramatic reductions, weakening business performances in R&D and innovation; policies have relied on ‘horizontal’ tax incentives for R&D, patenting and new machinery, with limited effects. Austerity-driven reduction of public expenditure has led to major cuts in public R&D and university budgets, combined with new rules for evaluation and merit-based financing. As a result, gaps between Italy’s research and innovation and EU average performances have increased. Four key policy questions are identified: the possibility for Italians firms to grow with modest technological activities; the longer term impact of underfunding the public R&D and university system; the consequences of a low presence of university graduates in the labour force; the sustainability of the increasing regional divergence within Italy’s research and innovation system

L’emigrazione dei ricercatori italiani

Mobility and migration of researchers in Europe have gained relevance in recent decades. For several years Italy has been recording a growing migration of researchers abroad, which can be estimated at 14,000 people between 2008 and 2019. Various data sources are used here to document the phenomenon and investigate patterns, characteristics and determinants

Supply chain contagion and the role of industrial policy

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a major disruption in global value chains (GVCs) that pushed the global economy into a recession that promises to be worse than the 2008 crisis. This article illustrates the mechanisms through which the COVID-19 pandemic affected GVCs in the context of a changing configuration of the global economy. In particular, it is argued that GVCs became the main transmission channels of “economic contagion”. Finally, we posit that the pandemic provides an opportunity to revive the role of industrial policy as to govern the landslides of a world economy constantly pressured by globalization and deglobalization forces

Analisi dei modelli d’impresa: discontinuità e sviluppo

Typically, firms change their size through a row of discrete leaps over time. A very basic model allowing for discontinuous growth can be based on a couple of assumptions: (a) in the short run, the firm’s equipment and organization provide the maximum profit only for a given production level, and diverging form it is costly; and (b) in the long run, the firm adjusts its size as if the current equipment had to be exploited until overall profits exceed a given threshold and those expected from the new desired plant for the current production level. Combining the latter two hypotheses entails a number of testable consequences, usually regarded as nuisance facts according to the traditional theories. First of all, the profitability should not be a continuous function of the firms’ size, but exhibits a number of peaks, each corresponding to a different locally optimal size. Secondly, when demand is growing, investment are expected to increase just when profits falls shorter some given threshold. The model has been tested by using a panel of data on the size and performances of Italian manufacturing firms from 1998 to 2007. Indeed, both the non-parametric analysis and a panel estimation confirm the presence of several “peaks” in the distribution of profitability by size. Furthermore, a negative statistical relationship is apparent between investment and profitability, controlling for the size of firms

Una politica industriale e tecnologica per l’Italia

The crisis started in 2008 has accelerated the decline of Italy’s industry. An analysis of the current tools used in Italy’s industrial and innovation policy shows that they are not able to support a revival of production and investment in Italy and to reduce Italy’s gap in technological activities. A strong recovery depends on the development of a more ambitious industrial policy plan, combining Italian and European initiatives