The Chinese automotive industry at a turning point. An Overview

China is by far the largest car manufacturing country and the world's biggest auto market. Despite this, Chinese brands and companies are almost unknown in Europe and other advanced markets. The international car oligopoly is still dominated by a group of legacy companies and brands. The recent development of the electric car and the growing emphasis on sustainable mobility represent a great opportunity for China. Backed by the government, Chinese companies can exploit the new technology and follow a leapfrogging strategy by investing in research and development, developing new products, and proposing new business models in order to enter international markets with their own brands. Will the Chinese auto industry be able to achieve this? Will it be able to compete on a level playing field with the powerful foreign multinationals in the global markets? This work tries to offer an answer to these questions by reviewing the Chinese car industry, the main characteristics of its development and its future prospects in the context of the great changes promised by sustainable mobility

Towards a History of the Italian Industrial Districts from the End of World War II to the Nineties,

When did the first Italian industrial districts spring up? In which regions have they developed, and over what times, in the forty years of republican Italy from the end of World War II to the nineties? How do districts develop? How do they change their shape in time? By using for the first time comparable census data from 1951 to 1991 and with reference to the main existing literature on the subject, we try to answer these questions and to trace a history of the Italian industrial districts. In the discussion, we enquire into how the importance and role of the districts vary over time, and we attempt to assess their prevailing working conditions, their efficiency and their ability to face up to international competition

What happens to students with an immigrant background in the transition to higher education? Evidence from Italy

As shown by the international literature on educational attainment, in most European countries participation rates of students with a migrant background are usually lower compared to natives, particularly in tertiary education. In Italy, the focus of the debate is mainly on secondary school, while little or no attention has been paid to immigrant students attending universities. This paper tries to fill the gap by providing new and extensive empirical evidence on this phenomenon and by discussing some of the main issues related to it. The results show that, first, ethnic background matters. East European and Russian students are more likely to continue their studies, as found in other European countries. Second and contrary to what is expected on the basis of the existing Italian literature, the specific secondary school track is not important for the transition choice. However, while this is true for immigrant students, it does not hold for the native population. For Italian secondary school graduates, the attainment of a liceo diploma increases the probability of enrolling in tertiary education. Third, local labour markets affect the incentive to invest in human capital. High youth unemployment rates have a negative impact on educational attainment for both immigrant and native students. Lastly, the average education level of the local immigrant population has a positive influence on transition choice

Should we fear or hope for Chinese acquisitions? Evidence from Italy

In 2016, Chinese outward FDI exceeded inward investment flows, making the country a net exporter of capital, like the large advanced economies. The majority of Chinese investments are M&As, with the aim to acquire strategic assets (advanced technology and know-how) and access to markets (brands). The rapid growth of Chinese direct investments has raised many concerns among the advanced economies. The most important one is the fear that these investments will not produce the positive effects on the host economy typically associated with FDI from advanced countries, but a one-sided transfer of technology and know-how from acquired European firms to China. However, there does not seem to be any evidence so far of a negative impact of Chinese investors on the acquired companies and the host economies. In particular, accurate studies on the pre and post-acquisition behaviour of European companies acquired by Chinese investors are still lacking. This research intends to offer a contribution in this direction by providing new and detailed data on Chinese investments in Italy and by trying a first and tentative assessment of the performance of Italian companies recently acquired or controlled by Chinese investors. To this purpose, we have built an original database gathering detailed company information on more than 7.000 Italian companies with Chinese shareholders. Second, we have studied the pre- and post- acquisition performance of 198 Italian target firms. Overall the results appear quite positive. Roughly 2/3 of the acquired companies have seen an increase in turnover, total assets, and shareholder’s funds and 50% has had an increase in fixed assets. Revenues show a decrease soon after the acquisition followed by a steady growth starting from the third year. Employment and profitability results appear more balanced. The number of companies which has registered an increase in employment is roughly similar to the number of those that have experienced a decline, but there is some evidence that Chinese shareholders prefer to avoid layoffs even in front of severe reductions in turnover. This attitude is reflected in profitability, which especially in the first years soon after the acquisition tend to decrease, followed by a recovery in the following years. Overall, the analysis suggest a long term orientation of Chinese acquirers which deserves further investigation

Chinese acquisitions in Italy: performance of target companies, political reactions and public perception, future prospects

The rapid growth of Chinese FDI is raising many concerns. The most important is the fear of predatory investments with a one-sided transfer of technology and other strategic assets from acquired Italian firms to China. New regulations in Europe and Italy add to this the risks to national security or public order arising from FDI in specific industries, particularly when the investor is controlled by the government of a third country. This is making the screening of inward FDI increasingly more restrictive. By using detailed post-acquisition performance data, we show that in the last decade Chinese acquisitions in Italy had an overall positive impact on target companies. The majority of them experienced an increase in turnover, employment, and other performance variables. Some case studies illustrate the factors that can turn a Chinese takeover into a success story. We also show how a more cautious attitude of the Italian government towards China is affecting Chinese investments in the country. In particular, the use of the so-called “golden power” has blocked or constrained some recent Chinese takeovers. Some political parties and stakeholders are pressing the government to extend the use of the “golden power” to block foreign acquisitions in "strategic" industries or national champions, even if there are no strict security reasons. This could significantly reduce the opportunities for Chinese investors in the future. On the other hand, greenfield investments are always welcome, but China probably needs more market appeal and technological updating to increase this type of investments in Italy and Europe

Robots, Trade and Employment in Italian Local Labour Systems

Three main shocks have affected advanced economies over the last 25 years, with significant consequences for work, production and economic growth. The first is technological change associated with robotics and the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. The second, which is partly related to the first, is the diffusion of ICT and the development of intelligent software applied both to industry and tertiary activities. The third is the strong competitive pressure from low cost and emerging countries, which have changed the geography of world production and trade flows, often within global value chains. Following the seminal papers of Acemoglu and Restrepo (2017) and Dauth, Findeisen, Südekum and Woessner (2017), the aim of this paper is to assess the impact of these three shocks on employment in Italian local labour markets in the period 1991-2011. What is new in our approach is the explicit consideration of the role played by the different typologies of local labour systems and industrial districts. We find that robots do not have any negative effect on employment in local labour markets. On the contrary, robots seem to be associated with a growth in overall employment, mainly due to the tertiary sector. The second result is that there is some evidence of a positive effect of ICT investments on local employment, in particular non-manufacturing employment. The last and most robust result of the econometric analysis is the negative impact of trade with low cost countries on local employment. This result has one almost absolute protagonist: China. All these impacts are not homogeneous across the national territory and partly depend on the characteristics of the local productive systems and industrial districts