The Innovation Gap of Italy’s Production System: Roots and Possible Solutions

Bugamelli, Matteo; Cannari, Luigi; Lotti, Francesca; Magri, Silvia

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2064679

Cited by 39 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…A good reason to be concerned about this finding is that entrepreneurial human capital, and in particular the education of entrepreneurs, appears to be a predictor of firms' performance (Parker, 2009;Bates, 1990). This conclusion seems established, for the case of Italy, by studies showing 5 that entrepreneurs' education is a predictor of entrepreneurial and managerial styles, in particular in HRM, and that the latter explains the incentive to invest in R&D, to go abroad and, finally, firms' profitability (Bugamelli et al, 2012).…”

Section: University Student Entrepreneurship In Italymentioning

confidence: 96%

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University Students and Entrepreneurship Some Insights from a Population-Based Survey

2017

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Start-ups founded by university students and graduates play a substantial role in bringing new knowledge to the market and in employment creation; a role that appears to be even more important than the one played by the typical technology transfer activities carried out by universities, i.e. patenting and licensing activities, or spin-offs founded by academic staff. Indeed, robust empirical evidence suggests that entrepreneurs' education is a good predictor of firms' performance. Unfortunately, data show that the share of Italian entrepreneurs with tertiary educations is quite small, and this is especially the case of the younger generation. In this paper, we use a population-based approach to explore entrepreneurship among 61,115 graduates, alumni of the 64 Italian universities that belong to the AlmaLaurea consortium, in the second half of 2014, at the time when they completed their academic experience. We detect various levels of engagement and intentions to be involved in entrepreneurship, and we assess which factors appear to weigh more in a positive or negative manner. The bad news is that also our analysis finds that the share of Italian graduates who have started a business after their enrolment at university (1.3%) or who have taken concrete actions to start a business (4.5%) is quite small. The good news is that the number of intentional, i.e. potential highly educated, entrepreneurs among university students is much larger (at least 23%). On the basis of our results, we argue that the provision by universities of entrepreneurial education and training, internships, and ICT skills can be effective tools with which to cultivate entrepreneurial attitudes and skills, thereby fostering entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship among university graduates and enhancing their employability.

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Section: University Student Entrepreneurship In Italymentioning

confidence: 96%

“…According to some studies (Bugamelli et al, 2012;Schivardi and Torrini, 2011;Federici and Ferrante, 2014), the poor economic performance of the Italian economy, in the past 15 years or so, can be partly ascribed to entrepreneurial styles and strategies determined by a poor endowment of human capital.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

University Students and Entrepreneurship Some Insights from a Population-Based Survey

2017

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“…Both factors would suggest a low R&D/GDP ratio, as Italy has predominantly small firms specialized in traditional/medium technology industries. SMEs do have a smaller R&D intensity and family managed firms tend to invest less in R&D than other firms (Bugamelli et al 2012). But also within sectors, Italy does not compare favourably: Italian SMEs spend on average less on R&D than comparable German ones and within traditional/medium technology industries Italy has a lower R&D/revenue ratio than elsewhere.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Industrial policy options for sustaining growth in Italy

Gruber

2016

Econ Polit Ind

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The paper discusses main features of the structural change that the Italian industry has undergone since the 1990s, the reduction of resources it can count on and the options available for the promotion of industrial competitiveness. Insufficient investment in R&D, education and digital infrastructure have undermined the performance of Italian industry and its capability of sustain high levels of economic growth and welfare. As traditional instruments for supporting the industry are not any more available, new financial instruments provide opportunities to redress international competitiveness.

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“…; and machinery and equipment n.e.c. Low-tech industries account for firms that work in building and repairing of ships and boats; rubber and plastic products; other non-metallic mineral products; basic metals and fabricated metal products; wood, pulp, paper; paper products; printing and publishing; food products; beverage and tobacco; textiles; and leather and footwear 11. We present the descriptive statistics for 2-digit sectors for ease of exposition, but the quantitative analysis is at 3-digit level.…”

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confidence: 99%

The productivity puzzle and misallocation: an Italian perspective

et al. 2018

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Productivity has recently slowed down in many economies around the world. A crucial challenge in understanding what lies behind this "productivity puzzle" is the still short time span for which data can be analysed. An exception is Italy where productivity growth started to stagnate 25 years ago. Italy therefore offers an interesting case to investigate in search of broader lessons that may hold beyond local specific cities. We find that resource misallocation has played a sizeable role in slowing down Italian productivity growth. If misallocation had remained at its 1995 level, in 2013 Italy's aggregate productivity would have been 18% higher than its actual level. Misallocation has mainly risen within sectors than between them, increasing more in sectors where the world technological frontier has expanded faster. Relative specialization in those sectors explains the patterns of misallocation across geographical areas and firm size classes. The broader message is that an important part of the explanation of the productivity puzzle may lie in the rising difficulty of reallocating resources between firms in sectors where technology is changing faster rather than between sectors with different speeds of technological change.

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The Innovation Gap of Italy’s Production System: Roots and Possible Solutions

Cited by 39 publications

References 79 publications

University Students and Entrepreneurship Some Insights from a Population-Based Survey

University Students and Entrepreneurship Some Insights from a Population-Based Survey

Industrial policy options for sustaining growth in Italy

The productivity puzzle and misallocation: an Italian perspective

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