Growth In Italy Research Articles

Do the creative industries support growth and innovation in the wider economy? Industry relatedness and employment growth in Italy

ABSTRACTThe role of the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) in fostering innovation and growth in the wider economy has been much debated, beginning with Bakhshi et al. (2008) seminal contribution. Such studies of creative industries assign a strategic role to territories, but they provide little empirical evidence. In this paper, the issues of the creative economy are combined with evolutionary economic geography topics to understand whether the CCIs are able to foster innovation and growth in the wider economy. Using an indicator of the relatedness between creative and other sectors for the Italian provinces, we analyse employment growth over a period of ten years (2006–2015). A panel data analysis is then applied to investigate the role of relatedness and the clustering of creative industries in wider economic growth, showing that, to favour growth, the creative industries require the presence of other sectors with a high degree of proximity/relatedness.

Causality among CO2 Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Italy.

The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between CO2 emissions (carbon dioxide emissions), energy consumption and economic growth in Italy, using annual data covering the period 1960-2011. The unit root tests results indicated that the variables are not stationary in levels but in their first differences. Subsequently, the Johansen cointegration test showed that there is a cointegrated vector between the examined variables. The vector error correction model (VECM) is used in order to find the causality relations among the variables. The empirical results of the study revealed that both in the short and long run there is a strong unidirectional causality relation between economic growth and CO2emissions with direction from economic growth to CO2 emissions. Finally, the impulse response functions indicated that a reduction in CO2 emissions has a positive effect on energy consumption, while it causes a decrease in economic growth.

Causality among CO<SUB align="right">2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Italy

Causality among CO<SUB align="right">2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Italy

Preliminary application of a simulation model to reproduce hazelnut development and growth in Italy, Georgia and Chile

Preliminary application of a simulation model to reproduce hazelnut development and growth in Italy, Georgia and Chile

Assessment of Commerce Potency on Economic Growth in Italy: Empirical Analysis

The link between exports, imports and economic growth in Italy has been extensively discussed by historiography. This paper investigates the relationship between exports, imports, and economic growth in Italy. In order to achieve this purpose, annual data were collected from the reports of the World Bank for the periods between 1960 and 2015, was tested by using Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) stationary test, Co integration analysis of the Vector Auto Regression Model and the Granger-Causality tests. According to the empirical results, we found that exports and imports have not any effect on economic growth. Also, we discovered, according to the Granger-Causality tests that there is no any relationship of causality between trade and economic growth. However, and according to the results of the correlation analysis, we found that trade and economic growth in Italy are positively correlated, meaning that the strategy economic posing by Italy is not efficacious to solve economic problems.

Productivity Growth in Italy: A Tale of a Slow-Motion Change

Productivity is the main factor holding back long-term economic growth in Italy. Since the second half of the 1990s, productivity growth has been feeble both by historical standards and compared with the other main euro area countries. Understanding the reasons for such a performance and finding the most effective policy levers is crucial to increase Italy’s potential growth rate. Against this background, we provide a detailed analysis of the data and a critical review of the available empirical evidence to identify both the structural weaknesses limiting productivity growth and the strengths of the Italian productive system that may support it looking forward. Since the end of the 1990s and more intensively since the second half of 2011, the reform effort has been particularly effective in the regulation of product and labor markets and industrial policy. On other factors which are very relevant for productivity dynamics, the reform action has been less effective so far.

Revisiting the bi-directional causality between debt and growth: Evidence from linear and nonlinear tests

We revisit the bi-directional causality between public debt and the rate of GDP growth for 10 EMU countries alongside the US, UK and Japan, over sample periods spanning from 1970 up to 2014 whilst accounting for the nonlinear properties of both the individual time series, and their relation in both directions. Our results indicate that the causal relation between debt and growth, in either direction, is weak at best. For most of the countries in our sample, we find no robust evidence of a long-run causal effect using bi-variate Granger causality tests. Bi-directional causality is detected only for Austria, while for France, Luxembourg and Portugal, causality runs solely from debt to growth, but the estimated effects are very small. In Finland, Spain and Italy, Granger causality (from growth to debt in the former two and debt to growth in Italy) appears to be present in the short-run. Our findings cannot be taken as evidence that a high level of public indebtedness is not risky for the economy or as invalidating hypotheses postulating effects in either direction in the relation between debt and growth.

Corporate Indebtedness and Low Productivity Growth of Italian Firms

Productivity growth in Italy has been persistently anemic and has lagged that of the euro area over the period 1999-2015, while the indebtedness of its corporate sector has increased. Using the ORBIS firm-level database, this paper studies the long-term impact of persistent corporate-debt accumulation on the productivity growth of Italian firms and investigates whether total factor productivity growthvaries with the level of corporate indebtedness. We employ a novel estimation technique proposed by Chudik, Mohaddes, Pesaran, and Raissi (2017) to account for dynamics, bi-directional feedback effects, cross-firm heterogeneity, and cross-sectional dependence arising from unobserved common factors (for example, oil price shocks, labor and product market frictions, and stance of global financial cycle). Filtering out the effects of unobserved common factors and controlling for firm specific characteristics, we find significant negative effects of persistent corporate debt build-up on total factor productivity growth, and weak evidence of a threshold level of corporate debt, beyond which productivity growth drops off significantly. Our results have strong policy implications, for example the design of the tax system should discourage persistent corporate debt accumulation, and effective and timely frameworks to reduce corporate debt overhangs are essential.

The Distribution of Wealth and Real Growth in Italy: A Post-Keynesian Perspective

This paper considers the problem of the determinants of income distribution in the light of the recent hypotheses advanced by Piketty on the evolution of the capitalistic system. It first reinterprets Piketty’s analysis in the context of a modified Cambridge model, where functional income distribution can adjust to ensure equality between a warranted rate and a natural rate of growth. The paper shows that this model yields some of the effects depicted by Piketty’s analysis through the rate of return to capital and the exogenous growth rate, if not only the functional, but also the personal distribution of income reacts to equilibrate the economy in response to divergent growth in the goods and labor markets. These results imply that the capital share of income and the share of the richer part of the population tend to move in the opposite direction in response to growth, so that, especially under declining growth, the fiscal treatment of capital and wealth should be different, with lower taxation for productive capital and increasing progressivity for income taxes. The main results of theoretical analysis are tested on data for the last 40 years of performance of the Italian economy, finding some significant consistency between the hypotheses formulated on the basis of the theoretical considerations above and the empirical evidence.

Corporate Indebtedness and Low Productivity Growth of Italian Firms

Productivity growth in Italy has been persistently anemic and has lagged that of the euro area over the period 1999-2015, while the indebtedness of its corporate sector has increased. Using the ORBIS firm-level database, this paper studies the long-term impact of persistent corporate-debt accumulation on the productivity growth of Italian firms and investigates whether total factor productivity growth varies with the level of corporate indebtedness. We employ a novel estimation technique proposed by Chudik, Mohaddes, Pesaran, and Raissi (2017) to account for dynamics, bi-directional feedback effects, cross-firm heterogeneity, and cross-sectional dependence arising from unobserved common factors (for example, oil price shocks, labor and product market frictions, and stance of global financial cycle). Filtering out the effects of unobserved common factors and controlling for firmspecific characteristics, we find significant negative effects of persistent corporate debt build-up on total factor productivity growth, and weak evidence of a threshold level of corporate debt, beyond which productivity growth drops off significantly. Our results have strong policy implications, for example the design of the tax system should discourage persistent corporate debt accumulation, and effective and timely frameworks to reduce corporate debt overhangs are essential.

Can Italy grow out of its NPL overhang? A panel threshold analysis

This paper examines whether a tipping point exists for real GDP growth in Italy above which the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans falls significantly. Estimating a heterogeneous dynamic panel–threshold model with data on 17 Italian regions over the period 1997–2014, we find that growth above 1.2%, if sustained for a number of years, is associated with a significant decline in the NPL ratio.

Human Capital and Urban Growth in Italy, 1981-2001

This paper analyses the contribution of human capital, measured using the share of residents holding a college degree, to urban growth, gauged by the growth in employment, between 1981 and 2001. According to our estimates, starting with a ten per cent higher share of college-educated residents was associated with a higher growth in employment in the 0.5-2.2 per cent range. These results hold when considering both the municipal and the local labour market (LLM) levels, and they are robust to a wide set of urban characteristics. Our findings are confirmed using a measure of education dating back to 1931 as an instrument for human capital. Furthermore, we exploit a spatial localization model with human capital premiums to disentangle the estimated effect into two components related to productivity and life quality respectively. We find that productivity contributed to more than 60 per cent of the effect of human capital on urban growth at municipal level, and to over 90 per cent at the wider LLM level.

Can Italy Grow Out of its NPL Overhang? A Panel Threshold Analysis

This paper examines whether a tipping point exists for real GDP growth in Italy above which the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans falls significantly. Estimating a heterogeneous dynamic panel-threshold model with data on 17 Italian regions over the period 1997-2014, we provide evidence for the presence of growth-threshold effects on the NPL ratio in Italy. More specifically, we find that real GDP growth above 1.2 percent, if sustained for a number of years, is associated with a significant decline in the NPLs ratio. Achieving such growth rates requires decisively tackling long-standing structural rigidities and improving the quality of fiscal policy. Given the modest potential growth outlook, however, under which banks are likely to struggle to grow out of their NPL overhang, further policy measures are needed to put the NPL ratio on a firm downward path over the medium term.

Disaggregated energy consumption and economic growth in G-7 countries

ABSTRACTThis study aims to examine the relationship between energy consumption (i.e., oil, natural gas, and coal) and economic growth in G-7 countries. For this purpose, the annual data from 1970 to 2013 is investigated using with panel bootstrap causality approach that allows cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity among countries. The results reveal that the oil consumption causes economic growth in Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States; economic growth causes oil consumption in Germany and the United Kingdom; natural gas consumption causes economic growth in Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom; economic growth causes natural gas consumption in Germany; coal consumption causes economic growth in Canada; and economic growth causes coal consumption in the United States.

Climate change response of vegetation across climatic zones in Italy

CR Climate Research Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsSpecials CR 71:249-262 (2017) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01443 REVIEW Climate change response of vegetation across climatic zones in Italy Stefano Chelli1,*, Camilla Wellstein2, Giandiego Campetella1, Roberto Canullo1, Rita Tonin2, Stefan Zerbe2, Renato Gerdol3 1School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, Plant Diversity and Ecosystems Management Unit, University of Camerino, Via Pontoni 5, 62032 Camerino, Macerata, Italy 2Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, 39100 Bozen, Italy 3Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy *Corresponding author: stefano.chelli@gmail.com ABSTRACT: Italy represents a good model region for assessing vegetation responses to changing climate across a broad climatic range, from Mediterranean warm-dry climate to alpine cold-humid climate. We reviewed results of studies analysing the response of natural vegetation to climate change in Italy, published until July 2016 in peer-reviewed journals. Evidence provided by these studies shows that climate warming is expected overall to enhance plant growth in Italy, but the magnitude of growth stimulation will probably vary among climatic zones, with stronger effects in the cold regions of the alpine climatic zone. Drought, induced by reduced precipitation and/or increased evapotranspiration, can override the positive effects of higher temperatures on plant growth, not only in the Mediterranean warm-dry climatic zone but also in the less dry sub-Mediterranean climatic zone and even in the temperate one. Our review highlighted 2 major research gaps to which future research should be directed. First, there is poor knowledge of how species composition will change in response to changing climate and how this will affect ecosystem functioning in Mediterranean to temperate ecosystems. Second, there is poor knowledge of possible interactions between climate-induced vegetation changes and dynamic processes related to land-use changes. KEY WORDS: Climate change · Drought · Experimental study · Italy · Observational study · Warming · Review Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Chelli S, Wellstein C, Campetella G, Canullo R, Tonin R, Zerbe S, Gerdol R (2017) Climate change response of vegetation across climatic zones in Italy. Clim Res 71:249-262. https://doi.org/10.3354/cr01443 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in CR Vol. 71, No. 3. Online publication date: March 01, 2017 Print ISSN: 0936-577X; Online ISSN: 1616-1572 Copyright © 2017 Inter-Research.

Productivity and Reallocation: Evidence from the Universe of Italian Firms

This paper investigates the contribution of allocative efficiency to aggregate labor productivity growth in Italy between 2005 and 2013. Exploiting a unique dataset that covers the universe of active firms, we find that allocative efficiency accounted for 35 per cent of aggregate productivity in 2005 and its weight increased by almost 7 percentage points during the period of observation. We show that the dynamics of aggregate labor productivity benefited from the reallocation of resources among continuing firms and from the net effect of business demography. Among industries, we find that reallocation has been stronger in industries that are more exposed to import competition from developing countries. Moreover, we document that the observed adjustments have not evenly affected all firms across the productivity distribution: selection has become tougher for firms belonging to the lower tail, forcing the exit of the least productive firms and favoring the reallocation of the workforce to the best performing firms.

Can Italy Grow Out of Its NPL Overhang? A Panel Threshold Analysis

This paper examines whether a tipping point exists for real GDP growth in Italy above which the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans falls significantly. Estimating a heterogeneous dynamic panel-threshold model with data on 17 Italian regions over the period 1997-2014, we provide evidence for the presence of growth-threshold effects on the NPL ratio in Italy. More specifically, we find that real GDP growth above 1.2 percent, if sustained for a number of years, is associated with a significant decline in the NPLs ratio. Achieving such growth rates requires decisively tackling long standing structural rigidities and improving the quality of fiscal policy. Given the modest potential growth outlook, however, under which banks are likely to struggle to grow out of their NPL overhang, further policy measures are needed to put the NPL ratio on a firm downward path over the medium term.

Can Italy Grow Out of Its NPL Overhang? A Panel Threshold Analysis

This paper examines whether a tipping point exists for real GDP growth in Italy above which the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans falls significantly. Estimating a heterogeneous dynamic panel-threshold model with data on 17 Italian regions over the period 1997–2014, we provide evidence for the presence of growth-threshold effects on the NPL ratio in Italy. More specifically, we find that real GDP growth above 1.2 percent, if sustained for a number of years, is associated with a significant decline in the NPLs ratio. Achieving such growth rates requires decisively tackling long-standing structural rigidities and improving the quality of fiscal policy. Given the modest potential growth outlook, however, under which banks are likely to struggle to grow out of their NPL overhang, further policy measures are needed to put the NPL ratio on a firm downward path over the medium term.

The Missing Link? Trust, Cooperative Norms, and Industrial Growth in Italy

Despite recent research about the link between social capital and economic growth, the degree to which social norms influenced the first phase of Italy’s regional economic divergence remains largely unexplored. A methodology based on a multifaceted definition of social capital, employing data about charity, mutual aid, and crime permits estimates of the differences in the strength of trust and cooperative norms across Italy’s provinces at ten-year intervals between 1871 and 1911. Further analysis of trust and cooperative norms via regression models of conditional convergence in industrial value added per capita shows that, although regional disparities in social capital were large during the late nineteenth century, they are not strongly correlated with industrial growth. Instead, the evidence indicates that human capital, innovation, and formal institutions were far more instrumental in determining the economic fortunes of Italy’s provinces before the World War I.

Assessment of Biogas Plant Firms by Application of Annual Accounts and Financial Data Analysis Approach

Firms operating biogas plants are often characterized by making significant investments in fixed assets financed by equity and, mainly, financial debt. These firms have experienced significant growth in Italy, partly as a result of public contributions. The objective of the research is to analyze the management of biogas plant firms by analyzing annual accounts as the main document of use to third parties for the evaluation of a firm’s management. The research, conducted on a sample of 22 firms using 110 year-data, has highlighted that economic and financial margins are different, though often statistically correlated. The research shows that profitability and cash generation in the biogas plant industry are high, even if the generation of cash flow is less than the return on equity, and there are firm cases of having difficulty in financial debt repayment, even in the presence of positive economic margins. The research also shows that return on equity greatly exceeds the performance of Italian government bonds and of the majority of industrial sectors; this result points to the significant increase in returns on equity capital in the industry, potentially damaging other sectors, and highlighting the risk of the distortive use of public resources.