Italian Industry and Productivity. Going Beyond the Mainstream View

Livio Romano and Fabrizio Traù

L'industria, 2020, issue 4, 655-673

Abstract: Italian manufacturing is steadily at the top of world rankings for value added, productiondiversification and export performance. However, the common wisdom is that it has accumulatedan increasing competitiveness gap vis à vis its international competitors in the lastdecades, as highlighted by the long-lasting weak productivity growth in real terms. How canthese facts be reconciled? Are growth estimates at constant prices actually reliable for crosscountrycomparisons, even within the boundaries of the eu? Is the economic interpretationof these estimates so obvious? These issues, including their policy implications, are the objectof the paper. Overall, it is showed that, when comparing the actual performance of economicsystems at the international level, there are good reasons not to rely too much upon measuresof growth at constant prices, which need to be handled with extreme caution and circumspection.Moreover, the paper argues that in order to evaluate the actual degree of competitivenessof a given country a wide set of indicators is needed, reflecting the many variables that it isnecessary to take into account to this end.

Keywords: Manufacturing; Productivity; Measurement; International Comparisons; Quality Upgrading (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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