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This article investigates how the ownership of firms (affiliates of foreign multinational firms, or uni-national firms) affects their internal workforce composition. We consider this issue empirically by adopting a novel database on the workforce composition of companies operating in the manufacturing industry in north-east Italy. The workforce composition (in terms of skill level, gender and the less investigated characteristics of age and nationality) of affiliates of foreign multinational enterprises (FMNs) are compared with a counterfactual of uni-national firms, constructed using propensity score matching. Consistent with previous studies, the results report that FMNs recruit a larger number of highly-skilled workers. Our main findings show that FMNs employ a lower number of foreign and less experienced (young) workers. The employment of native and more experienced workers in FMNs seems to suggest that foreign companies use domestic ‘inherited’ stock of manufacturing knowledge and skills. By using this stock, they contribute to sustaining its development.

Greenfield foreign direct investment is commonly regarded as a strategic factor for the economic growth of a country. Unfortunately, Italy has experienced a significant decline over time of greenfield initiatives by multinational enterprises. This paper offers a preliminary descriptive analysis of trends and features of greenfield FDIs and relevant investors in the Italian industry during the 1998-2012 period. The paper benefits from unpublished information provided by the Reprint database developed at the Politecnico di Milano.

Mariotti S., Mutinelli M., Nicolini M. and Piscitello L. Productivity spillovers from foreign multinational enterprises to domestic manufacturing firms: to what extent does spatial proximity matter?, Regional Studies. This paper analyses the role of spatial proximity in productivity spillovers from foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs). Using a database of foreign affiliates located in Italy from 1999 to 2005, it is shown that local firms benefit from the presence of MNEs through both backward and forward linkages. It is found that: (1) spillover effects are more strongly associated with MNEs in knowledge-intensive business services and utilities; and (2) co-location positively affects productivity spillovers, and the effect is stronger for foreign affiliates that are distantly located. This is especially true in the service sector due to the role of temporary spatial proximity and other dimensions of proximity.

This article investigates outward FDI from Italy during the 2006-2011 period. The descriptive statistics show the difficulties in Italy’s capacity to promote direct investment abroad during the current economic crisis. Nonetheless, some signs of new internationalization trends are detected.

This article investigates FDI trends in Italy during the 2000-2008 period. The descriptive statistics show a sharp decline in Italy’s capacity to attract international investment. Moreover, the widening of the gap between Italy and its main European partners (France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) as an FDI-recipient country leads us to conclude that the Italian government needs to adopt an effective policy for promoting foreign direct investment as a matter of urgency.

The purpose of this article is to outline the evolution of Italian multinational firms during the 2001-2007 period. The descriptive statistics show that a selected group of medium-sized firms has outperformed the other Italian multinationals in terms of growth rate. The evidence is consistent with the hypothesis of the emergence in Italy of the so-called "fourth capitalism", as an alternative successful model to both the industrial districts and the large chandlerian corporations. Some limits of this structural evolution are also discussed. Keywords: foreign direct investments (FDIs), Italian multinational firms Parole chiave: investimenti diretti esteri (IDE), imprese multinazionali italiane Jel Classification: F23

Mariotti S., Mutinelli M. and Piscitello L. The internationalization of production by Italian industrial districts' firms: structural and behavioural determinants, Regional Studies. The paper argues that structural and behavioural determinants combine to influence internationalization of production through foreign direct investment (FDI) by industrial districts' firms. As far as the former, leadership effects, represented by the presence of large firms within the district, and Porterian effects, denoted by the intensity of domestic rivalry, positively influence the likelihood that district firms will start internationalize through FDI. Moreover, spillovers induced by the presence of foreign-owned multinational corporations positively impact on the district's degree of internationalization, provided it has already autonomously developed the ability to grow internationally. As far as behavioural features, previous export relationships increase the district firms' likelihood of undertaking FDI, while innovat...

The literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) has recently analysed the nature of the firm's entry mode choice in a foreign market, particularly the choice between a joint venture and a wholly owned subsidiary. The paper aims at providing further empirical evidence on the influence of some key variables in explaining it. The theoretical framework relates to the resource-based view of the firm and to the more recent competence-based theory. It focuses on the concept of the firm as a collection of productive resources and assets, built through internal learning processes in the form of evolutionary experimentation. The inability of the firm to build internally all the needed knowledge and competencies forces it to acquire them outside, influencing the growth strategy of the firm. As resources and complementary assets are spread out, the firm has to deal with constraints which become more crucial when the firm enters into unfamiliar markets and areas of activity. In particular, when deciding about the entry mode on foreign markets, the firm has to face transaction costs concerning actors and potential partners and their opportunism, and costs related to the need for acquiring information about new institutional environments and their working. According to this view, the resort to co-operative solutions and joint ventures allows firms to reduce costs and uncertainty related to foreign markets, and rises if technological opportunities, tacit skills and competencies constitute an important source of competitive advantage for the firm. An empirical analysis, with reference to a representative sample of FDI undertaken by Italian firms in mining and manufacturing industries over the period 1986–1993, has been developed in order to test the hypotheses.

The literature on foreign direct investment (FDI) has analysed the entry mode choice by multinational enterprises (MNEs) from several theoretical viewpoints. Nevertheless, previous studies have mainly focused on the behaviour of large and established MNEs while little attention has been given to small- and medium-sized firms. The paper aims at providing further empirical evidence on the role of firm size and international experience in influencing the ownership structure of FDI. The main hypothesis is that smaller firms, characterised by financial and managerial con- straints, as well as firms lacking experience in managing foreign operations, suffer from a condition of adverse asym- metry in information costs, compared to their competitors. Therefore, they are forced to act prudently, minimising risk and thus preferring a less control arrangement of foreign sub- sidiaries. A binomial logistic model is developed with reference to manufacturing foreign direct investments undertaken by Italian firms in the period 1986-1993.

The flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) increased rapidly from the end of the last decade. The upheavals which led to dramatic changes in the social, political and economic environment paved the way to western firms for unique opportunities to expand into new markets with a high potential for development as well as for efficient localisation in terms of cost and access to resources. Nevertheless, empirical literature has mainly focused only on the behaviour of the biggest multinational enterprises and less attention has been paid to the SMEs' contribution. This paper aims to highlight the role of SMEs in exploiting the advantages offered by the recent openness of CEE markets. The empirical analysis refers to the Italian case where SMEs constitute the bulk of the industrial system and some evidence on the strategic motivations leading Italian firms to invest in manufacturing activities in CEE is provided. In particular, it is suggested that strategies underlying FDI are linked to the international experience and other characteristics of the parent firm. The behaviour of 124 Italian parent companies (corresponding to 182 direct investments) in the period 1990–94 is analysed by two econometric models.

By integrating the theoretical perspective of international business, economic geography and transportation science, we develop a novel framework to investigate the relationship between the localization of foreign direct investments (FDI) and air connectivity. In particular the key research question for this study is whether and in which ways the spatial network structure offered by the global airline system contributes to the development of both outward and inward FDI. Due to the widespread diffusion of multinationals, air travel is often required as a mean to engage face-to-face contacts at various levels within the organization, by the board of directors, managers, entrepreneurs and staff. The introduction of a new route, by reducing transport costs, should increase the likelihood of FDI exchange between the regions newly connected. Several studies have already analyzed the linkage between air traffic and various urban or regional characteristics, among which its degree of internationalization, and have unanimously demonstrated that the geography of FDI is related to the desire of large multinational companies to easily access the main international airports. However, literature traditionally focused on larger multinational companies located in global cities. To the best of our knowledge, no study has yet considered the effect of air travel on FDI by SMEs in secondary regions. We aim to test whether the geography of FDI between Italy and Europe is related to the desire of overseas companies to directly access international airports. This paper employs an event study methodology to determine the impact of new routes on the generation of both inward and outward FDI considering both SMEs and large companies. In particular, we built an original database covering the period 1997-2010 where for each FDI between Italy and Europe we collected information about the locations of both the overseas company and the newly created subsidiaries at a municipality level. That enables us to estimate the impact of a new route to the FDI subsequently generated between the catchment areas of the connected airports. We account for the existence of a possible endogeneity bias by considering several control variables.

The formation within industrial districts of ‘multinational groups’ composed of local enterprises and units with a parent company in Italy and affiliates in other countries is an issue closely linked to internationalisation of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), that constitute the fundamental ecological units of the country’s industrial districts.

The present paper provides further insights on the relationship between home country employment and foreign direct investment (FDI) undertaken by national firms. The unit of analysis is each ensemble of firms operating in the same industrial sector and localised in the same geographical region. That allows us to capture both direct and indirect effects of foreign production on the parent's environment, which arise through the generation of linkages and externalities. Empirical evidence has been provided with reference to the Italian case in the decade 1985--95. Results suggest that the impact of outward FDI on the labour intensity of domestic production is negative in the case of vertical investment undertaken--especially by smaller firms--in less developed countries, and positive for horizontal and market-seeking investments in advanced countries. Copyright 2003, Oxford University Press.

The present paper addresses the issue of the determinants of the growth of multinational banks upon foreign markets at a micro individual level. Theories and approaches suggested so far about globalisation of the banking sector basically relate banks' international growth to the theory of the multinational enterprise. Accordingly, this paper relies on the eclectic paradigm, which views the foreign direct investment decision to be a combination of ownership, internalisation and location advantages. Empirical evidence is provided through an econometric model based on count data techniques, with reference to the Italian case in the decade 1989–1999. Results show that the availability of resources and international experience already gathered by the parent banks have positive effects on their decision to undertake direct investments abroad. Multinational banks are also proved to grow internationally in order to internalise their pre-existing bank–client relationships, and to locate their foreign units where they can exploit positive externalities related to the presence of important international financial centres.

The qualitative analysis is based mainly on the findings of two empirical investigations on the process (from decision to actual implementation) followed by a certain number of industrial firms (both large and small-medium sized) for the introduction of a CAD system. Special attention is given to the factors (economical, cultural, organizational, etc.) that create in some way a barrier for the access of small-medium size firms to the technology of CAD.

Aim of this paper is to present a general overview of the actual state of CAD applications in Italy.