Heterogeneous Fall in Productive Capacity in Italian Industry During the 2008-13 Double-Dip Recession

29 Pages Posted: 8 Apr 2016

Date Written: January 21, 2016

Abstract

Between 2008 and 2013 productive capacity was considerably downsized in the Italian manufacturing sector. This paper analyses the micro-data collected for the Bank of Italy surveys to identify the main drivers of the reduction in the whole 2008-13 period and in four sub-periods (pre-crisis 2001-07, first phase of the crisis 2008-09, recovery 2010-11, and second crisis 2012-13). Our main findings are that i) losses of productive capacity varied widely across manufacturing sub-sectors with differences in pre-crisis trends tending to persist in a few sub-sectors during the double-dip recession; ii) large firms were more successful in avoiding major capacity losses, especially in the first phase of the crisis; iii) the share of sales on foreign markets was negatively correlated with performance in 2008-09, but the correlation turned positive in 2012-13; iv) among the Italian macro-regions, the Centre weathered the long recession better; v) subsidiaries underperformed firms not belonging to any group; and vi) the negative effects on productive capacity of credit constraints, which discouraged investments, were felt by Italian firms particularly in 2012-13.

Keywords: productive capacity, manufacturing, microdata

JEL Classification: E32, L16, L60

Suggested Citation

Locatelli, Andrea and Monteforte, Libero and Zevi, Giordano, Heterogeneous Fall in Productive Capacity in Italian Industry During the 2008-13 Double-Dip Recession (January 21, 2016). Bank of Italy Occasional Paper No. 303, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2759788 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2759788

Andrea Locatelli

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
00184 Roma
Italy

Libero Monteforte (Contact Author)

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
Rome, 00184
Italy

Giordano Zevi

Bank of Italy ( email )

Via Nazionale 91
00184 Roma
Italy

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