Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context, 2012

Italy’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared to that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in “traditional” low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced service industries. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy and resulted in a decline in OFDI flows in 2009, owing to few large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. However, due to the stagnation of the internal market, Italian firms continued to pursue growth opportunities abroad in 2010 and in 2011 through small-scale investments, in particular outside the EU

Air Connectivity and Foreign Direct Investments The economic effects of the introduction of new routes

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.

Motivation and young people's career planning: A perspective from the reinforcement sensitivity theory of personality

We examined the associations between personality factors of the reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST) of personality and career planning predispositions in young people (university students and recent graduates), comprising Career Adaptability, Career Optimism, and Perceived Knowledge. As predicted, all three career dispositions were positively correlated with Behavioural Approach System (BAS) scores, principally Reward Interest and Goal-Drive Persistence; and all dispositions negatively correlated with Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS) scores – these significant associations survived hierarchical multiple regression with age and gender statistically controlled. These findings indicate that motivational factors of the kind measured by RST-related approach-avoidance factors are associated meaningfully with career planning predispositions. Although a novel finding, further work is needed to determine whether these relationships exist when actual career-related decisions and behaviours are examined

Productivity Spillovers from Foreign MNEs on Domestic Manufacturing Firms: Is Co-location Always a Plus?

The paper analyses productivity spillovers from foreign MNEs on domestic manufacturing firms. Using a database on foreign MNEs in Italy, our results reveal that local firms do benefit from the presence of foreign MNEs, and the effect is higher when local and foreign firms in manufacturing sectors are co-located. However, spillovers benefiting domestic firms are likely to be less influenced by co-location when foreign MNEs are in services sectors as the latter are different from manufacturing industries under a number of aspects that overcome the effect of distance. Indeed, in these sectors, proximity and interaction are often obtained through professional mobility and temporary inter-organizational routines.Multinational Firms, Co-Location, Proximity, Spillover Effects, Customer-Supplier Interaction, Vertical Linkages

Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context, 2012

Italy’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared to that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in “traditional” low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced service industries. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy and resulted in a decline in OFDI flows in 2009, owing to few large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. However, due to the stagnation of the internal market, Italian firms continued to pursue growth opportunities abroad in 2010 and in 2011 through small-scale investments, in particular outside the EU

Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context

Italian companies started to invest abroad in the 1960s in search of new markets. However, Italy's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared with that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in traditional low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced services. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy. However, the positive trend of Italian OFDI was not interrupted, and in 2009 OFDI flows remained stable compared to 2008. Habitually silent on this policy area in earlier decades, the Italian Government has recently shown a more favorable stance toward OFDI, introducing specific policy measures addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises, which have started to expand strongly abroad "“ these now constitute almost 90% of Italian multinational enterprises (MNEs)

Inward FDI in Italy and its policy context

The attractiveness of the Italian economy for inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has been traditionally limited, despite the country's locational advantages such as a large domestic market and a skilled labor force. The recent global crisis worsened the country's IFDI position, with flows falling from US$40 billion in 2007 to US$ 11 billion in 2008 before recovering to US$20 billion in 2009 but down again to US$ 9 billion in 2010. Although the country's IFDI stock had grown since 2000 at a rate similar to that of the European Union as a whole, in 2010 IFDI stock contracted vis-à -vis 2009, reflecting how Italy, compared to other key European countries and to its own potential, continues to underperform. The main obstacles to exploiting the country's potential for IFDI lie both in the largely insufficient actions undertaken to attract and promote IFDI, and especially in the lack of coordination with other relevant policy measures (e.g. infrastructure development) within a broader framework aimed at regional and national development

The impact of Inward FDI on host country labour markets. A counterfactual analysis on Italian manufacturing companies

Countries are increasingly competing to attract inward foreign direct investments (FDIs) to benefit from the superior performance of the international firms. Yet there is still scant evidence about the effects of inward FDIs on the high-income countries’ industrial base. In advanced economies a specialised, skilled workforce has emerged as a pivotal economic development asset to enhance innovation capabilities. The paper aims at investigating how the use of a local, skilled workforce differs according to the firms’ ownership; being either affiliates of foreign multinationals (MNEs), or uni-national firms (firms that have neither been acquired in the period of analysis, nor have invested abroad; henceforth NATs). We empirically investigate this issue by adopting a novel database linking regional labour force characteristics with economic data on inward FDIs and NATs, operating in the manufacturing industry in the Veneto NUTS2 region (northeast of Italy) between 2007 and 2013. Descriptive statistics and counterfactual estimation have been developed, focusing on firms’ skill composition (e.g. skill level, age, gender and nationality). The results show that the two groups of firms differ in terms of workforce skill composition, and the affiliates of foreign MNEs positively impact on the regeneration of the host country’s human capital by attracting and employing a wider share of more highly skilled labour force

Results of international standardised beekeeper surveys of colony losses for winter 2012-2013 : analysis of winter loss rates and mixed effects modelling of risk factors for winter loss.

This article presents results of an analysis of winter losses of honey bee colonies from 19 mainly European countries, most of which implemented the standardised 2013 COLOSS questionnaire. Generalised linear mixed effects models (GLMMs) were used to investigate the effects of several factors on the risk of colony loss, including different treatments for Varroa destructor, allowing for random effects of beekeeper and region. Both winter and summer treatments were considered, and the most common combinations of treatment and timing were used to define treatment factor levels. Overall and within country colony loss rates are presented. Significant factors in the model were found to be: percentage of young queens in the colonies before winter, extent of queen problems in summer, treatment of the varroa mite, and access by foraging honey bees to oilseed rape and maize. Spatial variation at the beekeeper level is shown across geographical regions using random effects from the fitted models, both before and after allowing for the effect of the significant terms in the model. This spatial variation is considerable