Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: n.d. Title: Introduzione Abstract: Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:5-6 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37335&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003001 Number: 1 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Angelo Baglioni Title: Liberalizzazione, concentrazione e diversificazione del sistema bancario italiano Abstract: Deregulation, consolidation and diversification of the Italian banking system - Starting from the early nineties, the Italian banking system has undergone a deep process of deregulation, consolidation and diversification. The deregulation process has enabled Italian banks to enter new - geographical and product - markets. The single European market has introduced a competitive challenge from abroad. The concentration process may be explained on several grounds. Smaller banks have aimed at reaching a more efficient scale of production. Deals involving banks located in Northern and Southern Italy had a prudential rationale, given the weakness of Southern banks. Large banks have presumably pursued a defensive strategy, due to the threat of take-overs from abroad. An important role has been played by the moral suasion exerted by the Bank of Italy. Deregulation and consolidation have come along together with an increase of the competitive pressure, as shown by the decline of interest rate margins. Banks have reacted by diversifying their business, in order to expand their sources of revenue and to create switching costs for their customers (by selling bundles of services).

Keywords: banks, deregulation, consolidation, competition

Parole chiave: banche, liberalizzazione, concentrazione, concorrenza

Jel Classification: G21 - L89 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:7-19 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37336&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003002 Number: 2 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Vittoria Cerasi Author-Name: Lisa Crosato Title: Dimensione e concentrazione dei gruppi bancari italiani nell'ultimo decennio Abstract: Size and concentration of Italian banking groups over the last decade - The paper analyzes the change in the size distribution of Italian banking groups over the period 1999 to 2007 following a wave of M&As among large banks. Had this process increased the degree of concentration we would have expected greater credit rationing for small firms, given the central role of Italian banks in financing small firms. We measure this change through widely used measures of concentration on branches. First, we observe a steady increase in concentration that can be captured only by looking at the overall size distribution. Other measures do not perceive this change until the year 2007, when the very large banks merged. Second, by focusing on the banking groups that have been active players in M&As we do see a decline in concentration, since smaller players have caught up with the larger ones in terms of rate of size increase. This contrasts with the role of the new entries and the disappearance of banks following mergers, that has increased the dispersion of market shares. The implications are that: i) there is a credit termination risk due to the rise in active players? size, but ii) credit rationing may not occur due to a substitution effect in credit supply from new entries.

Keywords: bank market structure; size distribution of banks; measures of concentration; credit rationing of SME; mergers and acquisitions

Parole chiave: struttura dell?industria bancaria; distribuzione per dimensione delle banche; misure della concentrazione; razionamento del credito alle PMI; fusioni e acquisizioni

Jel Classification: G21 - L11 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:21-39 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37337&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003003 Number: 3 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Luca Grilli Title: Esperienza lavorativa dei fondatori e sopravvivenza delle giovani imprese high-tech in mercati in crisi Abstract: The relationship between founders? work experience and the survival of young hightech start-ups during an industry crisis - This article adds new insights into the relationship between the founders? human capital and the survival prospects of start-up businesses. The impact of founders? human capital on firm survival is controversial. On the one hand, more experienced and skilled individuals are likely to create start-up businesses with a high chance of survival; on the other hand, their opportunity costs to run the firm may be high given the potential returns for investing their efforts in alternative employment opportunities. Analysing a sample of 179 Italian start-up companies created during 1995-early 2000 and operating in the ICT services markets, this study provides evidence that, in intense industry crises (early 2000-2003), highly work-experienced entrepreneurs may pursue an exit strategy, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between different types of work experience and different exit routes. In particular, founding teams with highly specific work experience show higher probability of following the M&A route, while a higher level of generic work experience is more conducive to closure.

Keywords: high-tech entrepreneurship; young firm survival; founders? human capital

Parole chiave: imprenditorialit? high-tech; sopravvivenza di giovani imprese; capitale umano degli imprenditori

Jel Classification: L26 - L86 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:41-61 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37338&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003004 Number: 4 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Andrea Lanza Author-Name: Mariacarmela Passarelli Title: Il cambiamento tecnologico e le capacit? imprenditoriali: il caso del vetro acidato Abstract: Technology change and entrepreneurial capabilities: evidence from etched glass industry - The aim of the paper is to investigate how a given entrepreneurial firm can substitute the traditional innovation resources (R&D investment, patenting competences and specialized human capital) and what kind of different resources can be deployed in order to achieve a technology change. To point out the role of these particular resources we introduce the concept of dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities, and distinguish it from substantive entrepreneurial capabilities, two concepts which shall underpin our findings. We chose as research setting the Italian glass industry since it has always had a prominent role in defining new technological dominant design for the whole worldwide glass industry. This paper presents a longitudinal study carried out in the Italian etched glass industry. We observed a small Italian firm, Vetromed, for a 7-year period after its decision to implement technology change. Our findings suggest that Vetromed innovated its technology by developing and integrating three dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities, defined as higher order abilities, namely: distributed entrepreneurial insights; entrepreneurial heuristics; entrepreneurial flexibility.

Keywords: dynamic entrepreneurial capabilities, substantive capabilities, technology change

Parole chiave: capacit? dinamiche imprenditoriali, capacit? imprenditoriali parziali, cambiamento tecnologico

Jel Classification: O30 - O32 - O55 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:63-95 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37339&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003005 Number: 5 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ornella Tarola Author-Name: Sandro Trento Title: Innovazione e commercializzazione nei settori tradizionali: alcuni spunti di politica industriale Abstract: Innovation and marketing in traditional sectors: some industrial policy implications - In an environment with increasing competition, the importance of taking care of customers through marketing, high quality service and after sale support has been shown to be crucial for getting competitive advantage. In spite of the clear evidence that technical innovations are not, by themselves, a guarantee of business success, a high number of firms in Italy seem not to pay attention to those factors affecting the level of perceived quality and still invest only in technical change and new equipment. In this paper, taking into account the Swedish experience in terms of industrial policy, we develop an analytical framework useful for a policy toward marketing innovation.

Keywords: two-sided market, innovation, industrial policy

Parole chiave: innovazione, effetti incrociati di rete, politica industriale

Jel Classification: L29 - L93 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:97-121 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37340&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003006 Number: 6 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Sergio Mariotti Title: Tendenze degli investimenti diretti esteri dopo la crisi finanziaria: che accade? Abstract: Trends in FDIs after the financial crisis: what?s going on? - This article investigates the recent trends in FDIs, focussing on the effects provoked by the financial crisis. The crisis has impacted in a significant manner on the more volatile component of FDIs, i.e. cross-border M&As. On the contrary, forecasts for greenfield FDIs are just in line with the decline expected in world export, after a strong increase registered in 2008. With the possibility that the financial crisis could catalyse a trend toward the so called "reverse globalization", the paper argues that there is evidence of an increasing heterogeneity in firms? behaviour, with some firms now considering whether or not to scale back offshoring production by returning operations to, or closer to, home. Nevertheless, there is no evidence, or at least not yet, that we are witnessing a major shift in the direction and dynamics of international delocalisation processes.

Keywords: foreign direct investments, multinational firms

Parole chiave: investimenti diretti esteri, imprese multinazionali

Jel Classification: F23 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:123-131 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37341&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003007 Number: 7 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Fabio Bertoni Author-Name: Stefano Lugo Title: Fondi sovrani: opportunit?, minacce, speranze e illusioni Abstract: Sovereign wealth funds: opportunities, threats, hopes and illusions - In this work we provide a critical summary of the debate about sovereign wealth funds (SWFs). We start by explaining what a SWF is and what it is not according to the various definitions that have been proposed. We then present the main concerns and hopes which SWFs have raised and explain why these threats and opportunities are often exaggerated, incorrect or, at the best, not yet supported by any serious empirical evidence. We devote particular attention to the issue of the transparency of SWFs and show that, while there still is ample room for improvement, SWFs are clearer now than what they used to be before the Santiago principles were signed. We also point out, however, that there are sound reasons to believe that transparency, if pushed too far, could be detrimental to both SWFs and recipient countries. Finally, we present the results of the first attempts made by academics and practitioners to provide systematic evidence on SWF investment behaviour.

Keywords: sovereign wealth funds, transparency, global imbalances, foreign investments

Parole chiave: fondi sovrani, trasparenza, squilibri globali, investimenti esteri

Jel Classification: F21 - G15 - H27 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:133-158 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37342&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003008 Number: 8 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Anne Plunket Author-Name: Andr? Torre Title: Les poles de comp?titivit? ou le retour ambigu des d?clinaisons locales de la politique industrielle fran?aise Abstract: Poles of competitiveness, the ambiguous comeback of local applications of the French industrial policy - The French experiment of the "P?les de comp?titivit?" is an original initiative of the French authorities in order to promote innovation-oriented collaborations and synergies between large firms, small companies and public research centres at the regional level. As such, it represents a striking revival of industrial policy and governmentguided programs towards supporting regional projects in terms of economic development. Launched in 2005, this policy is still pursued successfully, despite some ambiguities, in particular those concerning the large geographic dispersion of the projects supported and the financial support concentrated on a few very large clusters.

Keywords: poles of competitiveness, innovation, industrial policy, local development

Parole chiave: poli di competitivit?, innovazione, politica industriale, sviluppo locale

Jel Classification: O25 - O3-? R3 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:159-177 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37343&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003009 Number: 9 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Elisa Barbieri Author-Name: Marco Di Tommaso Author-Name: Lauretta Rubini Title: Industrial development policies in southern China: the specialised towns programme Abstract: Industrial development policies in southern China: the specialised towns programme - The aim of this article is to provide an updated picture of the ongoing policies implemented by the government of the Guangdong Province to foster the development (and the institutional acknowledgement) of a growing number of industrial clusters, defined as "specialised towns". These policies have been implemented as part of an ambitious and impressive program called "one city-one product" plan organized in two phases. In the first phase (2000-2003) the program has mainly tried to rationalise the location choices of national and foreign firms that, starting from the Nineties, have gradually invaded and then saturated the central area of the Province. In the second phase (2003-ongoing) the program has been utilised to improve the territorial rebalancing, trying to foster the birth and development of specialised productive clusters also in peripheral areas characterised by a lower firm density and, more in general, by a lower GDP level. The article enters into the details of the initiative for the development of specialised towns, paying particular attention to the policies supporting the innovative and technological capacity of firms operating in the specialised towns.

Keywords: industrial development policy, South China, specialised towns, clustering

Parole chiave: politiche di sviluppo industriale, Cina meridionale, citt? specializzate, clustering

Jel Classification: O25 - O38 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:179-198 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37344&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003010 Number: 10 Template-type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Augusto Ninni Title: Paccheti anti-crisi nei paesi dell'Unione europea e il caso italiano Abstract: Economic stimulus packages in EU countries and the Italian case - The article discusses the role of fiscal policies acting on the supply side within the recent economic stimulus packages of the EU countries, detailed according to OECD methodology and data. The supply side feature is analyzed according to the goals of the "new European industrial policy". Economic stimulus packages differ rather largely among countries in terms of size. Worthwhile features are: a) the supply side involvement often accounts for less than half of the whole package, the majority being focalized on the defence of income and purchasing power of the weaker population; b) a preference towards specific sectors occurs only for the automotive (of course in the car producing countries) and construction industries; c) a long term perspective (related to innovation, energy and environment) seems to be present only in few countries; d) concern about dangers from a new protectionism pushed by the State subsidies seems overstated. The Italian package is rather small: its size is justified by the high Italian debt/GDP ratio, but it cannot be explained according to perspectives on expected performance.

Keywords: economic stimulus packages, new European industrial policy, "smart" investments

Parole chiave: pacchetti anti-crisi, nuova politica industriale europea, investimenti "intelligenti"

Jel Classification: E62 - E65 - L52 Classification-JEL: Keywords: Note: Pages:199-212 Volume: 36 Year: 2009 Issue:3 File-URL:http://www.francoangeli.it/riviste/Scheda_Rivista.aspx?IDArticolo=37345&Tipo=Articolo PDF File-Format: text/HTML Handle: RePEc:fan:polipo:v:html10.3280/POLI2009-003011 Number: 11