The Italian Anomaly in the Evolution of International Trade - This study offers a quantitative assessment of the international specialization of Italy in view of the evolving patterns of international trade over the period 1980- 2000. The analysis is based upon the co-evolution of the PRODY index, recently proposed in Hausmann et al. (2005), together with the classical Balassa index of revealed comparative advantage. Our findings suggest that Italian specialization is persistent and increasing in sectors characterized by decreasing capacity to sustain economic growth.

Michele Di Maio, Federico Tamagni, in "QA Rivista dell’Associazione Rossi-Doria" 3-4/2008, pp. 79-103, DOI:10.3280/QU2008-003004