The paper presents an empirical analysis of “outsourcing” using establishment-level data for UK manufacturing industries. The authors analyze an establishment's decision to outsource and the subsequent effects of outsourcing on the establishment's productivity. Outsourcing is compared in domestic with foreign-owned establishments. The empirical results suggest that high wages are positively related to outsourcing, suggesting that the cost-saving motive is important. Foreign-owned firms have higher levels of outsourcing than domestic establishments. In the productivity analysis, an establishment's outsourcing intensity is positively related to its labor productivity and total factor productivity growth, and this effect is more pronounced for foreign establishments.

/pdf/outsourcing-foreign-ownership-and-productivity-evidence-from-4v23h15jrp.pdf

Outsourcing, foreign ownership and productivity: evidence from UK establishment level data

This report is an extension and partial update of de la Fuente and Ciccone (2002). It constructs estimates of the private and social rates of return on schooling for fourteen EU countries using microeconometric estimates of Mincerian wage equations, the results of cross-country growth regressions and OECD data on educational expenditures, tax rates and social benefits. The results are used to draw some tentative conclusions regarding the optimality of observed investment patterns and educational subsidy levels.

/pdf/human-capital-in-a-global-and-knowledge-based-economy-4o4iyi15ph.pdf

Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy

This report is an extension and partial update of de la Fuente and Ciccone (2002). It constructs estimates of the private and social rates of return on schooling for fourteen EU countries using microeconometric estimates of Mincerian wage equations, the results of crosscountry growth regressions and OECD data on educational expenditures, tax rates and social benefits. The results are used to draw some tentative conclusions regarding the optimality of observed investment patterns and educational subsidy levels.

Human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy, part II: assessment at the EU country level

La geografia economica alla ribalta: un commento al World Development Report "Reshaping Economic Geography"

The publicâ€“private partnership (PPP) market in Australia is considered to be sophisticated and mature. Yet there have been several major failures that have occurred with economic infrastructure projects. Building on the experiences of Australia, we examine the underlying concepts of PPPs and the pertinent issues that have arisen during the procurement of infrastructure projects. Lessons learnt from implementing PPPs with respect to risk allocation, certainty, incentives, intergenerational equity and fiscal sustainability, and the cost of capital are identified and discussed. We conclude by suggesting that future research should focus on examining how PPP delivery can be improved rather than on determining their usage within the marketplace.

Infrastructure Procurement: Learning from Privateâ€“Public Partnership Experiences â€˜Down Underâ€™

This paper estimates the probability of success of post-entry performance of new firms, using survey data from a group of southern-Italian small firms. Several factors involving inter-firm linkages contribute to success, especially production for order and subcontracting. The empirical investigation supports Hirschman’s idea on the industrialization process and positive assessments of the downsizing phenomenon in Italy.

The role of linkages in firm performance: evidence from southern Italy

The consequences of the crisis have been mainly analyzed at national/international levels, neglecting its differential effects on local areas. Notwithstanding the international character of the Great Recession, the different local structural features might have influenced the economic and social impact of the crisis, determining effects on the resilience and recovery chance. In this paper, we focus on the role of different territorial indicators by looking at how their relevance has changed during the recent crisis at provincial level. Our aim is threefold. First, we identify the strategic territorial elements which might be particularly relevant in ensuring a greater local absorption capacity. Second, we test whether the crisis has increased the role of specific local factors. In doing that, we use different measures of performance (GDP, exports and employment). Third, we control for macro-regional characteristics (i.e., North versus South) and local specific effects through a panel analysis of the dynamics of the performance variables in three sub-periods over the years 2000–2014. For that purpose, we use a multidimensional dataset for Italian provinces aiming at estimating the empirical relations between the set of territorial elements (i.e., the components of the so-called territorial capital) and the change in local performance. The results stress the role of some localized variables (i.e., human and cultural/natural/capital, agglomeration economies) over the whole period and the changing role of other territorial dimensions (material and non-material) according to the performance variable considered and during the crisis.

Territorial capital and growth over the Great Recession: a local analysis for Italy

The purpose of this paper is to verifying the economic resilience of islands and, in particular, the role of the tourism sector in the reaction to the most recent economic crisis. The analysis concerns insular contexts, such as the greater island regions in the Mediterranean basin.,Static and dynamic panel data techniques are used for a sample of 13 island economies over a period of 16 years.,Results show that the growth factors for regional islands are similar to the ones usually considered for other regions, but the tourism-led growth hypothesis is highly supported. Tourism demand more than supply plays a role together with accessibility. The crisis has reduced the importance of tourism supply, while tourism demand and accessibility have remained crucial for growth together with other traditional engines of growth.,To the best of authors’ knowledge, none of the current works has considered territorial determinants and tourism indicators inside the same framework analyzing growth in island economies by considering the changes occurred during the crisis explicitly.

The role of tourism in island economic growth and resilience: A panel analysis for the European Mediterranean countries (2000–2015)

The paper aims at investigating the impact of the Great Recession on per capita GDP convergence process across European regions and countries. Using the time‐varying factor model developed by Phillips and Sul for the period 2000–2015 and two different merging procedures to identify clubs, we provide evidence of the diverging impact of the Great Recession “between” the higher and the lower convergence clubs at both regional and country levels as well as of the strengthening of the convergence process “within” most clubs. In addition, we add further evidence to the common belief of a “multi‐speed” Europe by contrasting Eastern European countries' and regions' behavior vis‐a‐vis original European members' one, and by identifying the factors that affect club membership and resilience to the recent economic downturn. We find that the membership in the higher clubs and resilience to the Great Recession are positively affected by the presence of several local‐specific factors and macroeconomic characteristics.

Fabio Mazzola

Papers

The role of linkages in firm performance: evidence from southern Italy

Territorial capital and growth over the Great Recession: a local analysis for Italy

The role of tourism in island economic growth and resilience: A panel analysis for the European Mediterranean countries (2000–2015)

Great Recession and club convergence in Europe: A cross‐country, cross‐region panel analysis (2000–2015)

Asymmetric effects of monetary policy shocks across US states