Laura Grassini

Employment changes in Italy in the 1990s: a comparison between large enterprise areas and industrial districts

We examine the uneven employment changes in the Italian local labour systems (LLSs) in the 1990s. Using the 1991 and 2001 economic census data, we intend to compare the performance of different types of LLS, and particularly those of the industrial districts (IDs) and the large enterprise systems (LESs). The originality of the study lies in the territorial unit of analysis chosen: the 784 Italian LLSs. The analysed data show that, in the 1990s, the Italian IDs proved to be the countrys most dynamic local systems. Moreover, the shift-and-share analysis demonstrates that the local effect in the IDs was positive enough to more than compensate for the negative industry mix. Conversely, in the LESs the local effect was so negative as to determine a total negative effect, despite the positive industry mix. We conclude with an overview of the present situation and the corresponding policy implications.

Cluster analysis of census data using the symbolic data approach

The aim of this paper is to investigate the economic specialization of the Italian local labor systems (sets of contiguous municipalities with a high degree of self-containment of daily commuter travel) by using the Symbolic Data approach, on the basis of data derived from the Census of Industrial and Service Activities. Specifically, the economic structure of a local labor system (LLS) is described by an interval-type variable, a special symbolic data type that allows for the fact that all municipalities within the same LLS do not have the same economic structure.

ON THE ENDOGENOUS DETERMINATION OF IMPORT COEFFICIENTS IN AN INPUT-OUTPUT MODEL: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL PROBLEMS

The role of imports is of crucial importance in a country like Italy where they largely contribute to the amount of disposable resources. As described in Grassini (1983) the ratio of sectoral imports to sectoral domestic demand has been increasing during the last years for a large number of input-output sectors. From that derives the need of a careful analysis of imports by sectors in order to evaluate the effects of foreign prices on domestic prices and domestic demand. This can be done using input-output (i/o) models.

Effects of Income Inequality on Aggregate Consumption

The economic meaning of personal income distribution (PID) has recently been considered in connection with the system of interrelationships among economic variables: i.e. with the composition of value added (with the PID of the different components of income like wages, capital income, etc) on the one hand, with the final demand (private consumption) on the other hand.