Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The link between technological change and income inequality is central to the Kuznets hypothesis. In a time of technological transition towards the digitization and intelligentization of manufacturing processes (the fourth industrial revolution), this paper investigates the relationship between economic development and income distribution through the implementation of both a system generalized method of moments (system-GMM) and a semiparametric fixed effects model approach. Based on a panel of 31 European-area countries over a period of 12 years (2007–2018), accounting for the endogeneity bias arising from the transitional dynamics of income inequality and per capita income, our main results confirm the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between income inequality and economic development. Moreover, our analysis shows that the change in the share of labour employed in high-tech sectors is the main driver of this evolutionary pattern.

In Europe, several countries have established public loan guarantee funds throughout direct/indirect loan programs to facilitate the access of SMEs and start‐ups to bank credit. This paper investigates whether start‐ups' level of access to bank loans during the early stage represents an imprinting factor with effects on the likelihood of survival once the firm reaches maturity. We rely on a firm‐level longitudinal data set of 49,111 Italian startups born from 2003 to 2005. Implementing a 2SLS regression analysis we show that the initial level of start‐up bank debt negatively influences the probability of default controlling for firm characteristics and performance. (JEL G21, M20, H32)

AbstractThe presence of exogenous global shocks due to the 2007/2008 economic and financial crisis and the current global pandemic crisis are deeply hampering economic operators' overall ability to access credit. Small and medium‐sized enterprises and start‐ups are most severely affected by credit rationing. This paper investigates whether access to bank loans in the early stage of a start‐up's lifecycle is a predictor of a firm's default in a time of economic crisis. We ground our analysis on a firm‐level longitudinal data set of Italian new capital companies born from 2004 to 2006. Implementing a discrete‐time proportional hazard model we study their likelihood of default up to 2014 after controlling for a consistent number of other firms, industry and innovation related characteristics. The main findings confirm that access to bank loans significantly enhances the resilience of Italian start‐ups. By taking into consideration the sectoral degree of innovation where firms operate, we also find that bank financing still exerts a positive influence on firm survival in both less and more innovative industries. However, there is evidence of a stronger positive influence on of long‐term debt on the survival of firms operating in low‐ and medium‐low innovative industries.