Suchergebnisse

Italy's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared to that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in "traditional" low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced service industries. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy and resulted in a decline in OFDI flows in 2009, owing to few large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. However, due to the stagnation of the internal market, Italian firms continued to pursue growth opportunities abroad in 2010 and in 2011 through small-scale investments, in particular outside the EU.

The attractiveness of the Italian economy for inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) has been traditionally limited, despite the country's locational advantages such as a large domestic market and a skilled labor force. The recent global crisis worsened the country's IFDI position, with flows falling from US$ 40 billion in 2007 to US$ 11 billion in 2008 before recovering to US$ 20 billion in 2009 but down again to US$ 9 billion in 2010. Although the country's IFDI stock had grown since 2000 at a rate similar to that of the European Union as a whole, in 2010 IFDI stock contracted vis-à -vis 2009, reflecting how Italy, compared to other key European countries and to its own potential, continues to underperform. The main obstacles to exploiting the country's potential for IFDI lie both in the largely insufficient actions undertaken to attract and promote IFDI, and especially in the lack of coordination with other relevant policy measures (e.g. infrastructure development) within a broader framework aimed at regional and national development.

Italian companies started to invest abroad in the 1960s in search of new markets. However, Italy's outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared with that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in traditional low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced services. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy. However, the positive trend of Italian OFDI was not interrupted, and in 2009 OFDI flows remained stable compared to 2008. Habitually silent on this policy area in earlier decades, the Italian Government has recently shown a more favorable stance toward OFDI, introducing specific policy measures addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises, which have started to expand strongly abroad "" these now constitute almost 90% of Italian multinational enterprises (MNEs).

El efecto de la revolución digital ha sido escasamente abordado en la internacionalización de las PYME. Este artículo muestra que solo unas pocas empresas italianas en los sectores de la alimentación y la moda utilizan el comercio electrónico para la internacionalización. Las barreras son tanto tradicionales -los costes asociados a la logística y la adaptación a diferentes culturas- como las asociadas con el desconocimiento de los mercados digitales extranjeros, los requisitos legales para el comercio electrónico y el desconocimiento de los canales digitales o de los sistemas de pago en línea.

This paper examines the role that multinational enterprises (MNEs) and foreign direct investments (FDI) can have in enhancing the access to electricity for local communities in developing countries based on the quality of home and host institutions. Access to electricity is a marker for development but it is far from being universal in developing countries. The shortage of electricity is mainly the consequence of the inability of governments in planning, financing and developing necessary electricity infrastructure. In this context, investments from other actors can be essential. Particularly, in this paper we focus on the role of FDI and MNEs. We claim that when MNEs invest in developing countries, they are incentivized to solve the lack of electricity infrastructure mainly for two reasons: to guarantee their business activities and to gain legitimacy with their local stakeholders. In addition, we argue that MNEs and FDI from institutionally underdeveloped countries will be more prone to develop infrastructure for the provision of electricity to local population, as generally they suffer from a negative stereotype. For this study, we rely on 1547 observations composed of pairs of 83 home countries and 15 host countries in sub-Saharan Africa, observed from 2005 to 2011. Due to the nature of the database, we adopt panel data techniques, i.e., system-GMM and corrected Least Square Dummy Variable estimators. We find that FDI promotes access to electricity in developing countries with weak institutions and that this is more likely true when FDI comes from institutionally underdeveloped countries. These results are far from obvious, as they controvert the common idea among institutional scholars that a regulatory authority is essential in the provision of infrastructure. In conclusion, with this paper we partially rehabilitate the image of MNEs investing in developing countries, by demonstrating that - under certain conditions - they could contribute to the energy poverty alleviation of local population.