On January 13, 2017 the Bank of Italy hosted a conference – organized together with the Associazione Marco Fanno and the Centro Studi Luca d’Agliano – in honour of Professor Riccardo Faini, who passed away 10 years ago. The conference, entitled ‘Italy’s lost productivity and how to get it back’, dealt with the long standing issue of sluggish Italian productivity. Starting from the mid-2000s debate on Italy’s economic decline, to which Riccardo Faini offered a lively contribution, Governor I. Visco covered the main weaknesses of the Italian economy in his introductory remarks and highlighted the importance of continuing the wide-ranging reform effort that started in 2011.
Five presentations followed: G. Toniolo (Luiss) on the evolution of productivity since Italy’s unification in 1861; F. Daveri (Cattolica University) on the possible determinants of productivity growth since the mid-70s; G.I.P. Ottaviano (LSE and CEPR) on the misallocation of resources; D. Taglioni (World Bank) on the recovery of Italian exports since 2013; and G. Barba Navaretti (University of Milan) on the importance of firms’ heterogeneity for export performance.
The presentations highlighted the possibility of better understanding the causes of low productivity growth thanks to the increasing availability of historical data since Italy’s unification on one hand, and of microeconomic databases that make it possible to analyse the contribution of individual sectors, regions, and firms to aggregate growth on the other. The debate of policy issues was the focus of the panel’s discussion which saw the participation of T. Boeri (Inps), G.P. Galli (Member of Parliament), L. Paolazzi (Confindustria), and S. Rossi (Bank of Italy).
The Minister of Economy and Finance, P.C Padoan, concluded.
