Using data from the universe of Italian corporations between 1995 and 2016 this paper identifies high productivity firms, known as 'frontier firms', and analyses their key characteristics, productivity dynamics, and their economic weight as measured by sales and employees.
Frontier firms in Italy are characterized by a higher investment rate, profitability and capital intensity. We detect persistence in the status of frontier firms. In manufacturing, Italian firms are a long way from the global productivity frontier. Since the financial crisis, productivity in the service sector has started to lag behind with respect to the global.
