The paper analyses the performance of different categories of Italian exporting firms in the period 2020-21, characterized by a demand shock and by global input shortages. Firms are grouped according to their export size, participation in global value chains (GVCs) and inventory availability.
Very large exporters (the Happy Few) determined aggregate developments, mainly by adjusting the value of their foreign sales to the changes in economic conditions (intensive margin). Taking sectoral and geographical specialization into account, the Happy Few recorded a weaker performance than smaller exporters, probably due to the higher participation of the former in GVCs, which were more vulnerable to the shocks of the period. Amongst firms integrated in GVCs, input shortages slowed the exports of firms with limited inventories more intensely.
