This paper assesses the economic significance of multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in Italy's private non-farm and non-financial sectors. Using a new database that integrates various data on firm ownership and activity over the 2010-22 period, we highlight the key characteristics of MNEs, including employment, value added, productivity, innovation capacity, and wages.
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) generate over 35% of total value added and employ roughly one-fifth of all workers in Italy. They are larger and more productive than non-multinational firms, even after accounting for differences in sectoral and geographical specialization, and offer significantly higher wages. MNEs have contributed more than proportionately to the growth in firm size observed in Italy over the past decade and are found to be more innovative and export-oriented.
