No. 996 - New evidence on business investment and capital reallocation
This study provides stylized facts on the investments of Italian firms in motor vehicles, examining purchases, leasing, and rental arrangements, and mapping the reallocation of vehicles across firms and sectors. By exploiting detailed transaction data, the study provides new insights into how firms select and renew their vehicle fleets and how these assets contribute to the reallocation of capital within the economy.
Firms frequently rely on leasing and rental contracts, which do not involve ownership of the vehicles concerned. This leads to an underestimation of the capital stock recorded on company balance sheets and a possible distortion in the measurement of total factor productivity. The choices between purchasing new or used vehicles, as well as those between purchasing and leasing/renting, are associated with various firm characteristics, such as liquidity, age and the riskiness of their activities.
Used vehicle trades mainly occur between firms within the same sector and with similar productivity levels.
Full text
-
23 January 2026
YouTube
X - Banca d'Italia
Linkedin
RSS
E-mail Alert
