No. 1019 - The anatomy of capital accumulation in Italy and in the main euro-area countries
The paper examines the causes of weak capital accumulation in Italy in comparison with Germany, France and Spain since 2000. The analysis focuses in particular on the role of investment and depreciation rates in determining the dynamics of the capital stock. It also assesses the extent to which possible cross-country differences in statistical methodologies affect the comparability of measures of capital, productivity and growth.
In Italy, the financial and sovereign debt crises led to a prolonged phase of decline in the capital stock, especially for productive assets. Depending on the comparison country, the less favourable dynamics of capital are either due to lower investment or to higher capital depreciation. Some of these differences are difficult to justify on economic grounds and suggest the presence of differences in statistical methodologies that may affect the international comparability of measures of capital and productivity.
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