Fernanda Ricotta | University of Calabria (original) (raw)
Papers by Fernanda Ricotta
Social Science Research Network, 2021
In this paper, we investigate whether CEO characteristics (owner-manager status, age and gender) ... more In this paper, we investigate whether CEO characteristics (owner-manager status, age and gender) influence firm innovative performance and test empirically if the effect differs for market and transition economies. We use cross-sectional data of manufacturing firms in six EU countries and in Russia. To address heterogeneity, we explore innovation performance by size among SMEs and large businesses and by Pavitt sector. In both institutional settings, the presence of a family CEO either has no effect or improves innovative performance. On the contrary, the role of CEO gender is different in Russia and in the EU. In the EU, female CEOs are associated with less innovation, especially in SMEs and in the traditional sector. In Russia, CEO gender is not associated with differences in innovative performance and when it is (for the traditional sector), it favors female-run firms. For CEO age, considering product innovations, the oldest group of CEOs are less active in European firms while mature CEOs are more innovative in Russia.
Industry and Innovation, Dec 27, 2021
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Jul 1, 2016
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2016
This paper investigates differences in productivity by destination market of firms exports. The t... more This paper investigates differences in productivity by destination market of firms exports. The total factor productivity (TFP) is used as measure of productivity. The productivity differences by export destination are estimated using multilevel approach considering the first destination country of the firm's exports as the second level group of the model. The analysis is based on a dataset that provides comparable crosscountry data of manufacturing firms in seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). The results are as follows. Productivity differs from market to market and, thus, it gives support to the expectations derived from Chaney's model (2008). The estimates confirm that non-exporters are, on average, the less productive. On the contrary, the European firms that export to China and India register the highest positive difference. A positive difference also exists for firms that export to the USA and Canada. On the contrary, there is no relevant TFP difference for firms exporting to the EU-15 area. The difference is positive but slight for the Other Asian countries and Other EU countries, while it is negative for Other areas, Other non EU countries and Central and South America. Among firm-specific characteristics only size and sector membership help to explain the productivity differences by destination market and the role of size is by far the most dominant factor. Productivity differences by geographical area are lower when firm-level characteristics are considered, but the ranking of areas remains substantially the same.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Oct 1, 2009
Due to the emergence of global value chains, trade has increased in intermediates goods. The firs... more Due to the emergence of global value chains, trade has increased in intermediates goods. The first objective of the paper is to provide a picture of Italian intermediate imports by industry and over time. Moreover, this paper attempts to study three possible factors than can influence the import of intermediate goods-global sourcing, outsourcing and MNE networks-using pooled cross-section data for the period 1985-2004 for Italian industries. The econometric results point to a different relationship for high and medium-high technology industries and medium-low and low technology industries relative to the role of inward and outward FDI in explaining the imported intermediate demand. The results suggest that outsourcing is important in explaining intermediate imports for medium-low and low technology industries. On the contrary, for high and medium-high technology industries the data give support to the global-sourcing hypothesis while the evidence for the MNE network hypothesis is weak.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 6, 2021
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, May 26, 2014
This paper analyses the TFP heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven E... more This paper analyses the TFP heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven EU countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and UK). TFP data refer to 2008. The empirical setting is based on the multilevel modelling which provides two main results. Firstly, we show that TFP heterogeneity is largely due to firm-specific features (85% of TFP variability in the empty-model). Interestingly, we find that some key-drivers of TFP (size, familymanagement, group membership, innovations and human capital) influence heterogeneity in productivity with the expect sign, but do not, on the whole, absorb much of firm-TFP variance, implying that differences in productivity are due to sizable yet unobservable firm characteristics. Secondly, as far the role of localization is concerned, we demonstrate that country-effect is more influential than region-effect in explaining individual productivity. Net of the country-effect, the localisation in different European regions explains about 5% of TFP firm heterogeneity. When considering the case of three individual countries (France, Italy and Spain), location in different regions explains 4.7% of TFP heterogeneity in Italy, while this proportion is lower (2.9%) in France and higher (7.6%) in Spain.
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012
Journal of Institutional Economics, Dec 6, 2021
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The impact of trust on economic perfo... more <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The impact of trust on economic performance has been widely explored, but the reasons for its variability across countries are not well understood. We analyse the effect of the quality of government at the regional level on individual generalized trust in a multi-country context across regions in Europe. Social phenomena are often subnational and a number of public services are provided at a subnational level; the trust of individuals living in the same country may, therefore, differ by region depending also on the quality of the local government. As a proxy of the quality of institutions, we use the European Quality of Government Index, calculated at the regional level over 27 European Union (EU) countries. The analysis conducted on data extracted from the European Social Survey 2012 refers to 142 regions from 15 EU member states. Considering the clustered nature of the data, a multilevel approach is used. The findings show that living in a region with high-quality local government positively influences individual trust. This positive association survives the inclusion of several contextual regional variables.</jats:p>
Pubblicazione depositata ai sensi della L. 106 del 15-4-2004 e del DPR 252 del 3-5-2006
SCIENZE REGIONALI, 2012
Questo lavoro presenta un'analisi territoriale della produttivitŕ totale dei fattori (PTF) in... more Questo lavoro presenta un'analisi territoriale della produttivitŕ totale dei fattori (PTF) in Italia dal 1998 al 2006, utilizzando dati di impresa. L'aspetto territoriale č approfondito scomponendo la PTF negli effetti within-firms e between-firms, calcolati per l'intero campione e per sottogruppi di imprese secondo l'appartenenza settoriale, il contenuto innovativo delle produzioni e la loro internazionalizzazione. I risultati sono tre. Il primo conferma il ruolo della PTF quale fattore esplicativo dell'andamento della produttivitŕ del lavoro. Il secondo indica l'avvio di un ammodernamento del sistema industriale che ha consentito di ridurre gli effetti del rallentamento della produttivitŕ. Infine, questo processo di ristrutturazione ha avuto esiti differenti nelle diverse aree del paese, senza modificare il dualismo tecnologico dell'economia italiana.
Innovation is generally regarded as a highly interactive activity, where firms absorb, generate a... more Innovation is generally regarded as a highly interactive activity, where firms absorb, generate and apply knowledge by relying on both internal and external sources. We hypothesize that because of firm familiness specificities, family firms create a positive environment for R&D cooperation increasing the probability to have process and product innovations. On the other hand, based on regional familiness arguments we hypothesize that firms, in general, increase their probability to have process or product innovation as result of being placed in context where family firms act as catalyst of knowledge and information at local, industrial and regional level. We use a large panel dataset of Spanish manufacturing firms covering the period 20002015. Our results reveal that the probability of engage in both product and process innovations is higher for family-managed firms involved in technological collaboration. Hence, does emerge a particular ability of family firms to leverage external s...
The paper compares the export quality of Italy, Germany, Japan and China. The empirical analysis ... more The paper compares the export quality of Italy, Germany, Japan and China. The empirical analysis is based on export unit value for a sample of machinery products exported to the USA over the decade 1996-2006. The results point to four stylised facts. First, Italy, Germany and Japan are positioned in production with high unit value. Second, some evidence of qualitative
Spatial Economic Analysis, 2014
ABSTRACT This study analyses how firms' internal variables and regional factors affect To... more ABSTRACT This study analyses how firms' internal variables and regional factors affect Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of Italian manufacturing firms. Due to the hierarchical structure of our data, we employ a multilevel model that allows for a clear distinction between firm and region-specific effects. Results refer to 2004-2006 and show, as expected, the importance of firm-specific determinants of TFP. At the same time, they indicate that location matters, in the sense that the context where firms operate plays a crucial role in determining the level of TFP. In more detail, we find that the regional endowment of infrastructure, the efficiency of local administration and the investments in R&D exert a positive effect on firms' performance.
Social Science Research Network, 2021
In this paper, we investigate whether CEO characteristics (owner-manager status, age and gender) ... more In this paper, we investigate whether CEO characteristics (owner-manager status, age and gender) influence firm innovative performance and test empirically if the effect differs for market and transition economies. We use cross-sectional data of manufacturing firms in six EU countries and in Russia. To address heterogeneity, we explore innovation performance by size among SMEs and large businesses and by Pavitt sector. In both institutional settings, the presence of a family CEO either has no effect or improves innovative performance. On the contrary, the role of CEO gender is different in Russia and in the EU. In the EU, female CEOs are associated with less innovation, especially in SMEs and in the traditional sector. In Russia, CEO gender is not associated with differences in innovative performance and when it is (for the traditional sector), it favors female-run firms. For CEO age, considering product innovations, the oldest group of CEOs are less active in European firms while mature CEOs are more innovative in Russia.
Industry and Innovation, Dec 27, 2021
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Jul 1, 2016
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2016
This paper investigates differences in productivity by destination market of firms exports. The t... more This paper investigates differences in productivity by destination market of firms exports. The total factor productivity (TFP) is used as measure of productivity. The productivity differences by export destination are estimated using multilevel approach considering the first destination country of the firm's exports as the second level group of the model. The analysis is based on a dataset that provides comparable crosscountry data of manufacturing firms in seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). The results are as follows. Productivity differs from market to market and, thus, it gives support to the expectations derived from Chaney's model (2008). The estimates confirm that non-exporters are, on average, the less productive. On the contrary, the European firms that export to China and India register the highest positive difference. A positive difference also exists for firms that export to the USA and Canada. On the contrary, there is no relevant TFP difference for firms exporting to the EU-15 area. The difference is positive but slight for the Other Asian countries and Other EU countries, while it is negative for Other areas, Other non EU countries and Central and South America. Among firm-specific characteristics only size and sector membership help to explain the productivity differences by destination market and the role of size is by far the most dominant factor. Productivity differences by geographical area are lower when firm-level characteristics are considered, but the ranking of areas remains substantially the same.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Oct 1, 2009
Due to the emergence of global value chains, trade has increased in intermediates goods. The firs... more Due to the emergence of global value chains, trade has increased in intermediates goods. The first objective of the paper is to provide a picture of Italian intermediate imports by industry and over time. Moreover, this paper attempts to study three possible factors than can influence the import of intermediate goods-global sourcing, outsourcing and MNE networks-using pooled cross-section data for the period 1985-2004 for Italian industries. The econometric results point to a different relationship for high and medium-high technology industries and medium-low and low technology industries relative to the role of inward and outward FDI in explaining the imported intermediate demand. The results suggest that outsourcing is important in explaining intermediate imports for medium-low and low technology industries. On the contrary, for high and medium-high technology industries the data give support to the global-sourcing hypothesis while the evidence for the MNE network hypothesis is weak.
Routledge eBooks, Apr 6, 2021
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, May 26, 2014
This paper analyses the TFP heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven E... more This paper analyses the TFP heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven EU countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and UK). TFP data refer to 2008. The empirical setting is based on the multilevel modelling which provides two main results. Firstly, we show that TFP heterogeneity is largely due to firm-specific features (85% of TFP variability in the empty-model). Interestingly, we find that some key-drivers of TFP (size, familymanagement, group membership, innovations and human capital) influence heterogeneity in productivity with the expect sign, but do not, on the whole, absorb much of firm-TFP variance, implying that differences in productivity are due to sizable yet unobservable firm characteristics. Secondly, as far the role of localization is concerned, we demonstrate that country-effect is more influential than region-effect in explaining individual productivity. Net of the country-effect, the localisation in different European regions explains about 5% of TFP firm heterogeneity. When considering the case of three individual countries (France, Italy and Spain), location in different regions explains 4.7% of TFP heterogeneity in Italy, while this proportion is lower (2.9%) in France and higher (7.6%) in Spain.
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012
Journal of Institutional Economics, Dec 6, 2021
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The impact of trust on economic perfo... more <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The impact of trust on economic performance has been widely explored, but the reasons for its variability across countries are not well understood. We analyse the effect of the quality of government at the regional level on individual generalized trust in a multi-country context across regions in Europe. Social phenomena are often subnational and a number of public services are provided at a subnational level; the trust of individuals living in the same country may, therefore, differ by region depending also on the quality of the local government. As a proxy of the quality of institutions, we use the European Quality of Government Index, calculated at the regional level over 27 European Union (EU) countries. The analysis conducted on data extracted from the European Social Survey 2012 refers to 142 regions from 15 EU member states. Considering the clustered nature of the data, a multilevel approach is used. The findings show that living in a region with high-quality local government positively influences individual trust. This positive association survives the inclusion of several contextual regional variables.</jats:p>
Pubblicazione depositata ai sensi della L. 106 del 15-4-2004 e del DPR 252 del 3-5-2006
SCIENZE REGIONALI, 2012
Questo lavoro presenta un'analisi territoriale della produttivitŕ totale dei fattori (PTF) in... more Questo lavoro presenta un'analisi territoriale della produttivitŕ totale dei fattori (PTF) in Italia dal 1998 al 2006, utilizzando dati di impresa. L'aspetto territoriale č approfondito scomponendo la PTF negli effetti within-firms e between-firms, calcolati per l'intero campione e per sottogruppi di imprese secondo l'appartenenza settoriale, il contenuto innovativo delle produzioni e la loro internazionalizzazione. I risultati sono tre. Il primo conferma il ruolo della PTF quale fattore esplicativo dell'andamento della produttivitŕ del lavoro. Il secondo indica l'avvio di un ammodernamento del sistema industriale che ha consentito di ridurre gli effetti del rallentamento della produttivitŕ. Infine, questo processo di ristrutturazione ha avuto esiti differenti nelle diverse aree del paese, senza modificare il dualismo tecnologico dell'economia italiana.
Innovation is generally regarded as a highly interactive activity, where firms absorb, generate a... more Innovation is generally regarded as a highly interactive activity, where firms absorb, generate and apply knowledge by relying on both internal and external sources. We hypothesize that because of firm familiness specificities, family firms create a positive environment for R&D cooperation increasing the probability to have process and product innovations. On the other hand, based on regional familiness arguments we hypothesize that firms, in general, increase their probability to have process or product innovation as result of being placed in context where family firms act as catalyst of knowledge and information at local, industrial and regional level. We use a large panel dataset of Spanish manufacturing firms covering the period 20002015. Our results reveal that the probability of engage in both product and process innovations is higher for family-managed firms involved in technological collaboration. Hence, does emerge a particular ability of family firms to leverage external s...
The paper compares the export quality of Italy, Germany, Japan and China. The empirical analysis ... more The paper compares the export quality of Italy, Germany, Japan and China. The empirical analysis is based on export unit value for a sample of machinery products exported to the USA over the decade 1996-2006. The results point to four stylised facts. First, Italy, Germany and Japan are positioned in production with high unit value. Second, some evidence of qualitative
Spatial Economic Analysis, 2014
ABSTRACT This study analyses how firms' internal variables and regional factors affect To... more ABSTRACT This study analyses how firms' internal variables and regional factors affect Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of Italian manufacturing firms. Due to the hierarchical structure of our data, we employ a multilevel model that allows for a clear distinction between firm and region-specific effects. Results refer to 2004-2006 and show, as expected, the importance of firm-specific determinants of TFP. At the same time, they indicate that location matters, in the sense that the context where firms operate plays a crucial role in determining the level of TFP. In more detail, we find that the regional endowment of infrastructure, the efficiency of local administration and the investments in R&D exert a positive effect on firms' performance.