Roberto Ganau
Biographic Data
| ID | 2326727 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roberto Ganau |
| GIVEN NAMES | Roberto |
| FAMILY NAME | Ganau |
| SIGNATURE | GANAU R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Padua |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6682-7508 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 47 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
When the rain comes, don’t stay at home! Regional innovation and FDI in the aftermath of the Great Recession
Global connectivity is necessary for innovation to thrive. However, in response to external shocks, economies reduce external exposure and focus resources on internal markets. This closure is in contrast to the need for innovative solutions for recovery. We explore this paradox by looking at regional innovation in the United States in the aftermath of the Great Recession. We compare foreign direct investment (FDI) with similar domestic, inter-sta…
Napoleonic Administrative Reforms and Development in the Italian Mezzogiorno
We study how changes in a country’s administrative hierarchy affect development at the city level. We exploit the 1806 Napoleonic administrative reform implemented in the Kingdom of Naples as a historical experiment to assess whether district capitals endowed with supra-municipal administrative functions gained an urban development premium compared with non-capital cities. We find that district capitals recorded a population growth premium throug…
Is this time different? How Industry 4.0 affects firms’ labor productivity
Does Industry 4.0 technology adoption push firms’ labor productivity? We contribute to the literature debate—mainly focused on robotics and large firms—by analyzing adopters’ labor productivity returns when micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) are concerned. We employ original survey data on Italian MSMEs’ adoption investments related to a multiplicity of technologies and rely on a difference-in-differences estimation strategy. Results hig…
Inward FDI and regional performance in Europe after the Great Recession
This paper looks at inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and regional labour productivity in the aftermath of the Great Recession, exploring two FDI-induced effects. The first effect is linked with a capacity of FDI per se to trigger short-term productivity gains in response to a global shock. The second effect is associated with the degree of industrial diversification of these investment flows. The results suggest that it is not the amount of…
Firm‐level productivity growth returns of social capital
We analyze the firm‐level labor productivity growth returns of social capital—defined as a synthetic measure of “generalized trust,” “active participation,” and “social norms”—using a large sample of manufacturing firms in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We find that firms' labor productivity growth is higher in areas with a better social capital endowment. The positive returns of social capital are, nevertheless, unevenly distribute…
Value chain, regional institutions and firm growth in Europe
We analyse whether and to what extent the quality of regional institutions has a differential effect on firms’ growth driven by heterogeneity in firm value chain positioning. We analyse turnover growth during the period 2010–2013 for a sample of manufacturing firms located in four European countries—France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We distinguish final firms serving end markets from suppliers serving other firms. Our instrumental variable estima…
Does urban concentration matter for changes in country economic performance
This paper uses a novel, globally harmonised city-level data set – with cities defined at the Functional Urban Area (FUA) level – to revisit the link between urban concentration and country-level economic dynamics. The empirical analysis, involving 108 low- and high-income countries, examines how differences in urban concentration impinge on changes in employment, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and labour productivity at country level ov…
Detecting economic growth pathways in the EU’s lagging regions
We analyse growth pathways of European Union NUTS-3 regions from 2003 to 2017. We focus on lagging regions, using a taxonomy based on income level and long-run growth rate that combines the Cohesion Policy classification with that proposed under the ‘Catching Up’ initiative. We find that lagging areas can sometimes be found within larger and more prosperous regions, especially in Western Europe. We analyse the role of industrial structure, innova…
Credit constraints, labor productivity, and the role of regional institutions
This paper examines the relationship between credit constraints—proxied by the investment‐to‐cash flow sensitivity—and firm‐level economic performance— defined in terms of labor productivity—during the period 2009–2016, using a sample of 22,380 manufacturing firms from 11 European countries. It also assesses how regional institutional quality affects productivity at the level of the firm both directly and indirectly. The empirical results highlig…
Institutions and the productivity challenge for European regions
Europe has witnessed a considerable labour productivity slowdown in recent decades. Many potential explanations have been proposed to address this productivity ‘puzzle’. However, how the quality of local institutions influences labour productivity has been overlooked by the literature. This article addresses this gap by evaluating how institutional quality affects labour productivity growth and, particularly, its determinants at the regional leve…
Does foreign investment hurt job creation at home? The geography of outward FDI and employment in the USA
Rising political skepticism on the benefits of global economic integration has increased public scrutiny of the foreign activities of domestic firms in virtually all advanced economies. Decisions to invest in new activities abroad are seen by some commentators as potentially detrimental to domestic employment. We contribute to this debate by scrutinizing the relationship between outward ‘greenfield’ Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and local empl…
Do high‐quality local institutions shape labour productivity in Western European manufacturing firms
Industrial relatedness and regional resilience in the European Union
Institutions and economic growth in Africa
Does Agglomeration Affect Exports? Evidence from Italian Local Labour Markets
This paper analyses whether and how agglomeration economies – related variety, specialisation and urbanisation – affect the export performance of Italian local labour markets (LLM). Adopting spatial econometric techniques, and controlling for potential non‐linear effects, we find that related variety has a negligible effect on LLMs’ export intensity, while the effect of specialisation economies is negative. On the contrary, urbanisation economies…
Distance-based agglomeration externalities and neighbouring firms’ characteristics
This paper tests the hypothesis that firms with different characteristics can differ in their capability to produce local externalities by investigating the relationship between firm-specific distance-based weighted agglomeration measures and firms’ short-run productivity growth in the Italian manufacturing industry. The results suggest that positive localization economies increase with distance when neighbouring firms’ characteristics are accoun…
Productivity, Credit Constraints and the Role of Short-Run Localization Economies
Ganau R. Productivity, credit constraints and the role of short-run localization economies: micro-evidence from Italy, Regional Studies. This paper investigates whether Italian manufacturing firms’ productivity is affected by credit constraints, and whether short-run localization economies foster productivity both directly and indirectly, moderating the negative effects of credit rationing via inter-firm credit relationships. Results suggest a ne…
An Explanation of Firms' Internationalisation Modes, Blending Firm Heterogeneity and Spatial Agglomeration
This paper uses a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2004-06, to investigate whether different types of agglomeration economies affect firms' internationalisation choices. The main novelty of the work consists in linking the hypothesis of firm heterogeneity to the literature on agglomeration economies to explain firms' approaches and forms of internationalisation. We analyse two types of agglomeration economies: localisat…
Industrial relatedness and regional resilience in the European Union
Do high‐quality local institutions shape labour productivity in Western European manufacturing firms
Institutions and the productivity challenge for European regions
Europe has witnessed a considerable labour productivity slowdown in recent decades. Many potential explanations have been proposed to address this productivity ‘puzzle’. However, how the quality of local institutions influences labour productivity has been overlooked by the literature. This article addresses this gap by evaluating how institutional quality affects labour productivity growth and, particularly, its determinants at the regional leve…
Does urban concentration matter for changes in country economic performance
This paper uses a novel, globally harmonised city-level data set – with cities defined at the Functional Urban Area (FUA) level – to revisit the link between urban concentration and country-level economic dynamics. The empirical analysis, involving 108 low- and high-income countries, examines how differences in urban concentration impinge on changes in employment, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and labour productivity at country level ov…
Inward FDI and regional performance in Europe after the Great Recession
This paper looks at inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and regional labour productivity in the aftermath of the Great Recession, exploring two FDI-induced effects. The first effect is linked with a capacity of FDI per se to trigger short-term productivity gains in response to a global shock. The second effect is associated with the degree of industrial diversification of these investment flows. The results suggest that it is not the amount of…
Institutions and economic growth in Africa
Distance-based agglomeration externalities and neighbouring firms’ characteristics
This paper tests the hypothesis that firms with different characteristics can differ in their capability to produce local externalities by investigating the relationship between firm-specific distance-based weighted agglomeration measures and firms’ short-run productivity growth in the Italian manufacturing industry. The results suggest that positive localization economies increase with distance when neighbouring firms’ characteristics are accoun…
When the rain comes, don’t stay at home! Regional innovation and FDI in the aftermath of the Great Recession
Global connectivity is necessary for innovation to thrive. However, in response to external shocks, economies reduce external exposure and focus resources on internal markets. This closure is in contrast to the need for innovative solutions for recovery. We explore this paradox by looking at regional innovation in the United States in the aftermath of the Great Recession. We compare foreign direct investment (FDI) with similar domestic, inter-sta…
Value chain, regional institutions and firm growth in Europe
We analyse whether and to what extent the quality of regional institutions has a differential effect on firms’ growth driven by heterogeneity in firm value chain positioning. We analyse turnover growth during the period 2010–2013 for a sample of manufacturing firms located in four European countries—France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We distinguish final firms serving end markets from suppliers serving other firms. Our instrumental variable estima…
Detecting economic growth pathways in the EU’s lagging regions
We analyse growth pathways of European Union NUTS-3 regions from 2003 to 2017. We focus on lagging regions, using a taxonomy based on income level and long-run growth rate that combines the Cohesion Policy classification with that proposed under the ‘Catching Up’ initiative. We find that lagging areas can sometimes be found within larger and more prosperous regions, especially in Western Europe. We analyse the role of industrial structure, innova…
Does foreign investment hurt job creation at home? The geography of outward FDI and employment in the USA
Rising political skepticism on the benefits of global economic integration has increased public scrutiny of the foreign activities of domestic firms in virtually all advanced economies. Decisions to invest in new activities abroad are seen by some commentators as potentially detrimental to domestic employment. We contribute to this debate by scrutinizing the relationship between outward ‘greenfield’ Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and local empl…
Does Agglomeration Affect Exports? Evidence from Italian Local Labour Markets
This paper analyses whether and how agglomeration economies – related variety, specialisation and urbanisation – affect the export performance of Italian local labour markets (LLM). Adopting spatial econometric techniques, and controlling for potential non‐linear effects, we find that related variety has a negligible effect on LLMs’ export intensity, while the effect of specialisation economies is negative. On the contrary, urbanisation economies…
Productivity, Credit Constraints and the Role of Short-Run Localization Economies
Ganau R. Productivity, credit constraints and the role of short-run localization economies: micro-evidence from Italy, Regional Studies. This paper investigates whether Italian manufacturing firms’ productivity is affected by credit constraints, and whether short-run localization economies foster productivity both directly and indirectly, moderating the negative effects of credit rationing via inter-firm credit relationships. Results suggest a ne…
An Explanation of Firms' Internationalisation Modes, Blending Firm Heterogeneity and Spatial Agglomeration
This paper uses a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2004-06, to investigate whether different types of agglomeration economies affect firms' internationalisation choices. The main novelty of the work consists in linking the hypothesis of firm heterogeneity to the literature on agglomeration economies to explain firms' approaches and forms of internationalisation. We analyse two types of agglomeration economies: localisat…
An Explanation of Firms' Internationalisation Modes, Blending Firm Heterogeneity and Spatial Agglomeration
This paper uses a large sample of Italian manufacturing firms over the period 2004-06, to investigate whether different types of agglomeration economies affect firms' internationalisation choices. The main novelty of the work consists in linking the hypothesis of firm heterogeneity to the literature on agglomeration economies to explain firms' approaches and forms of internationalisation. We analyse two types of agglomeration economies: localisat…
Productivity, Credit Constraints and the Role of Short-Run Localization Economies
Ganau R. Productivity, credit constraints and the role of short-run localization economies: micro-evidence from Italy, Regional Studies. This paper investigates whether Italian manufacturing firms’ productivity is affected by credit constraints, and whether short-run localization economies foster productivity both directly and indirectly, moderating the negative effects of credit rationing via inter-firm credit relationships. Results suggest a ne…
Institutions and economic growth in Africa
Does Agglomeration Affect Exports? Evidence from Italian Local Labour Markets
This paper analyses whether and how agglomeration economies – related variety, specialisation and urbanisation – affect the export performance of Italian local labour markets (LLM). Adopting spatial econometric techniques, and controlling for potential non‐linear effects, we find that related variety has a negligible effect on LLMs’ export intensity, while the effect of specialisation economies is negative. On the contrary, urbanisation economies…
Distance-based agglomeration externalities and neighbouring firms’ characteristics
This paper tests the hypothesis that firms with different characteristics can differ in their capability to produce local externalities by investigating the relationship between firm-specific distance-based weighted agglomeration measures and firms’ short-run productivity growth in the Italian manufacturing industry. The results suggest that positive localization economies increase with distance when neighbouring firms’ characteristics are accoun…
Industrial relatedness and regional resilience in the European Union
Do high‐quality local institutions shape labour productivity in Western European manufacturing firms
Credit constraints, labor productivity, and the role of regional institutions
This paper examines the relationship between credit constraints—proxied by the investment‐to‐cash flow sensitivity—and firm‐level economic performance— defined in terms of labor productivity—during the period 2009–2016, using a sample of 22,380 manufacturing firms from 11 European countries. It also assesses how regional institutional quality affects productivity at the level of the firm both directly and indirectly. The empirical results highlig…
Institutions and the productivity challenge for European regions
Europe has witnessed a considerable labour productivity slowdown in recent decades. Many potential explanations have been proposed to address this productivity ‘puzzle’. However, how the quality of local institutions influences labour productivity has been overlooked by the literature. This article addresses this gap by evaluating how institutional quality affects labour productivity growth and, particularly, its determinants at the regional leve…
Does foreign investment hurt job creation at home? The geography of outward FDI and employment in the USA
Rising political skepticism on the benefits of global economic integration has increased public scrutiny of the foreign activities of domestic firms in virtually all advanced economies. Decisions to invest in new activities abroad are seen by some commentators as potentially detrimental to domestic employment. We contribute to this debate by scrutinizing the relationship between outward ‘greenfield’ Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and local empl…
Does urban concentration matter for changes in country economic performance
This paper uses a novel, globally harmonised city-level data set – with cities defined at the Functional Urban Area (FUA) level – to revisit the link between urban concentration and country-level economic dynamics. The empirical analysis, involving 108 low- and high-income countries, examines how differences in urban concentration impinge on changes in employment, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita and labour productivity at country level ov…
Detecting economic growth pathways in the EU’s lagging regions
We analyse growth pathways of European Union NUTS-3 regions from 2003 to 2017. We focus on lagging regions, using a taxonomy based on income level and long-run growth rate that combines the Cohesion Policy classification with that proposed under the ‘Catching Up’ initiative. We find that lagging areas can sometimes be found within larger and more prosperous regions, especially in Western Europe. We analyse the role of industrial structure, innova…
Firm‐level productivity growth returns of social capital
We analyze the firm‐level labor productivity growth returns of social capital—defined as a synthetic measure of “generalized trust,” “active participation,” and “social norms”—using a large sample of manufacturing firms in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We find that firms' labor productivity growth is higher in areas with a better social capital endowment. The positive returns of social capital are, nevertheless, unevenly distribute…
Value chain, regional institutions and firm growth in Europe
We analyse whether and to what extent the quality of regional institutions has a differential effect on firms’ growth driven by heterogeneity in firm value chain positioning. We analyse turnover growth during the period 2010–2013 for a sample of manufacturing firms located in four European countries—France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We distinguish final firms serving end markets from suppliers serving other firms. Our instrumental variable estima…
Is this time different? How Industry 4.0 affects firms’ labor productivity
Does Industry 4.0 technology adoption push firms’ labor productivity? We contribute to the literature debate—mainly focused on robotics and large firms—by analyzing adopters’ labor productivity returns when micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) are concerned. We employ original survey data on Italian MSMEs’ adoption investments related to a multiplicity of technologies and rely on a difference-in-differences estimation strategy. Results hig…
Inward FDI and regional performance in Europe after the Great Recession
This paper looks at inward foreign direct investment (FDI) and regional labour productivity in the aftermath of the Great Recession, exploring two FDI-induced effects. The first effect is linked with a capacity of FDI per se to trigger short-term productivity gains in response to a global shock. The second effect is associated with the degree of industrial diversification of these investment flows. The results suggest that it is not the amount of…
When the rain comes, don’t stay at home! Regional innovation and FDI in the aftermath of the Great Recession
Global connectivity is necessary for innovation to thrive. However, in response to external shocks, economies reduce external exposure and focus resources on internal markets. This closure is in contrast to the need for innovative solutions for recovery. We explore this paradox by looking at regional innovation in the United States in the aftermath of the Great Recession. We compare foreign direct investment (FDI) with similar domestic, inter-sta…
Napoleonic Administrative Reforms and Development in the Italian Mezzogiorno
We study how changes in a country’s administrative hierarchy affect development at the city level. We exploit the 1806 Napoleonic administrative reform implemented in the Kingdom of Naples as a historical experiment to assess whether district capitals endowed with supra-municipal administrative functions gained an urban development premium compared with non-capital cities. We find that district capitals recorded a population growth premium throug…
Economics (16 works) · Economic geography (10 works) · Business (9 works) · Productivity (9 works) · Macroeconomics (7 works) · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis (7 works) · Economic growth (6 works) · Global trade and economics (6 works) · Labour economics (6 works) · Geography (5 works)