Papers by Roberto Gabriele
Journal of Industrial and Business Economics
The study investigates the firm high growth phenomenon and its relationships with reorganization ... more The study investigates the firm high growth phenomenon and its relationships with reorganization costs and external financial dependence. We use a sample of medium-sized Italian fast-growing firms. Fast-growth firms are structured enough to plan growth strategies and not depend on occasional external events. The paper provides insight into the lumpiness of the process of firm expansion accompanying its reorganization, conditional on the presence or not of a fast-growth event. Moreover, the analysis shed some light on the relationship between growth and performance and on the growth process of a subsample of young, fast-growing firms to check the presence of differences in the process or the strategy of growth. We find a positive and significant relation between present growth and proxy variables for resources organization, a lumpy growth process, and a positive association of growth and profit for almost the whole sample, i.e., a positive balance between costs and benefit of growth.
Social Science Research Network, Nov 1, 2008
DISA for a short written review within two weeks. The revised version of the manuscript, together... more DISA for a short written review within two weeks. The revised version of the manuscript, together with the author's response to the reviewer, should again be sent to the Associate Editor for his consideration. Finally the Associate Editor sends all the material (original and fi nal version, review and response, plus his own recommendation) to the Editor, who authorizes the publication and assigns it a serial number. The Managing Editor and the Technical Offi cer ensure that all published papers are uploaded in the international RepEc publicaction database. On the other hand, it is up to the corresponding author to make direct contact with the Departmental Secretary regarding the offprint order and the research fund which it should refer to.
Do Middle Managers Matter?
Middle Managers (MM) are key figures for firm ability to gain and sustaining competitive advantag... more Middle Managers (MM) are key figures for firm ability to gain and sustaining competitive advantage (CIT). Their training activity can be seen as an important tool for improving and upgrading managerial practices to sustain firm strategy that is strictly related with its competitive advantage. The present research aims at deepening the analysis undertaken within the literature branch concerned with the effects of training of middle managers on direct measures of firm performance as measured by profitability indices and productivity. In particular, the study focuses on middle management continuing vocational training in the Italian manufacturing sector in the time window 2006-2011. The study is based on a novel database containing balance sheet data together with exhaustive information about the training undertaken by managers working in the sample of companies available A¢â‚¬AiAƒâ€žAƒÂ¶A¢E†AiAƒâ€˜A¢E†AiA‚¨ provided by Fondirigenti. The study extends and deepens the existing literature based on two key aspects: (a) the possibility to disaggregate the training activity along two dimensions: the methodology used and the field in which the training is done; (b) the opportunity to use different more precise measures of training, namely the cost in euros and the time devoted to the activity. We empirically test, using regression models based on GMM estimation, a set of research hypotheses and we find support for the five following hypotheses: (H1) Middle management continuing vocational training has an effect on performance indicators namely ROI, ROE and TFP, Moreover the first two show a TMGT effect; MM training is more effective for: larger firms, older firms (H2 and H3); external resources are important in making MM training effective (H3); different methodologies of training have heterogeneous effects on performance: experiential methods are more effective than relational and front lesson methods (H5). We discuss the results and derive some policy conclusions
Referred Electronic Conference Proceeding, 2013
Purpose of the study. The paper aims at disentangling the role of a R&D place based policy implem... more Purpose of the study. The paper aims at disentangling the role of a R&D place based policy implemented in the Italian province of Trento, during the period 2002-2007 in spurring R&D investment of private firms and in enhancing the firm performances. Methodology. This paper proposes an investigation based on an original and unique database about the population of limited liabilities firm operating in Trentino. The econometric analysis is based on counterfactual models. In particular, we make use of the Conditional-Difference-inDifferences estimator Findings. We find that R&D incentives positively affect investments in intangible assets and human capital, while they have no effect on firms' turnover, labor productivity and profitability. Research limits. Two issues are not fully studied in the present paper: the role of micro-complementarities and the role of localized knowledge spillovers. which may well be the main advantage of a place-based policy Practical implications. The results on additionality allow to shed light about the degree of success of the direct measures of public interventions (subsidies). Moreover, the findings can be used to fine tuning the industrial policies. Originality of the study. The context of analysis allows us to disaggregate the different components of R&D spending of firms, namely labor force and its quality, intangibles, fixed assets. Indeed, The study is based on exhaustive information about financial R&D subsidies the population of the firms subsidized during the years 2002-2007 in Trentino matched with the population of limited liabilities firms operating in Trentino during the same time window.
La crescita d'impresa tra caso e ricerca orientata
L\u2019analisi strategica e le evidenze empiriche sui processi di crescita delle imprese spesso s... more L\u2019analisi strategica e le evidenze empiriche sui processi di crescita delle imprese spesso sembrano essere non compatibili. Questo contributo presenta un modello in cui processi di crescita casuali convivono con l\u2019esistenza di differenti capacit\ue0 organizzative. Queste orientano la ricerca di nuove opportunit\ue0 strategiche e ne determinano la probabilit\ue0 di cattura. L\u2019effetto delle capacit\ue0 organizzative sulle performance aumenta se l\u2019ambiente \ue8 stabile e le opportunit\ue0 sono correlate
The economic impact of regional industrial policies: An empirical research
Empirical literature findings do not provide a clear-cut interpretation of the effects of public ... more Empirical literature findings do not provide a clear-cut interpretation of the effects of public aid on performances of firms. We contribute to this literature analysing the effects of public regional financial subsidies on investment using a unique dataset covering all the firms in the Italian province of Trentino with a record of public aid granted to them in the last 15 years. We find a temporary effect on investment level together with a permanent positive effects on size of firms, but no effect is found on factors substitution nor on technical change. Moreover, subsidies do not improve either profitability or productivity. These results help better define the scope of local aid. Corresponding author: Roberto Gabriele, Department of Management and Computer Science, University of Trento, via Inama, 5 (38100) Trento Italy. E-mail: rgabriel@economia.unitn.it. e-mail: marco.zamarian@economia.unitn.it e-mail: enrico.zaninotto@economia.unitn.it This research was conducted for the Prov...
Sinergie Italian Journal of Management, 2018
The paper aims at investigating the different strategic choices of Italian firms in response to g... more The paper aims at investigating the different strategic choices of Italian firms in response to globalization. We show that firms followed different strategies to respond to globalization under the constraints of the European monetary union. Human resource strategies appear to be at the core of strategic options: firms that showed sustained productivity growth used more qualified, high salary workforce, while other firms tried to keep the pace by lowering labour costs, by exploiting the market labour dualism. Dualism of labour market gave room to a "regressive", short lived, adaptation of a group of firms to the increased global competition. A more balanced labour market would promote investment in human capital and push firms towards the use of innovation as competitive weapon. The investigation relies on an original database with rich information about labour forces that allows us to study firm strategy. The use of efficiency measures combined with ordered logit model permits a novel look at the dynamics of Italian firm strategies.
Industry and Innovation, 2016
This paper studies empirically the effect of public incentives to company R&D activity and innova... more This paper studies empirically the effect of public incentives to company R&D activity and innovative performance. Compared with the vast theoretical and empirical literature on the subject, we aim at moving some steps forward towards three main directions: (i) First, we provide a new framework incorporating the existence of two mediating effects lying between policy and innovation: one related to the effect of the policy on firm R&D activity (the so-called input-additionality); the other related to the impact of the policy on firm collaborative R&D strategy (normally defined as behavioral-additionality). (ii) Second, we consider the level of company own R&D and the R&D cooperation as "endogenous" (thus not "exogenous") outcomes of a (direct) innovation policy. (iii) Third, we estimate a regression where R&D and collaboration first-step "additionalities" are considered as innovation predictors along with their combined "interaction". The novelty of this approach stands in allowing for identifying possible synergy or weakening mechanisms between the R&D additionality and the collaboration additionality on the innovation output. This may returns relevant implications for policy making: for instance, it is possible to know whether the two mediating drivers are positively or negatively interdependent and whether there exists a statistically significant magnitude of this dependence. A policymaker might find it out useful to know about this interrelation for bettering future innovation policy fine-tuning.
Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2017
This paper presents panel evidence on the productivity effects of middle managers' off-the-job fo... more This paper presents panel evidence on the productivity effects of middle managers' off-the-job formal training in Italy. It is based on a rich and reliable panel dataset covering all sectors of the Italian economy over the period 2006-2011. We employ panel data techniques and self selection models to show that off-the-job formal training for middle management has a significant non-linear exogenous effect on total factor productivity. Moreover, results indicate that middle manager's off-the-job formal training is more effective in larger firms and that different training methods have heterogeneous effects on productivity.
Tourism Economics, 2017
Many cities consider development of cultural tourism as opportunity to sustain employment and eco... more Many cities consider development of cultural tourism as opportunity to sustain employment and economic growth of the area. However, increasing tourists’ flows affect local economies and lives of local residents in a number of ways, not excluding negative effects. Careful consideration of benefits and pitfalls of the development of city tourism is necessary in order to sustain balanced urban development. In the present article, we evaluate experience of tourism development in 10 German cities—capitals of German cultural tourism. Our analysis is focused on the effect of city tourism on the well-being of urban residents. To address this issue, we study the effect of tourists’ nights spent in the centers of cultural tourism on the satisfaction with life of urban residents. Based on the results of the study, we suggest policy implications for the development of urban tourism that leads to improvements of the quality of life of locals.
Tourism Economics, 2016
Tourism researchers as well as policy makers are interested in knowing the impact of tourism on r... more Tourism researchers as well as policy makers are interested in knowing the impact of tourism on residents’ life. Recent studies address this issue by looking at residents’ quality of life measures. These studies, however, are based on convenience sample with investigation that is usually limited to one single destination at a given point of time. Socioeconomic characteristics of individuals have strong effect on the perception of tourism impact. In the present study, we investigate the impact of tourism intensity on residents’ satisfaction with life using the theoretical framework of the bottom-up spillover theory. The analysis is based on a representative socioeconomic panel of German households over a period from 2000 to 2011. The analysis conducted involves the whole country distinguishing tourism destinations at administrative districts level. The empirical models suggest that tourism intensity and well-being of employed and unemployed residents present nonlinear U-shaped relati...
Do Middle Managers Capabilities Matter?
Academy of Management Proceedings, 2014
Middle Managers are key figures for firm ability to gain and sustaining competitive advantage. Th... more Middle Managers are key figures for firm ability to gain and sustaining competitive advantage. Their training activity can be seen as an important tool for improving and upgrading managerial practices within the firm in order to sustain firm strategy. The present research investigates the effects of middle managers training on firm performance as measured by profitability indices and productivity using data on Italian manufacturing firms for the period 2006-2011. The study extends the existing literature because: (a) it analyzes the methodology used and the field in which the training is done; (b) it investigates different measures of training, namely the cost in euros and the time devoted to the activity. We empirically test research hypotheses using regression models based on GMM estimation and we find support for the following: (H1) Middle management continuing vocational training has an effect on performance indicators namely return on investment, return on equity and total factor productivity, Moreov...
An agent based approach to analysis of Capital structure and industry dynamics: The role of policy
ABSTRACT The paper analyses the role of capital structure of firm on industry dynamics. Empirical... more ABSTRACT The paper analyses the role of capital structure of firm on industry dynamics. Empirical evidence shows that policy interventions can alter for some the frims�cost of the capital. As a result firms on average are overcapitalized with a low capital productivity. Moreover, the market in which capital is cheap seems to be able to reduce consistently the entry and the exit of firms: the competitive process is obscured and selection is sterilized. We argue that the distortions induced by an anomalous endowment of capital input can have two effects in the market: (a) A raise in firms� heterogeneity; (b) a distortion of the process of acquisition of technical progress. We used an agent based model to explore the issue. Firms in the model are heterogeneous bounded rational and endowed with a two inputs fixed coefficients technology. Technical progress is embodied in the new capital stock and modifies the combination of the two inputs. The cost of the capital input is one of the relevant parameter of the model. Each capital stock can have short (SL) or long life (LL). The policy interventions finance the LL investments so that its price will be on average lower than for SL. Firms have to choose in each period between two strategies: A cost reducing one�in the present choosing to invest in LL-, or a productivity augmenting one�as a stochastic outcome of the investment in SL. The model is programmed using SWARM platform and it is explored through Montecarlo simulations.
ICT as a general purpose technology (GPT): Modelling its impact on performance using IFS
Experimental results in research on time preference are often controversial. We propose a systema... more Experimental results in research on time preference are often controversial. We propose a systematic investigation of choice task in multiple price list format (MPL) that is frequently implemented in experiments on time preference, through a computer simulation analysis. We conduct experiments with artificial subjects to demonstrate that elicited discount rates are highly dependent on the structure of elicitation task. We verify that implementation of choice task in MPL with nominal structure results in observation of hyperbolic discounting. Choice task in MPL with interest rates structure leads to elicitation of discount rates compatible with exponential discounting. Moreover, we show that the magnitude and intensity of corresponding pattern in data depends on the internal structure of elicitation task. Comparison between discount rates elicited with artificial and human subjects suggests that behavior of human subjects in experiments with MPL can be described by two simple rules: positive discounting and anchoring.
Evaluating locally-based policies in the presence of neighbourhood effects: The case of touristic accommodation in the Garda district of Trentino
This paper presents a counter-factual model identifying Average Treatment Effects (ATEs) by Condi... more This paper presents a counter-factual model identifying Average Treatment Effects (ATEs) by Conditional Mean Independence when externality (or neighbourhood) effects are incorporated within the traditional potential outcome model. As such, it tries to generalize the usual approach, widely used in program evaluation, when SUTVA (i.e. Stable Unit Treatment Value Assumption) is relaxed. This new approach is applied to a locally-based policy. More specifically, we focus on the Garda lake area that is one of the 14 touristic districts in Trentino ? an Alpine province in north-east Italy. In the time window under scrutiny ? 2002-2006 ? Trentino had in place a subsidy policy for hotels ? 3-digit sector 55.1: hotels and similar accommodation, as defined in the NACE Rev.2 ? within the Provincial Law 6/99. There is no confounding effects coming from other policy measures given that Trentino hotels can only have access to subsidies related to Provincial Law 6/99. We rely on a database built relying on different sources and contains administrative information, structural characteristics of hotels and exhaustive information about the subsidies they received during the period. The sample size is 415 and consists of the Garda lake hotels active from 2002 to 2006.
The paper contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of R&D subsidies analyzing a local polic... more The paper contributes to the debate on the effectiveness of R&D subsidies analyzing a local policy implemented in the Italian province of Trento in the past decade. The empirical analysis draws upon a very detailed and informative database, profiling the population of firms which were awarded at least one R&D grant during the years 2002-2007. The econometric analysis is based on counterfactual models. First, treated firms are matched with ?twins? alongside a series of relevant predetermined variables. Secondly, a matching estimator is employed to estimate the average effect of treatment on treated. We evaluate the achievements of the local policy maker with respect to the following objectives: (i) enhance the overall competitiveness of the business sector in the regional area; (ii) prompt additional investment in innovation. We find that R&D incentives are effective on intangible assets and have a confined to three years impact on firms? labour productivity, while they have no effect on firms? operating margin.
This paper aims to reconcile the logic behind stochastic models of firm growth and the notion of ... more This paper aims to reconcile the logic behind stochastic models of firm growth and the notion of organizational capabilities as drivers of economic performance. In the proposed behavioral model of bounded rational firms, two mechanisms drive growth: independent stochastic growth of individual opportunities and the process by which firms capture new opportunities. To extend the stochastic framework, this research incorporates
Entrepreneurships, the New Economy and Public Policy
Three well-known aggregate regularities (i.e. Beveridge, Wage, and Okun's curves) seem to provide... more Three well-known aggregate regularities (i.e. Beveridge, Wage, and Okun's curves) seem to provide a quite complete picture of the interplay between labor market macro-dynamics and business cycle. Nevertheless, existing theoretical literature still lacks micro-founded models which are able to jointly account for these three crucial stylized facts. In this paper, we present an agent-based, evolutionary, model trying to formalize from the bottom up individual behaviors and interactions in both product and labor markets. We describe as endogenous processes both vacancy and wage setting, as well as matching and bargaining, demand and price formation. Firms enjoy labor productivity improvements (technological progress) and are selected on the base of their revealed competitiveness (which is also affected by their hiring-and wagesetting behaviors). Simulations show that the model is able to robustly reproduce Beveridge, Wage and Okun's curves under quite broad behavioral and institutional settings. Moreover, the system generates endogenously an Okun's coefficient greater than one even if individual firms employ production functions exhibiting constant returns to labor. Montecarlo simulations also indicate that statistically detectable shifts in Okun's and Beveridge curves emerge as the result of changes in institutional, behavioral, and technological parameters. Finally, the model generates quite sharp predictions about how system parameters affect aggregate performance (i.e. average GDP growth) and its volatility.
The paper proposes an empirical investigation of job flows for continuing manufacturing firms in ... more The paper proposes an empirical investigation of job flows for continuing manufacturing firms in Italy from 1996 to 2004 using high quality data on work forces and other characteristics of the firm. The magnitude of the job flows for small and medium-sized limited liability companies in Italy is lower than what observed in Anglo-Saxon countries, but it is still in line with evidence for firms in the Euro area. Second, the magnitude of job flows significantly shrunk in the aftermath of the economic downturn in 2001. Firms fared worse than in the late nineties and the labour market became less efficient in allocating job flows. Third, gross job creation and gross job destruction decrease as firm get larger, but when added to compute an indicator of net employment growth, size does not seem to affect firms' expansion. On the contrary, age significantly hinges on the growth opportunities of small and medium-sized enterprises. The econometric analysis corroborates the major findings of our descriptive investigation referring to the role of size and age. In particular, it shows that classification methods used to define size classes strongly influence the estimated relationship between growth and size industrial regimes play a role in shaping job flows. Our result show that firms in supplier dominated industries fared significantly lower than enterprises in other sectors during the sample period.
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Papers by Roberto Gabriele