Industrial Policies, Subsidies for Enterprises and Cooperatives in Italy: First Evidences

During last years, industrial policies in Europe and in Italy have undertaken substantial transformations due to several economic and social shocks, notably the COVID-19 pandemic or the conflict in Ukraine. After an extended period of fiscal restraint, Europe has seen a significant expansion in financial support measures directed toward enterprises, above all public guarantees on bank loans and direct grants. Italy has known the same trend, even though Italian industrial policies, as a share of GDP, traditionally allocate fewer resources compared to other European nations. Within this context, cooperatives represent a distinct model of interprises that benefit from industrial policies despite often they are not designed to address their unique operational features. This working paper provides a preliminary evidence on these dynamics, conducting an original analysis of cooperative involvement in Italian industrial policies for 2023. The paper begins with a concise review of the recent debate about the role of the industrial policy in Europe in relationship on the role of cooperatives. Then, it analyzes the main characteristics of economic subsidies over the past five years. Subsequently, the analysis focuses on the cooperative sector and its economic performance in response to recent crises. The findings show distinct patterns within Italy’s entrepreneurial ecosystem: for cooperatives it is clear the orientation towards SMEs, Southern regions and in favor of labor and training incentives.Finally, this study affirms the critical role of industrial policies in supporting cooperatives bringing some suggestions to better align them with the distinctive needs of cooperatives.