Pavitt’s taxonomy and the varying impact of socio-environmental context on regional labour productivity in Italy

This paper proposes an alternative approach aimed at assessing the impact of the «socio-environmental context» on labour productivity in the Italian manufacturing sector, analysed on the ground of its regional aggregation. The study stands out for two significant elements of originality. Firstly, it makes use a set of equitable and sustainable well-being indicators, serving as proxies for the socio- environmental factors. Secondly, it introduces a classification based on Pavitt criteria to discern interregional differences in the impact of socio-environmental factors on the labour productivity. The results for the period 2012-2018 seem to suggest that socio-territorial variables influence the labour productivity of Italian regions differently based on their Pavitt group affiliation, confirming the complexity of the relationship between the socio-environmental context and productivity, and emphasizing the importance of considering the intrinsic peculiarities of various manufacturing sectors. The conclusions of this research could, therefore, have significant practical implications in shaping policies aimed at reducing socio-economic disparities between the Italian regions of the Central-North and the Mezzogiorno, through targeted interventions that consider the diverse economic and socio-environmental dynamics present.