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What Makes Small and Medium Enterprises Competitive

Author

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  • Piergiuseppe Morone
  • Giuseppina Testa

Abstract

: This paper aims at understanding the determinants of Italian small- and medium-sized enterprises competitiveness. Having in mind the fact that the Italian economic system relies substantially on small firms which have managed to stay competitive by adopting strategies such as the creation of well-integrated social and institutional clusters (the so-called industrial districts) or specialising in the production of quality goods (the so called made in Italy). However, the growing competing pressure coming from the Far East has rendered this production system vulnerable, challenging its internationally competitiveness. By developing a conceptual model we identify the sources of competitiveness of Italian SMEs. The model is tested using a unique database which collects data, for the year 2004, over a sample of 2,600 SMEs.

Suggested Citation

  • Piergiuseppe Morone & Giuseppina Testa, 2005. "What Makes Small and Medium Enterprises Competitive," Quaderni DSEMS 18-2005, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche, Matematiche e Statistiche, Universita' di Foggia.
    • Handle: RePEc:ufg:qdsems:18-2005
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    Cited by:

    1. -, 2009. "Economic survey of the Caribbean 2008-2009," Sede Subregional de la CEPAL para el Caribe (Estudios e Investigaciones) 38689, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    2. Tibor Lalinsky, 2008. "Competitiveness Factors of Slovak Companies," Working and Discussion Papers WP 3/2008, Research Department, National Bank of Slovakia.
    3. Radu Herman & Cornelia Nistor, 2018. "Innovations in Manufacture with Some Evidence from Romania," Manager Journal, Faculty of Business and Administration, University of Bucharest, vol. 28(1), pages 74-83, December.
    4. Rosanna Pittiglio & Edgardo Sica & Stefania Villa, 2009. "Innovation and internationalization: the case of Italy," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(6), pages 588-602, December.
    5. Radu Herman & Cornelia Nistor & Nicolae Marius Jula, 2023. "The Influence of the Increase in Energy Prices on the Profitability of Companies in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-16, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    SMEs; competitiveness; innovation; interval regression; ordered probit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models; Switching Regression Models; Threshold Regression Models

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