Industrial Competitiveness in the Eurozone: The Case of Italy

On March 25 the Center on the United States and Europe (CUSE) and the Council for the United States and Italy co-sponsored a discussion at Brookings on the subject “How Has the Euro’s Introduction Affected Industrial Structure and Competitiveness in the Eurozone and Italy?”.  Marco Bugamelli, Head of the Markets and Firms Unit in the Research Department of the Bank of Italy, made a presentation, based on research he conducted with two associates on the productive structure of EU member states for the US-based National Bureau of Economic Research and a Bank of Italy study of Italian firms.  Dr. Bugamelli’s concluded that the euro had produced a sizeable effect on productivity growth and no negative impact on employment in the Eurozone, while a significant part of the Italian productive system had adopted new strategies and regained competitiveness, though a wide range of structural reforms is needed.

Following his presentation comments were made by two discussants: Carlo Bastasin, commentator at Il Sole 24 Ore and Visiting Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Uri Dadush, Senior Associate and Director of the International Economics Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  The audience of approximately 20 people – from the academic, government, and think tank world – then participated in a discussion. 

The session was moderated by Michael Calingaert, Visiting Scholar at CUSE and Executive Vice President of the Council.  Italian Ambassador Giulio Terzi presented an opening address.