2012 Reports

Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context, 2012

Mutinelli, Marco; Piscitello, Lucia

Italy’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared to that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the low number of large firms, the specialization in “traditional” low- and medium-technology manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced service industries. The global economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy and resulted in a decline in OFDI flows in 2009, owing to few large merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. However, due to the stagnation of the internal market, Italian firms continued to pursue growth opportunities abroad in 2010 and in 2011 through small-scale investments, in particular outside the EU.