Productivity dispersion in the Italian knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) industry: a multilevel analysis
ISSN: 0025-1747
Article publication date: 13 July 2021
Issue publication date: 21 March 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an analysis of the productivity evolution of a sample of 18,459 knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) firms operating in Italy over the period 2012–2018. The interaction between productivity heterogeneity firm localization and firm sector of business are also analyzed.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical setting is based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure the multifactor productivity index (MPI) and on the multilevel models to investigate if the source of productivity heterogeneity among the Italian KIBS are due to the geographic location and/or to the specific business sectors in which firms operate. Data have been gathered from the AIDA database, which contains financial data of all Italian firms.
Findings
The empirical results show that MPI heterogeneity in the Italian KIBS firms' is sensitive to the regional context in which firms operate to the specific KIBS sector and above all at the interactions arising between region and sector.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to identify the source of productivity dispersion in the Italian KIBS.
Keywords
Citation
Campisi, D., Mancuso, P., Mastrodonato, S.L. and Morea, D. (2022), "Productivity dispersion in the Italian knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) industry: a multilevel analysis", Management Decision, Vol. 60 No. 4, pp. 940-952. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-11-2020-1578
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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