Productivity, Credit Constraints and the Role of Short-Run Localization Economies: Micro-Evidence from Italy

Ganau R. Productivity, credit constraints and the role of short-run localization economies: micro-evidence from Italy, Regional Studies. This paper investigates whether Italian manufacturing firms’ productivity is affected by credit constraints, and whether short-run localization economies foster productivity both directly and indirectly, moderating the negative effects of credit rationing via inter-firm credit relationships. Results suggest a negative effect of credit rationing on firms’ productivity, while a positive relationship exists between short-run localization economies and productivity. It emerges that location in an industrially concentrated area reduces firms’ investment-to-cash flow sensitivity, and that it positively moderates the negative effect of credit rationing on productivity. Moreover, the positive moderation effect seems to be increasing in the density of the local banking system.