01853cas a2200241 a 4500 AALejournalIMF005068 230101c9999 xx r poo 0 0eng d 5.00 USD 9781451869842 1018-5941 BD-DhAAL BD-DhAAL Lissovolik, Bogdan. Trends in Italy's Nonprice Competitiveness / Bogdan Lissovolik. Washington, D.C. : International Monetary Fund, 2008. 1 online resource (34 pages) IMF Working Papers <strong>Off-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required <strong>On-Campus Access:</strong> No User ID or Password Required Electronic access restricted to authorized BRAC University faculty, staff and students Italy's medium-term economic performance has raised "standard" competitiveness concerns as unit labor costs surged, and real export growth fell. But the recent economic upturn, low current account deficit, and robust nominal exports argue for less pessimism. An empirical analysis confirms the standard concerns, but also suggests that "residual" factors, which partly reflect nonprice economic restructuring, have supported Italy's real exports after 2005 (as in Germany but less so in France or Spain). An investigation of selected structural trends over the past decade offers some substantiation to Italy's "restructuring story," including quality upgrading, geographical trade diversification, and outsourcing. But sluggish services, low FDI, and modest "technological" upgrading indicate limits to Italy's restructuring. Mode of access: Internet IMF Working Papers; Working Paper ; No. 2008/124 Full text available on IMF http://elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/001/2008/124/001.2008.issue-124-en.xml IMF e-Library