Three Decades of Italian Comparative Advantages

The paper explores the structure of Italian Revealed Comparative Advan- tages (RCA), focusing on the export structure itself, on its changes over time and on its degree of persistence. The analysis is developed with the use of visual statistical tools and nonparametric statistical techniques that allow to estimate the empirical distribution of the Balassa (1965) Index, and to track its dynamics during three decades, from the 1970s to present. The main results of the analysis are that the structure of Italian RCA is highly persistent, but is changing; the structure is very different when it is examined at a macro-regional level; the distribution is not so similar to the one of the NICs when it is examined at a high level of sectoral disaggregation. Finally, using export data disaggregated at the provincial level, we show that the persistence in the pattern of RCA appears to be positively related to the presence of industrial districts.