VERTICAL INTEGRATION AND TECHNICAL EFFICIENCY: THE CASE OF ITALIAN CAR SUPPLIERS

Résumé:

The vertical structure of the firm has an impact on its observed performance, such as technical effi-ciency (Heshmathi, 2003) or profitability (Calabrese and Erbetta, 2005), however just a limited num-ber of previous works contribute in this sense. Girma and Gorg (2004) find a positive relationship among both labour productivity/TFP and outsourcing intensity, while Pieri and Zaninotto (2012), by applying a stochastic efficiency model, find a positive relation between vertical integration and tech-nical efficiency in the machinery sector. The present study is focused on the automotive industry, where the recent crisis stimulate a deep process of re-organization, re-location and re-thinking of firms’ position along the value chain (Castelli et al., 2011).