Working Paper Series no. 346: Service deregulation, competition and the performance of French and Italian firms

Abstract

We use firm-level data for France and Italy to explore the impact of service regulation reform implemented in the two countries on the mark-up and eventually on the performance of firms between the second half of the 1990s and 2007. In line with some previous studies, we find that the relation between entry barriers and productivity is negative. This relation is intermediated through the firm’s mark up and is stronger in the long than in the short run.

Francesco Daveri, Rémy Lecat and Maria Laura Parisi
October 2011

Classification JEL : D24, K20, L51, O40, O57

Keywords : regulation, services, performance, TFP