Are «Happy» Firms All Alike? A Comparative Analysis of Italian and German Manufacturing Systems

Recent works in the comparative economics literature suggest the emergence of a predominant neoliberal model of capitalism. A similar trend characterizes the management literature where competitive advantages are increasingly associated with integrated global engagement, a strategic paradigm leaning on complementarities among r&d, human capital and export/fdi. While both views imply growing institutional and strategic homologation, other studies show only partial convergence in institutional settings and considerable heterogeneity in managerial conducts. This paper explores these issues by comparing the characteristics of Italian and German manufacturing firms. Independently of the country, globally engaged firms are similar in firm-specific variables (size, age, innovation) that are usually associated with good economic performance but remain highly differentiated in institution-related variables. Firms not adopting a global engagement strategy are markedly heterogeneous in all dimensions. Global engagement pushes firms to become more similar across countries, but the variety of institutional settings continues to affect the evolution of business.