The crisis also affects small businesses, historically a strong fabric of the Italian economy. Only exports, companies in the North and those linked to the service sector are saved. This is the picture that emerges from the IV Conjunctural Observatory on small businesses created by the Enterprise Foundation.
In the second half of the 2011 small Italian companies with less than 20 employees have suffered a decline their economic fundamentals. Production/demand and turnover fell by 0,3% compared to the previous six months and employment by 0,4%. The reference framework is substantially negative in all sectors and the territorial areas of reference, but small service businesses and those in Northern Italy show substantial stability.
On the other hand, the realities of the Centre-South are struggling, the manufacturing sector (above all the handicraft sector which recorded a drop in production equal to 0,9%) and trade, which had recorded negative dynamics also in the previous six months.
The Fourth Observatory on Small Businesses in Italy - say the researchers of Fondazione Impresa - highlights how, in the 2nd half of 2011, small businesses were not spared by the advent of the recession and in fact, both at a cyclical and trend level, they recorded declines in production/demand, employment and orders. The crisis of the 2nd half of 2011, reinforced by the tensions on the international markets and by the interventions requested by Europe to achieve a balanced budget, has undoubtedly conditioned the performance of small businesses which still feel themselves part of the crisis and foresee a stalemate in the first half of 1.
The forecasts substantially indicate the same results recorded in the 2nd half of 2011 even if completely different realities emerge. In Northern Italy and in particular in the North East, small businesses believe they will improve in the first half of 1, their performance both in terms of production/demand (+0,3% compared to the previous six months) and employment (+0,4%) while for Central Italy and Southern Italy the estimates are negative. Small businesses in the Centre-South are making less use of the opportunities deriving from exports and risk – according to the researchers of Fondazione Impresa – being sucked into the new recession. Despite a general slowdown, exports remain an important growth driver and to contrast the crisis also for smaller companies.
THE MAIN RESULTS
– The fourth edition of the Economic Observatory on Small Businesses in Italy (< 20 employees) created by the Enterprise Foundation reveals that even small businesses were hit by the recession in the 2nd half of 2011: a drop in production/demand (-0,3 .0,3%) and turnover (-XNUMX%). – Employment is down by 0,4 percentage points compared to the previous six months and forecasts for the first half of 1 are still negative (-2012%).
- The positive glimmers come from exports which continued to grow also in the 2nd half of 2011 (+0,8%) even if at a slower pace than in the previous surveys when the turnover deriving from sales abroad grew on thresholds of around 2 percentage points.
- Small businesses in the North East suffered less: turnover fell by just 0,1% compared to the previous semester (1st 2011) and by 0,2% on a trend basis (compared to the 2nd semester 2010); exports increased by 1,1%, a much better result than the national average (+0,8%) and all the other geographical divisions.
- The situation is more difficult in central and southern Italy where turnover suffered a more marked decline (by -0,5% and -0,4% respectively); furthermore, there was a sharp drop in orders (-0,8% for small businesses in Central Italy and -0,7% for Southern Italy) which, anticipating future dynamics, do not bode well for 2012.
- Positive dynamics only for Services (+0,1% for both demand and turnover) even if employment falls here too (-0,1% on a cyclical basis and -0,4% on a trend basis). Craftsmanship suffers the most, recording a contraction of 0,9% in production (-0,8% turnover) and the largest loss of employment (-1,2% compared to the first half of 1 and -2011 .0,8% in comparison with the same semester of 2010).
- Commerce continues to suffer (-0,4% for demand, -0,3% for turnover and -0,4% for employment) which also showed a minus sign in the previous surveys. In particular, in the last survey (survey relating to the 1st half of 2011) the sector in question was the only one to record negative performances and the persistence of its negative situation keeps it away from exiting the crisis (see crisis tunnel).
- The focus on the tunnel of the crisis confirms the above results. The Services are advancing better towards the end of the crisis: in the 100-metre-long tunnel they are at 70,0 meters and, compared to the survey of 6 months ago, improve their leadership compared to the Crafts (now at 68,3 m) and the Small Manufacturing Enterprise (68,1 m) which had led the recovery in 2010. Below the threshold of 61 meters, Commerce is lagging behind.
