Analyses of firms’ financial statements indicate that these differences are due only in part to dissimilarities in sectoral and size composition. Italian households invest only a small amount in listed shares (2 per cent of their total financial assets, against 4 per cent in Germany and on average in the euro area). Only a small proportion of Italian investment funds invest widely in shares.
The current financial situation should spur banks and firms to overcome this state of affairs. Difficult credit conditions necessitate recourse to alternative channels of funding for sound businesses with good growth prospects.