As a percentage of GDP, expenditure in Italy diminished from 3 per cent in 2008 to 2 per cent in 2017; the reduction was concentrated in local government entities. The European Commission has recently estimated a public investment gap for Italy.5 4  See the OECD, Skills Matter. Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, Paris, 2016.
Increased interest by socially motivated individual investors has expanded the pool of investment capital for community development. One CDFI has created a product similar to a mutual fund where individuals purchase "community development notes" that are invested in community development organizations.