Micro data maps 8,000 Italian firms in auto supply chain
A Banca d'Italia occasional paper published in July 2026 uses transaction-level micro data to map the Italian automotive supply chain. The study finds that around 8,000 Italian firms are significantly exposed to the sector, with indirect linkages driving shock propagation.
Tracing the invisible network
Using a novel dataset of electronic invoices from 2019 to 2022, researchers at Banca d'Italia construct a firm-specific measure of supply chain exposure based on the Ghosh inverse.
The study reveals that approximately 8,000 Italian firms are exposed to the European automotive industry, with limited-liability companies accounting for €15.6 billion in exposed value added.
About 40 percent of this total is attributable to final car producers located in Italy, 47 percent to their domestic suppliers, and the remaining share to Italian suppliers serving foreign carmakers.
Indirect relationships play a major role, generating about one-third of total exposed value added across the production network.
Navigating technological disruption
The European automotive sector has faced intense shocks over the past decade, including the 2015 Dieselgate scandal, stricter EU environmental regulations, the shift toward electric powertrains, and rising import competition from China.
To evaluate vulnerabilities, the authors go beyond traditional industry classifications by combining tax data, customs records, balance sheets, and patent filings.
This granular approach highlights how geographic clustering and low diversification among small suppliers amplify regional risks.
Granular insight, systemic vulnerability
This study brilliantly bridges the gap between macroeconomic shocks and firm-level network realities.
By deploying the Ghosh inverse at the micro level, it unmasks the hidden transmission lines of industrial decline.
Policymakers ignoring these indirect multipliers do so at their peril.