Value chains and the great recession: Evidence from Italian and German firms

Global Value Chains (GVCs) were one of the main transmission mechanisms of the 2009 great trade collapse. Our paper describes the effects of the crisis from a country-comparative perspective (Germany and Italy) and at firm level. There are two main conclusions: i) supplier firms were hit by the crisis more than final firms; ii) firms' position in GVCs and their strategies explain part of the performance gap between Italian and German firms.