Domestic institutions and Italian foreign economic policy

The article analyzed the domestic institutions of foreign economic policy. OECD countries have promoted different institutional frameworks in FEP. In France, Germany, Spain and Japan, decision-making is concentrated in one ministry (hierarchical model). In the UK and USA, where private enterprises are more autonomous and laissez-faire oriented, the main pattern is a coordination process among ministries. In the 90s, Italy implemented a reform based on coordination. Then, some public bodies support the internationalizing of exporters and investors abroad, like the foreign trade institutes, the insurance-against-political-risk bodies, and financers of exports and investments. Public institutions for development cooperation are characterized according to their emphasis on: bureaucratic decentralization on independent external agencies (like in Sweden, UK and USA); subordination of the technical agency to the Foreign Affairs minister (like in Japan, France, and Italy).