Milan Expo 2015: the best is yet to come

The 2015 Milan Universal Exposition (Expo), as a major international event, represents an opportunity for the hosting country to trigger the economic growth because of the huge investments and public/private expenditure involved with the event. The economic benefits deriving from the event are expected in its preparatory phase, during the main exposition and after its conclusion. In this perspective, this paper develops a CGE model to assess the overall direct and indirect impact of Milan Expo 2015 on Italian economy, given the complex interrelationships among operators described by the SAM. The analysis considers the shocks on demand occurred during the preparatory phase of the Exposition, from 2011 to 2014 to determine the impact on the economic system of the event itself. Then, after the conclusion of the event, we analysed the potential impacts on the economic system of a set of demand shocks related to the renovation of the Expo infrastructures and expected tourist flows.