Associazione Studi e Ricerche per il Mezzogiorno

SRM is a Study Centre related to the Intesa Sanpaolo Group. It specializes in the analysis of regional economic dynamics, with a particular eye towards Southern Italy. In this context, it carries out studies and research monitoring of the performance of productive sectors, investigating economic and financial scenarios, interdependence and internationalisation, and the economic value of the non-profit sector. SRM publishes studies and research in three types of publishing products: monographic research,[4] periodical reports [5] and reviews.[6]

• Since 2003 SRM has provided much research on topics related to numerous Italian economic sectors: automotive, aerospace, agri-food, pharmaceutical, textile, tourism, water, renewable energy, and many others.
• Among the periodic reports, SRM has a line of reports produced in collaboration with other Institutes: the semi-yearly report "Check up Mezzogiorno"[7] together with Confindustria; the "Territorial Finance in Italy" Report, in collaboration with IRES, IRPET, Eupolis Lombardia, IPRES and Liguria Ricerche; and the Report on the internationalisation of Italian regions, in collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo Research Department. SRM also publishes the Young Entrepreneurs Observatory and the Mezzogiorno Bulletin.
• SRM also edits three magazines. Since 1993, it has been publishing the bi-monthly magazine Dossier Unione Europea,[8] which aims to monitor European policies and their impact on the Italian economy. Since 2004, it has been editing the international magazine Rassegna Economica,[9] founded in 1931 by the Banco di Napoli. Since 2016, SRM has also published a half-yearly magazine Quaderni di Economia Sociale,[10] on the subject of non-profit and social solidarity, carried out together with the Fondazione con il Sud and with the collaboration of Banca Prossima (Intesa Sanpaolo Banking Group), established as a periodic report in 2012.

SRM has also activated two permanent observatories: the first one, on the Maritime Economy, monitors the economic impact of the logistics and maritime transport sector; the second, on the Mediterranean Economy, monitors the dynamics of the commercial relations between Italy (and in particular the South of Italy) and the Mediterranean countries. Italy, including its southern regions, plays a natural role as an economic and logistic bridge between Europe and the southern shores of the Mediterranean, where the great maritime trade routes pass to and from Asia and America.

Maritime Economy [11] is a SRM project born in 2014 with the aim to establish a permanent observatory on the logistics and maritime transport sector. SRM has always had a consolidated research area dedicated to this field of studies because it has always believed that efficient and effective maritime transport fosters internationalization, innovation, investments in infrastructure, and employment and GDP growth.

The Maritime Economy Observatory manifests itself in a website (http://www.srm-maritimeconomy.com/ - in English and Italian) that offers a wealth of analysis and studies on the topic of maritime transport seen from a variety of standpoints: from the business side (e.g. the shipping industry), from the point of view of infrastructures (ports), and in terms of individual sectors and territories (for instance by taking a closer look at the maritime transport strategies pursued by other countries).

An Annual Report titled "Italian Maritime Economy"[12] is published every year, in June. This Report is the result of SRM analyses and its study missions abroad. It includes also scientific articles by international experts in the sector. In the course of its research activity on the maritime economy, SRM has created numerous "networks" formed by entities of varying nature - business associations, companies, infrastructure components, institutions – each of which, in its own way, provides added value to the research activity and papers offered.

SRM, in Shanghai on 13 December 2016, signed the Cooperation Agreement called "Global Shipping Think Tank Alliance".[13] It is a partnership fostered by the Shanghai International Shipping Institute (SISI),[14] one of the most important Chinese research centres in the world for research on shipping, logistics and the port industry. The Agreement involves the most prestigious research institutes on the maritime economy of China, Japan, the United States, Singapore, South Korea, Germany and the UK. SRM was the only Italian study centre and one of three European entities to become a partner in the initiative, which was endorsed to implement joint studies on maritime transport, to exchange research and analysis methods, to propose policies to public policy makers with the aim to develop port and logistics infrastructure, and to organize meetings to discuss and debate the economic trends of the sea-related sectors. With this agreement SRM strengthens its ability to analyse and forecast trends in the economics of the maritime industry and the dynamics of shipping and port logistics, expanding its cooperation with international economic think tanks such as the Kühne Logistics University of Hamburg, the University of Antwerp and the Erasmus University Rotterdam, which are globally recognized in the field of the maritime economy.

The Permanent Observatory on the Economic Relations between Italy and the Mediterranean Area [15] is a project realized by SRM and born in 2011 thanks to the sponsorship of the ''Compagnia di San Paolo'' with the aim to monitor and study the dynamics and the impact of mutual economic relations between Italy (and in particular Southern Italy) and the Mediterranean Area.

SRM has established this new field of research developing a strong network of relations with other national and international Research Centres on the Mediterranean Area. The Observatory analyses in particular two geographic areas - the Southern Mediterranean Area (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) and the Eastern Mediterranean Area (Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey) - investigating the commercial, financial, infrastructural, entrepreneurial, energetic and technological inter-exchange relations, paying special attention to business indicators and normative-institutional dynamics affecting the Euro-Mediterranean Area. The Adriatic Mediterranean Area (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Montenegro) is investigated separately. Since 2015 the analysis has been extended to the Gulf Countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates).

SRM Med Observatory represents a permanent laboratory the activity of which takes place on the website. At the end of each year of research activities the Mediterranean Observatory gives life to the "Annual Report on Economic Relations between Italy and the Mediterranean",[16] available online and printed also in paper format, which describes the overall picture of economic relations between Italy / Southern of Italy and Mediterranean.

SRM received the Guido Dorso International Award in 2010. This plaque, given by the President of the Italian Republic, is designated for a scientific - cultural institution of the South of Italy. It was awarded to the Association "in recognition of the intense and qualified activity carried out for a deeper knowledge of the southern territory".

• Economy
• Maritime
• Italy