Founded in Milan (Italy) in 1980, CSIL is an independent research and consulting company specialised in applied economic research, evaluation of public investment projects, infrastructure project appraisal, support to development programmes and policies, market analysis and SMEs economics. Since its origin, CSIL has been established as a centre of excellence concentrating on the diagnosis and design of sector strategies both for the public and private sectors, and the analysis of factors of competitiveness at regional, national and global levels.
CSIL boasts an empirical and experimental perspective, based on the direct and detailed observation of evidence, attentive to differences and similarities, with a concrete and versatile approach.
CSIL research and consulting activities are driven by the search of hard facts that tell stories that are relevant to our clients. CSIL experts pursue their work with intellectual integrity and a genuine passion for understanding growth and innovation processes.
CSIL professional background encompasses a wide range of experiences at different levels: 26 partners in activity, 8 associated experts, an overall network of 50 experts. The research activities at CSIL are structured around two distinct but interrelated business areas:
CSIL's specialisation in two business areas is reflected in the existence of two working groups, one involving experts with in-depth know-how and professional experience in industry studies and market research, and one with expertise in development and evaluation studies. Nevertheless, the two groups constantly collaborate and interact with each other, with the creation of specific ad-hoc working groups, when projects require the involvement of knowledge and skills from both the research groups.
Consistency and complementarity within the research objectives and methodological tools are ensured by a common statistical office, providing its services to both the business areas, thus putting at disposal the same set of data and offering the same devices, software and methods for data collection and elaboration; a scientific committee, providing the quality control over the methodological approach, ensuring that all the final outputs are of good quality and consistent, and advising on the distribution of tasks and responsibilities.
CSIL approach to economic analysis and evaluation is characterised by the synergetic use of quantitative (econometric models, counterfactual analysis, scenario, and simulation assessment, cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, etc.) and qualitative methodology (structured interviews, e-surveys, in-depth semi-structured interviews, case studies, focus groups). Overall, CSIL experts boast a distinctive blend of theoretical and empirical perspectives which enables them to formulate practice-oriented recommendations that are firmly based on state-of-the-art knowledge and in-depth experience on the ground.
For private clients, CSIL provides valuable information on specific markets and sectors to support new investment, export and trade opportunities. At the global level, CSIL is able to provide analysis of markets, consumer behaviour, supply and demand structures, import-export flows, market shares of leading companies, and distribution networks.
