Product-level value chains from firm data: mapping trophic levels into economic growth

We reconstruct a product-level input-output network based on firm-level import-export data of Italian firms. We show that the network has a statistically significant, yet nuanced trophic structure, which is evident at the product level but is lost when the classification is coarse-grained. This detailed value chain allows us to characterize the trophic distance between inputs and outputs of single firms, and to derive a coherent picture at the sector level, finding that sectors such as weapons a...