C. Sellar, T. Lan “Banks, Services, and the State: the infrastructure supporting Italian SMEs abroad (original) (raw)

2019, Salvatore, F. (ed.) Atti del XXXII Congresso geografico italiano “L’apporto della geografia tra rivoluzioni e riforme

Investigations of cluster-networks have studied the structure of spatial networks generated by firms’ value chains, between clusters, between city regions, and across different sectors. These discussions focus on the types of linkages and relationships that develop between cluster and the effects these linkages have on cluster performance and competitiveness. This paper focuses on the role of banks, together with service firms and state agencies such as ICE and various others that provide Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the services needed to operate over long distances. In so doing, we identify two gaps in the literature: first, the scarce treatment of knowledge transmission over long distance, and second, the lack of explanation of how internationalizing firms, especially SMEs, embed themselves in the host regional economies. This paper makes two contribution to the literature. First, it detects a cross-scalar and cross-sectoral service infrastructure that facilitate both long distance knowledge transmission and firms’ embeddedness. Such infrastructure began developing in the mid-1990s, the demand generated by manufacturers in the sending cluster led to internationalization in the banking, aimed at following clients. Once there, mergers and acquisitions and business opportunities expanded Italian banks to new clients and geographical areas, covering entire macro regions. After a certain point, banks would connect with service firms, corporate leaders, and also branches of ICE and other state agencies to build linkages of their own in key urban economies. By the mid-2000s or later according to the geographical area, these actors established communities of professionals supporting Italian manufacturers. This paper calls these communities ‘investment promotion communities’ (IPC). The second contribution consist in analyzing the relationship between internationalizing SMEs and IPC, showing the extent to which IPC have a common structure in different host regional economies vs. the extent to which they adapt to the local conditions.