Rethinking the industrial district: 35 years later (original) (raw)
Related papers
New forms of industrial districts
Economia e Politica Industriale
The industrial district may be seen as a species hosting not only many different cases, but also, more generally, some ideal-typical forms that characterize different historical contexts. The form that, according to previous contributions, seems to emerge in contemporary contexts of advanced economies under globalisation, technological and societal challenges, is the so-called Mark 3 ID. This paper expands precisely on differential features, contexts, and factors of strength and weakness of ID Mark 3. The thought of Giacomo Becattini, in particular his conception of the Marshallian industrial district, is assumed as a central reference point. The Mark 3 ID is discussed in this paper under the frame of such conception of industrial organization and development, centred on place-specific collective capital and specialized small-to-medium sized firms.
A Handbook of Industrial Districts
2009
Industrial districts and large firms: The stubborn persistence of a 'weak' productive model Andrea Colli SECTION 2. FROM THE ENGLISH ROOTS TO THE ITALIAN REVIVAL Introduction by Tiziano Raffaelli 6. Forerunners of Marshall on the industrial districts Peter Groenewegen 7. Industrial districts in Marshall's economics Brian J. Loasby vi Contents 8. External and internal economies 90 Neil Hart 9. The Italian revival of industrial districts and the foundations of political economy 103 Renzo Bianchi 10. The Italian revival of industrial districts and the foundations of industrial policy 111
2011
The spatial implications of fordist and district-based patterns of development have had a profound effect on the debate about the role of the city. While the city is reputed to be the crucial provider of basic public goods within the fordist model, its role seems more nuanced, if not disputable, when the district model prevails. This disregard for the city is probably due (a) to the fact that the revival of the debate on marshallian districts has placed strong emphasis on the agglomeration economies internal to the districts themselves, while relatively omitting the urban ones, when not emphasising the burden of urban diseconomies; (b) to the countryside roots of most district pioneers. The quarrel was further fuelled with the advent of ICTs, the fragmentation of the productive processes and the possibility of displacing phases at a global level. The paper argues that this is only the early part of the history. The advent of ICTs has had not only functional although important conseq...
Italian Industrial Districts: Theories, Profiles and Competitiveness
Management and Organizational Studies, 2017
The paper is a contribution to the debate about the theoretical aspects, the structure, and the competitiveness of Italian industrial districts. The work first examines the theoretical strand on industrial districts ranging from Marshall to Becattini, and focusing on the contemporary distrettualism of Giacomo Becattini, where the district is essentially a socioeconomic construct and an important localized productive system. Furthermore, the paper offers an updated picture of the Italian industrial districts as they are represented in the 2011 Census by the National Statistics Institute. Finally, this study underlines the resilient competitive capacity of this typical form of industrial organization. Then, through empirical literature, it analyzes the Italian district companies, and their performance and success in foreign markets, especially with regard to " Made in Italy " products.
The Industrial District and the 'New' Italian Economic Geography
European Planning Studies, 2002
The industrial district is one of the theoretical concepts by which Italian economic geography has rede ned a large part of its scienti c and methodological status. The successful of industrial district is linked to the explanation of the Italian model of light industrialization, that is to the role played by small rms in Italian manufacturing industry. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to know that industrial district was introduced as a theoretical paradigm to stress the territoriality of the production process and the gain of productiveness and innovativeness for the rm which sources from the embedding of economic activity within the local society where the production takes place. Support for this approach is found in the Marshallian external economies. This article addresses the importance of industrial district from the point of view of this neo-Marshallian reading of the organization of production. This framework of reference provides the basis for the formulation and implementation of local policies which recast traditional economic, social and infrastructural ones as specialist policies aimed at the creation of the institutional and environmental conditions for the competitiveness of places.
2009
Industrial districts – and especially industrial districts in Italy – have been put forth as a model of economic development premised on the deep rooting of firms in a local socio-economic system that is both rich in skills and tied into international flows of goods and knowledge. But there is also a sense today that those districts are in transformation, that globalization has put them “on the move.” This has led some to question whether a model that is becoming many models can still in fact be a model. In this paper, we use a study of the Modenese mechanical district – an archetypical industrial district – to examine this “movement.” We argue that when properly understood the Italian districts do still offer lessons that are generalizable to other regional economies. We show that the district in question is changing, and show in particular that there has been a rise to prominence in the district of relatively small multinational firms. These are changes that are not atypical of in...
Three Generations of Industrial districts
Investigaciones Regionales - Journal of Regional Research, 2015
The paper presents a theoretical framework for understanding the evolution of industrial districts from Marshall’s conceptualisation to today’s realities and theorisations of the industrial district as model of industrial organization and development. We discuss three generation of industrial districts: the first generations of districts were the seedbeds for the first industrial revolution. The second generations corresponded to the re-emergence of industrial districts in advanced and industrialised countries during the second half of the twentieth century, after the golden age of mass production. The current and third generation is being revealed resorting to scholarly observation. We will argue that each generation of industrial districts have emerged and grown in correspondence with specific technological, institutional and market conditions. Some evidence from the Italian case is presented.
Introduction: Rethinking industrial districts in the XXI Century
Investigaciones Regionales - Journal of Regional Research, 2015
Why a special issue to rethink industrial districts in the XXI Century? This is a good question. In our experience, many scholars and policy makers associate the industrial district with a production system that flourished in the latter half of the twentieth century but is currently outdated. Economists and policy makers do not hide their preference for producing high-tech manufacturing and advanced services rather than shoes, clothes or ceramic tiles. Yet in countries like Italy or Spain, an enormous percentage of trade in added value still depends today on the production of their industrial districts. And do not forget that the first signs of recovery in both economies were detected in the foreign sector, boosted by the exports of industrial districts.
ITALIAN INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS: A MODEL OF SUCCESS OR A WEAK PRODUCTIVE SYSTEM?
Italian industrial districts: a model of success or a weak productive system? , 2012
The present contribution focuses on two issues. The first one concerns the characteristics of industrial districts and the increasing weight of these districts in the Italian system of production. The second issue is about the competitiveness of the Italian industrial districts, if they represent a model of success or rather a weak system of production. Thus, the transformation of the industrial districts is examined and the strengths and weaknesses are highlighted. One argument that comes out of this investigation is that industrial districts are strongly influenced by institutions, territory, and also by the social and cultural environment. The second argument regards the competitiveness of this Italian industrial development model, based on SMEs, which is founded on the specialization of productions, on innovation and internationalization. The paper argues that this model, which represents the “Made in Italy”, is still a strong and dynamic system which has shown good performances and it represents a paradigm of lasting competitiveness, even if it is restrained by many external chronic constraints.