Changing directions in Italy's manufacturing industrial districts

1996 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Nun ◽  
Giulio Caineilli
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Districts

Industrial districts and local governance in the Italian experience

1999 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-139
Author(s):  
Maurizio Mistri
Keyword(s):  
Political Behavior ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Small Enterprises ◽  
Local Growth ◽  
Italian Experience ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

This paper focuses on the problem of the governance of industrial districts in Italy. The analysis begins with an assessment of the dynamic processes that characterize the development of industrial districts, particularly as concerns the elements of a cultural nature. The relationship between local political attitudes and forms of local growth is considered, generally revealing how in the various practical examples there is a convergence between models of political behavior and the needs of the system of small enterprises. The paper ends with a brief discussion of the law 317/91, designed to establish the responsibilities and roles of the industrial districts.

Networking, strategic positioning and creative knowledge in industrial districts

2000 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luciano Pilotti
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Division Of Labour ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Cognitive Resources ◽  
Useful Knowledge ◽  
Italian Case ◽  
Industrial Leadership ◽  
Differentiated Learning

This work is the last part of a unitary framework of analysis, the first part of which was published in HSM, Special Issue, Vol. 18, No. 2. The principal aim of the analysis is the pattern of transformation of local production systems. They are discussed as a complex institutional form of the division of labour and knowledge between firms by means of institutions and meta-organisers as actors of a post-Fordist local economy. A specific production system is defined as a peculiar governance form of interrelations, mediated by cognitive resources such as internal/external competencies of a population of firms localised in a sharing context. In this way there emerges a process of internalisation of competencies through evolutionary networking in which efficiency is not simply an output but a fundamental input for both growth and innovation. Our aim is to describe the peculiarity of the institutional networking system in the Italian case of Northeast industrial districts, assuming that a specific industrial economy evolves on the basis of differentiated learning capacities according to a complex system of economic and social relations, encouraging the circulation of useful knowledge and information for the economic enlargement based on industrial leadership and firm networks: they form a complex and dynamic Multilevel Neural Network. Two main types of district emerge: the evolutionary district (e.g., Montebelluna, specialised in ski-boot production) and non evolutionary static and adaptive districts (e.g., Maniago, specialised in knife production), where we find limited leadership and limited division of labour between firms.

Golden Opportunities: Jewelry Making in Birmingham between Mass Production and Specialty

2003 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 272-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Carnevali
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Mass Production ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
Product Market ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Mass Consumption ◽  
Industrial History ◽  
Flexible Specialization ◽  
Productive System ◽  
History Of

Narratives of flexible specialization as an alternative to mass production are largely absent from the industrial history of twentieth-century Britain. In this article, I challenge the notion that we should relegate small firms and industrial districts to a marginal place in the historiography of this period. Drawing from a range of sources, I explore the history of Birmingham's jewelry makers to show how they adapted the traditional productive system of the district to respond in a dynamic way to the challenges of rapid product market differentiation. As jewelry increasingly became a commodity for mass consumption, the firms in the Birmingham district used a combination of specialty and mass production as a strategy to both satisfy and create demand.

Medium‐size enterprises in industrial districts: an exploratory study

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Zanni ◽  
Barbara Aquilani ◽  
Michela Magliacani
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Industrial Districts

Human capital in the industrial districts

2001 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 319-331
Author(s):  
F. Xavier Molina-Morales
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Ceramic Tile ◽  
Firm Strategy ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Industrial Districts ◽  
Industrial District ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Degree Of Control

This paper focuses on the creation of human capital in the industrial districts. I argue that the recent firm strategy perspectives may explain regional (district) differences. In this context human resources are critical to creation and dissemination of the knowledge-based resources. I further distinguish between the degree of control and ownership of resources and transferable and non-transferable human capital. Using this conceptual framework I analyze industrial district addressable non-transferable resources. This paper suggests that firms should take on a more active role in creating and exploiting local addressable human resources. The paper ends by describing an illustrative example: the Spanish ceramic tile industry.

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