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
The forces of globalisation now impacting on local economies pose threats to the existing paradigm of competences and routines, yet simultaneously offer opportunities to integrate new knowledge and learning. This is particularly pertinent with respect to Europe's 'mature regions', which are undergoing a major economic restructuring by trying to shift from traditional manufacturing activities to hybrid activities that comprise a combination of manufacturing and a higher component of intangible inputs and related knowledge service activities. The objective of the article is to discuss the concept of 'place leadership' by looking at how the embedded skills, knowledge and cumulated learning of a place can be used by its institutional infrastructure to identify sustainable growth trajectories. In other words, its aim is to explore how the economic, social, institutional and cultural aspects of places shape the opportunities for upgrading and renovation drawing upon their historical specialisation. The conceptual contribution of the article draws on two case studies, in the West Midlands, UK and in Prato, Tuscany, where we study the processes of decision-making, forms of leadership and ultimately the nature of local leadership
One of the relatively neglected aspects of studies of industrial districts is that of processes of innovation and structured change. In the paper, a preliminary theorization is offered, with evidence from a case in Tuscany. The paper concludes that creative capacities embedded at the local level may be valuable in this respect.
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