Globalization and Institutional Change in Italian Industrial Districts

Abstract

During the 1980s and 1990s, Italian industrial districts and their internal economic structure became a major field of academic inquiry in the social sciences, receiving a lot of attention as an alternative regional industry configuration that successfully resisted the trend toward mass production and large-firm dominance during the Fordist era. Especially the so-called Third Italy was celebrated for its ability to achieve growth on the basis of an agglomeration of small and medium-sized firms that were closely linked through regional production networks (

Prerequisites and initial developments for economic specialization in lagging regions—A study of specialized villages in Iran

“…Especially the older industrial district literature provides information on the preconditions and early developments, which will be used below, while the new literature focuses on restructuring and adaptation to global developments (e.g. Bathelt and Conserva 2018). A lifecycle approach to industrial districts is provided by Belussi and Sedita (2009).…”

Institutional context and place‐based policy: The case of Coventry & Warwickshire

“…With the distinction of different types of interdependence, it is now possible to better assess the degree of alignment and synchrony among institutions as well as between institutions, actors and policies in a specific institutional context. Institutional analysis may contribute to the lack of knowledge regarding the coherence of an institutional context during periods of relative stability (Pike et al, ) as well as its tensions during periods of change (Bathelt & Conserva, ; Benner, ; Glückler & Lenz, ; Hacker et al, ; Sánchez & Glückler, ; Streeck & Thelen, ). Hence, the analysis of the institutional context includes the identification of the crucial categories in each of its pillars and the assessment of the quality of interdependence between these pillars.…”

“…Acemoglu and Robinson () argue that inclusive rather than extractive institutions pave the way for enduring social and economic prosperity. Whereas some studies address the detrimental effects of extractive institutions on economic development (Crescenzi, Di Cataldo, & Rodríguez‐Pose, ; Jiménez, Villoria, & García Quesada, ), others explore how institutions help regions to respond to regulatory rigidities in the context of technological (Bathelt & Conserva, ; Moodysson & Sack, ) or societal change (Sánchez‐Hernández & Glückler, ). Apart from extreme cases of corruption or nepotism, however, it is neither easy to qualify institutions as generally good or bad nor to assess the existence and magnitude of their impact on focal social outcomes.…”