Gabi Dei Ottati

Cooperation and competition in the industrial district as an organization model

Abstract Starting from the theory of the industrial district, this paper concentrates on the interplay between competition and cooperation characteristic of the industrial district as an organization model. After recalling the wide vertical and horizontal division of labour between firms in the district, it is shown how cooperation based on local custom and investments in personal reputation allows for the coordination of a large part of complementary activities carried out by local independent firms. Subsequently, we see how competition between firms and agents specialized in similar activities drives them towards allocative efficiency and innovation. Finally, the paper focuses on the reciprocal balance between cooperation and competition which is necessary for stability over time in the industrial district.

Economic changes in the district of Prato in the 1980s: Towards a more conscious and organized industrial district

Abstract In previous years the Prato industrial district has attracted much interest from both researchers and policy makers because of its remarkable economic success. But during the 1980s the Prato woollen district underwent a period of difficulties and restructuring. This paper focuses on recent changes, showing how the Prato district was able to diversify promptly and upgrade its products and to introduce organizational solutions capable of ensuring a closer coordination between firms, while maintaining flexibility of production.

An Industrial District Facing the Challenges of Globalization: Prato Today

Industrial districts and clusters of small- and medium-sized enterprises specializing in manufacture are an important feature of the Italian economy (Becattini, G. & Coltorti, F. (2006) Areas of large enterprise and industrial districts in the development of post-war Italy. A preliminary survey, European Planning Studies, 14(8), pp. 1105–1138). The textile district of Prato is an exemplary case of the industrial district model (Becattini, G. (2001) The Caterpillar and the Butterfly. An Exemplary Case of Development in the Italy of the Industrial Districts (Felice Le Monnier: Firenze)), contributing 25% of the Italian exports of woollen products. The paper analyses the recent transformations of Prato facing the winds of globalization and in particular the dual challenge of global pressure from outside the district (due to competition from new industrialising countries) and from inside it (due to an ethnic economy formed by Chinese immigrants). The paper concludes with some recommendations for the revitalization of local development, and sketches a possible course for the Prato district.

The performance of Italian industrial districts and large enterprise areas in the 1990s

Abstract On the basis of economic and population census data and of foreign trade statistics, in this paper we analyse the changes that occurred in the 1990s in the different local production systems that make up the mosaic of the Italian economy. The results of the study show that personal and household goods and light engineering, often made in industrial districts, contributed positively to the Italian balance of trade. Moreover, employment and other economic and social indicators show that industrial district provinces performed better than large enterprise provinces, so refuting the usual interpretation that district small and medium-sized enterprises are responsible for the recent slow down of the Italian economy. Some cues for policy intervention close the paper.

Employment changes in Italy in the 1990s: a comparison between large enterprise areas and industrial districts

We examine the uneven employment changes in the Italian local labour systems (LLSs) in the 1990s. Using the 1991 and 2001 economic census data, we intend to compare the performance of different types of LLS, and particularly those of the industrial districts (IDs) and the large enterprise systems (LESs). The originality of the study lies in the territorial unit of analysis chosen: the 784 Italian LLSs. The analysed data show that, in the 1990s, the Italian IDs proved to be the countrys most dynamic local systems. Moreover, the shift-and-share analysis demonstrates that the local effect in the IDs was positive enough to more than compensate for the negative industry mix. Conversely, in the LESs the local effect was so negative as to determine a total negative effect, despite the positive industry mix. We conclude with an overview of the present situation and the corresponding policy implications.

The Chinese in Prato and the Current Outlook on the Chinese-Italian Experience

Though the origins of Chinese migration to Italy go back almost a whole century all the way to the 1920s at least, chain migration from select areas of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is a much more recent phenomenon. This process can be linked directly to the 1980s when Deng Xiaoping’s ‘reform and opening’ blasted a new path for China’s social, economic and even political development. As the PRC gradually came to embrace free market socialism, it also endeavoured to rekindle its ties with the complex world of the Chinese living overseas. It may have started as a ploy to lure successful Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs back to their motherland, or rather the zǔguo 祖国, ‘the land of the ancestors’, as it is aptly called in Chinese. But right from the start, the move to persuade former citizens of the Republic of China, stranded abroad throughout the internal strife, international conflicts and politics of seclusion that had prevented most of them from coming back for forty years, to declare themselves ‘Patriotic Overseas Chinese’ and do their part for the nation’s progress as citizens of the People’s Republic also had political motives. It was part of a much more ambitious strategy, aimed at taking away spheres of political and economic influence overseas from the rival, ‘rogue’ Republic of China government, which up to the late 1970s had been relatively unchallenged in claiming those faraway patriots as its own.

Distretti industriali italiani e doppia sfida cinese

Italian Industrial Districts and the Twofold Chinese Challenge - In recent decades Italy has seen large-scale inflows of immigrants from the less developed countries, including China. The paper focuses on Chinese immigrants in Italy’s fashion districts. Starting from the industrial district literature, and in particular the specific features of the district model, the causes and possible economic and social consequences of the emergence of an ethnic economy in Italian districts are analysed. General indications for intervention to transform the present challenges into opportunities for new local development in the context of the global economy conclude the paper.

Concluding Remarks: The Benefits of Overcoming Local Liabilities

This concluding chapter summarizes the main results emerging from the book, and highlights the positive aspects to the phenomenon of new forces arriving in an industrial territory. The term native entrepreneurship suggests that the culture of the incumbent community may no longer be the dominant one in the settlement context. This is because globalization endows the transnational communities with a position of strength and/or certain advantages. This chapter briefly summarizes the contributions emerging from the previous chapters. We consider the connections between the contributions, including identifying the most obvious liabilities, and assessing the related costs and the potential benefits. The main finding emerging from the book is that the relationship between native and immigrant entrepreneurship is challenging. The relationship is associated both with local liabilities and with great opportunities. Overcoming the separations between the communities in a settlement presents risks; however, it is necessary and can offer important benefits.

Liabilities of Native and Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the Processes of Globalization

This chapter introduces the main issues addressed in the book by examining the liabilities of native and immigrant entrepreneurship in local contexts from a multidisciplinary perspective. Immigration leads to the presence of different cultures in the same place of settlement. This may push immigrant entrepreneurship into ethnic enclaves because of discrimination and racism. However, through globalization, native entrepreneurship can also lose centrality and become peripheral in global markets compared with the transnational networks. Both groups (immigrants and natives) can experience liabilities of outsidership, and acculturation stress. The local liabilities are associated with costs, competitiveness losses, and missed business opportunities. These liabilities may significantly affect the development of Prato’s industrial district, on which the city’s economic prosperity relies. The liabilities of native and immigrant entrepreneurship are so many and so varied, that they do not solely concern market relationships. Considering the second generation of immigrants adds another layer of complexity to analyzing the local liabilities. The second generation hold great promise for the improved integration of the Chinese community in Prato in the future. The radical social transformation provided by smartphones and similar technologies, can help immigrants to maintain contacts and business with their community of origin. We propose examining the local liabilities of native and immigrant entrepreneurship in terms of degrees of outsidership, rather than from clearly bounded positions of insidership or outsidership. Finally, we compare the disciplinary points, providing a broad context for the chapters that follow.