Mauro Lombardi

The evolution of local production systems: the emergence of the "invisible mind" and the evolutionary pressures towards more visible "minds"

The aim of this paper is to propose an explanation of the changes of dynamic matching between systemic properties of local production systems (LPS) and characteristics of the competitive environment. An evolutionary sequence travelled during the last three decades by Italian LPS is identified and an explanation of long-term dynamics is based on how information flows and knowledge are structured within a local environment. The “traditional” pattern of interlocking behaviours of different agents is defined as cognitive architecture, which evolutionarily emerges as invisible mind. Evolutionary pressures lead new patterns of relationships and interlocking behaviours, which we define as a tendency for more visible “minds” to assert themselves.

The Role of Leading Firms in the Evolution of SME Clusters: Evidence from the Leather Products Cluster in Florence

Abstract Clusters that emerged in the past have changed during the latest decades, so that today the research challenge in economic geography is on their evolution over time. The aim of this paper is to update the evolutionary path of SME Italian clusters, which faced the economic crisis are undergoing a process of decline in the number of firms. Furthermore, changes in the techno-economic landscape and in the competitive environment have generated new challenges. In this context, some leading firms, able to connect local resources (and firms) to global networks, have emerged over time and today they act as a gatekeeper. The focus will be on local networks interacting with leading firms and particular attention will be devoted to the pattern of co-evolution and to the geographical dimension of this co-evolutionary process. To empirically verify if other firms in the cluster may co-evolve with the leading firm over time, a deep analysis of the Gucci network in the leather products cluster in Florence will be carried out.

Cognitive models, efficiency, and discontinuities in the evolution of Industrial Districts and Local Production Systems

In this study, a research hypothesis on Local Production Systems (LPS) is developed on the basis of theoretical statements introduced in Lombardi (2000a). Starting from the results of empirical inquiries carried out recently by many scholars, we continue the objective of delineating a long-term trajectory of their development (Sections 6.1-6.4) on the one hand, and on the other, investigate potential future trajectories by analysing emerging properties during the ongoing transition process (Section 6.5).

Meccanismi evolutivi nella dinamica dei sistemi di imprese

In order to understand the evolution of the systems of firms it is important to single out the factors, causing aggregation and decomposition processes among units operating within a production cycle. The following analysis aims at defining these factors by studying information processing mechanisms moving from an atypical view: the production process as an abstract sequence of discrete units. Necessary principles to organize a sequence architecture are thus defined, above all according to the ways of determining the basic parameters in the development of production phases; indeed, two models of adaptation processes among the production phases are described: selective systems and top-down systems. The concept of evolutionary hierarchies, basic to both models, allows to define two mechanisms (specific variants, rearrangement of routines), acting within the evolutionary processes of sets of units. Finally, the analysis of the relationships between evolutionary mechanims and environmental characteristics allow to show factors (coordination requirements and coordination costs), which are essential to explain evolutionary patterns of systems of firms.

Le traiettorie reticolari dell’innovazione territoriale

Traditions of studies dating back to Marshall, Porter and Krugman interpreted Local socio-economic systems (LSS) mainly considering the spatial proximity of the actors. It was the local anchorage that enabled an increase in specific forms of external economies, competitive advantages and endogenous dynamics. Therefore, in the last decades, these local systems have gone through multiple changes in a multi-dimensional scale. The new structural connotations - including cognitive proximity, the task-based competition, the complementarity of formal contracts and informal agreements in business partnerships, trans-local networks - require a different theoretical framework and involve different policy implications. The theoretical framework focuses on co-evolution of technologies, organizational models, cultures and institutions. Among the multiple trajectories made possible by the co-evolution, each SSL is both related to a socio-technical system that restricts its dynamics of change, and plugged into paths along which can access in a discontinuous way to far techno-economic horizons. Therefore the policy implications must refer to innovative trajectories that the existing global socio-technical transition makes possible for a specific group of SSL, which is Tuscany in our case. At the strategic and operative level – considering political and social limits of the society we are considering - we try to catch some “bottlenecks” which obstruct the perception and the pursuit of long-term collective interests. These blocks relate to myopia, both of entrepreneurs and of public institutions, in respect of the scientific-technical potential and effectively evolutionary paths that would be convenient to take; the inadequacy of institutional forms within which commons are produced and managed; the lack of appropriate ways to capitalize innovative enterprises. For each of these lock-in we make constructive and viable proposals.

Forme evolutive dei sistemi di produzione in base a strutture di interazione tra moduli. Una proposta di esplorazione nello spazio delle configurazioni modulari

Modularity has gained recently a great attention as an explanation of the contemporary trends of industrial dynamics, according to which production processes relying on external market-based interactions have become predominant over those relying on internal bureaucracy-based interactions. Starting from these general considerations in this paper we try to provide an answer to the following two questions: is there any relationship between the variations of the competitive environment and the predominance of certain types of configurations? In the affirmative case, is it possible to predict which configurations shall prevail in given competitive conditions? In order to answer to these questions, in this paper we present a model which tries to explain the competitive predominance of different modular configurations, when these are subject to a trade-off with respect to the kind of innovation strategies they can put into practice. In particular through a set of agent-based simulations we verify two hypotheses. The first one is the lower efficacy of decentralized configurations in developing complex innovations, as suggested by a recent strand of literature which has modelled innovation as a discovery process on fitness landscapes. The second one is the comparative advantage of centralized configurations, which occurs, for all levels of complexity, when the returns of innovation are lower. According to our model, when these conditions occur in a competitive context, the limits of markets are likely to become apparent.