N. Bellini

Public policies for local networks of innovators

Abstract A rich and heterogeneous literature has recently clarified the nature of agglomerations of small and medium-sized companies (industrial districts, flexible manufacturing networks) interacting in a territory and acting in the open market as efficient competitors against other forms of production organization, such as the traditional vertically integrated firm. Their ability to adjust to uncertain external conditions depends on fthe common culture and diffuse knowledge of the area, which is a sunk cost for those companies. In a policy perspective, the main question concerns the possibility of intervening in a specific context to stimulate the creation and growth of an agglomeration of companies i.e., to establish a “clan” of agents having a common interest in innovation. Technological knowledge will have to be provided as “club good” for the network. There are three elements to be considered in designing such a policy: (1) entry into (admission) and exit from (exclusion) the network; (2) promotion of a positive selection process of innovators within the network; (3) increasing the common knowledge and the specific learning characterizing the network. The aim of public interventions undertaken in the various regions of Europe, but also in several experiments in the US, can be seen as the constitution of “collective agents” or service centers, sponsored by the local public authorities and enterpreneurial associations, to manage collectively the cost of coordination of the entrepreneurial activities necessary for the formation and development of a local network of innovators. The new industrial policy approach of the European Community is explicitly oriented to supporting the local aggregation of new businesses, through the promotion of integrated plans of local intervention.

Learning about innovation in Europe's regional policy

In the good old times scholars and practitioners arguing in favor of a regional dimension of innovation policies felt like being the avant-garde of new, forward-looking thinking against the old-fashioned conventional wisdom, according to which “grand” industrial policy inherently required the full strength of the Nation State or – for some – the new European “super-State”. The former looked for answers from a new territorial and systemic perspective, paying particular attention to SMEs and endogenous capacities rather than searching from exogenous help by, for example, luring inward investment, typically branch plants from multinational companies, through fiscal incentives . At the same time, the emphasis on innovation implied a departure from traditional regional policies, focused on the transfer of resources from “rich” to “poor” areas and on providing basic infrastructures to disadvantaged regions in the name of cohesion objectives.

The Territorial Approach to Cultural Economy: New Opportunities for the Development of Small Towns

In recent years, there has been a notable development of research on the role of culture in regional and local development models and on the relevance of the so-called cultural economy. Despite the existence of several nuances, it is possible to identify two basic research approaches to the issue. The first is focused on analysing the industry of culture, showing the processes of concentration of cultural activities in some places and the links with other sectors of the local economy. The other approach, more oriented towards the territory, emphasizes the role that a system of cultural assets can play in the dynamics of economic and social development of a specific area. In contrast to the first, which concerns larger cities, the territorial approach privileges medium- and small-sized towns and rural areas. In adopting this perspective, we present the case study of Volterra, a small Italian town whose cultural heritage has been considered in recent years as the main local development driver. By means of a direct survey and interviews with opinion leaders, we have attempted to assess the perceptions and reactions of residents and visitors and to identify the connections between the local heritage, cultural activities and strategies of urban development.

Regional economic policies and the non‐linearity of history

Abstract Drawing from the Italian experience, this essay challenges widespread expectations about an increasing role of the regions in economic policy‐making. ‘Non‐linearity’ of such evolution is argued to be the result, first of the complex political dimensions of this process (which is not a mere devolution of powers from the centre, but a bottom‐up building of specific policy dimensions, objectives and tools), and second, of the unclear cost‐benefit balance of decentralizing economic policies. These issues are addressed both in general terms and with specific reference to the Italian case. Here the weakening of political conditions favourable to rapid regionalist reform converge with the growing role of centralist‐minded technocracy and with the diffused awareness of the unresolved problems of present regional institutions. The essay suggests not to expect mechanical adaptations of political institutions to our new understanding of territorial economies.

Tourism and regional economic resilience from a policy perspective: lessons from smart specialization strategies in Europe

ABSTRACT This paper deals with the contribution of tourism to regional economic resilience and questions the ways regional policy-makers recognize the relevance of tourism and integrate it into their regional development strategies (and, in particular, in regional innovation strategies). An exploratory analysis was carried out with a focus on the ‘smart specialization strategy’ documents, issued in Europe as required by the new programming phase of the structural funds. After defining the potential relevance of tourism as factor of regional economic resilience, a list of emerging innovation policies involving tourism was identified and linked to one of the following three types of regional economic resilience: ‘engineering resilience’, ‘ecological resilience’ and ‘evolutionary resilience’.

The Local Embeddedness of Foreign Campuses: The Case of Tongji University in Florence

This article is based on the case study of the establishment of the campus of Tongji University (TU) in Florence, Italy, in 2014. This is the first offshore campus of a Chinese university in a Western country, showing an innovative trend, in particular concerning the legitimacy within the host sociopolitical and economic context. This article frames the case in the scenario of academic internationalization and Chinese higher education. The article analyzes the internationalization strategy of TU and the peculiar evolution of Florence as an “education hub,” and gives a detailed account of the process leading to the establishment of the campus. Conclusions emphasize the innovative features related to Tongji’s choice to follow a delocalized platform approach and to network with local actors. This imposes a more complex view of the impact on the host region.

Tourism in the City

Tourism is undergoing fundamental changes with regard to market, industry structure and the product itself; changes driven by an even more fundamental transition to ‘post-modern’ patterns of consumption that makes tourism one of the benchmarks of modes of production and consumption in the knowledge economy. Tourism plays, quantitatively and qualitatively, an unprecedented role in shaping economic development, while consolidated tourism models should rapidly adapt themselves to a new and changing reality. This chapter introduces and provides the background for the discussion developed in this book, which addresses multiple interconnections between tourism and the city from a policy-oriented research standpoint. After an overview of trends characterising city tourism in the global context, the chapter focuses on Europe, where city tourism has been the most dynamic tourism segment. However, besides EU engagement with the development of a tourism policy framework, urban tourism seems to play a secondary role in the European tourism vision, in which tourism is interpreted as a potential economic alternative for lagging areas where other economic drivers have been historically weak. Through discussion of possible explanations, the chapter develops an analysis of the EU Urban Portal to outline tourism representation in connection with the urban agenda of the European Union and concludes by presenting this book’s structure.

Il Brand Reticolare. Strumenti di analisi per la costruzione di un marchio di luogo

005 Riassunto Muovendo da una rassegna della letteratura, l’articolo si propone di applicare il paradigma relazionale al branding di luogo. Definito il concetto di brand reticolare, gli autori propongono una procedura di analisi per un suo utilizzo nella ricerca empirica. Tale strumento interpretativo e utilizzato nell’analisi del caso Val di Cornia (Toscana), una rete di comuni che cooperano per lo sviluppo locale. Grazie alla social network analysis - che costituisce una novita metodologica in tale ambito di ricerca - gli autori riflettono sulla capacita della rete di favorire un cambio di immagine e, dunque, effetti di re-branding dell’area mediante la definizione di un nuovo spazio fisico da cui vengono estrapolati nuovi elementi identitari. Oltre a testare gli strumenti analitici proposti, i risultati della ricerca consentono di dimostrare l’effettivo processo di re-branding in Val di Cornia e suggeriscono l’importanza di una strategia di marchio ben definita ai fini di una sua sostenibilita.

Industry Modernisation and Beyond

This chapter investigates the most recent trends of industrial policy in Italy and questions to what extent the government led by Matteo Renzi (February 2014 – December 2016) introduced discontinuities – and which these were – in this area of public policy.

Chinese creative entrepreneurs in fashion and luxury: an exploratory case study of a concept store in Beijing

This chapter focuses on the profile of the new generation of Chinese creative entrepreneurs in the fashion and luxury industry and investigates, in an exploratory way, the mix of endogenous factors that support their growth in the specific context of the city of Beijing. Based on a review of the elements characterising the present stage of development of this industry and on the results of interviews of two emerging brands within a concept store hosting them, the authors argue that in the struggle to affirm the positive value of Chinese creativity, this new breed of entrepreneurs is developing a syncretic mix of Chinese, Asian and Western elements rather than proposing a nationalistic rediscovery of Chineseness. A Beijing effect is also visible, giving evidence of the relationship between art and fashion. Finally, their growth and success appears in tune with the government’s domestic and international policy.