Abstract
This chapter provides an insight into Italian districts from empirical research that finds its justification in the current unbundling of productive processes and the nature of the economic tissue characterised by the almost exclusive practice of SMEs in highly specialised production areas, known as industrial districts. The strong tie to the socio-cultural features of the region (milieu), would enable districts to foster the sustainable development of local community, and through the implementation of viable business practices enhance their local resources so as to give life to ‘unique and irreplaceable’ competitive models. The survey has been conducted with eight production centres of the typical ‘made in Italy’ supply chains in Campania, a region of southern Italy. The methodology/approach has relied on the analysis of public sources available, as well as on a number of direct interviews with the representatives of both districts and production centres.
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Notes
- 1.
In Italy, the first attempt to specify and coordinate the activity of industrial districts dates back to 1991 according to L. 317 Art.36, which defined them as “the geographic concentration of small-sized enterprises especially considering their strict relationships with local population and their specific business productions”. The task to identify districts was the responsibility of the regions, following the implementing decree of 1993. District specification according to the abovementioned parameters was still difficult to assess even after the L. 140 of 1999. In 2005, both L. 266 and budget law in 2006 under Prodi administration established that a ministerial decree would set the rules for the characterisation of business districts, which were thereby defined as free business aggregations articulated both on a territorial and functional level. Although the implementing decree had never been enforced, the law referred to above introduced two innovative changes: the broadening of the district concept from the manufacturing to the service sector (namely production centres rather than industrial districts), and the shift from a previous legislation ‘top down’ hierarchical to a ‘bottom up’ association-based approach, which defined districts as free business combinations.
- 2.
It is the Italian official districts database set up in 2009 by the Federation of Italian districts and Unioncamere.
- 3.
It is a network coordinated by the regions of Emilia Romagna, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Sardinia and Toscana for sustainable development and territory management.
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De Chiara, A. (2017). Research Methodology and Results. In: Implementing Sustainability Strategies in Networks and Clusters. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40201-7_4
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