The analysis SOSE carried out within the Industrial Districts Plan was focused on the review of the methodology used by ISTAT (the Italian National Institute of Statistics) to identify and map the industrial districts (IDs).
SOSE’s study of industrial districts is part of an effective collaboration with the Italian National Districts Observatory (OND), the official database created in 2009 by the Federation of Italian Districts and Unioncamere.
From 2009 to 2015, six Reports of the National Observatory were published and SOSE took part in the elaboration of the 2015 edition in collaboration with the Tagliacarne Institute.
The analysis of the evolution of the district policies has had the objective of enhancing the elaboration of industrial policies based on guidelines, opinions and general criteria in order to structure targeted and effective intervention plans on the territory.
The IDs mapping tool was used as a starting point for two projects focused on the empirical study of adaptability to change (resilience) of the district areas:
- territorial resilience and evolutionary trends in IDs: the objective was to analyze the adaptive behavior of local subcontracting networks in industrial districts in response to the processes of internationalization of production triggered by the leading companies in these contexts;
- immigrant entrepreneurship and local networks in the IDs: the analysis observed the impact of immigrant entrepreneurs entering the districts and the evolutionary dynamics of local networks in response to the entry of these new companies. The methodological approach used is a semi-parametric model of survival analysis.
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