After the Three Italies: Wealth, Inequality and Industrial Change

List of Figures xi

List of Tables xiv

Series Editors’ Preface xvii

Preface and Acknowledgements xviii

List of Abbreviations xxiii

1 Introduction: Growth, Inequality and the Territorial Division of Labour 1

Areal differentiation and development models 1

After the Three Italies 8

A new economic geography of uneven development 12

The structure of the book 15

2 Convergence, Divergence, Regional Economic Performance and the New Economic Geographies 17

Analyzing regional economic performance 17

Convergence or divergence 20

Territorial divisions of labour 26

Conclusions 39

3 Theorizing Regional Economic Performance and the Changing Territorial Division of Labour: Value Chains, Industrial Networks, Competition and Governance 41

Introduction 41

Basic and nonbasic industries 42

Explaining the dynamics of activities serving wider markets 43

Enterprises and their environment: establishing the frontiers/boundaries of the firm 50

Enterprises and their environment: interfirm relations 52

Modes of governance and growth 58

Conclusions 61

4 Growth and Inequality: The Political Economy of Italian Development 64

Introduction 64

Italy’s economy in its European and Mediterranean context 65

Official statistics, unrecorded activities and the measurement of output 70

GDP, net transfers and regional income 76

Territorial inequality in Italy at the turn of the millennium 80

Catching up, falling behind, surging ahead and losing ground: trends in Italian regional development 87

Conclusions 90

5 Institutional Dynamics and Regional Performance 92

Introduction 92

The institutional configuration and the characteristics of Italian capitalism 93

Institutional context and territorial development dynamics 97

Crime and territorial development 102

Changes in the 1990s: the political scene 104

Changes in the 1990s: the system of governance 107

Changes in the 1990s: debt reduction and privatization 111

Changes in the 1990s: territorial development policies 113

Concluding remarks: the implications of recent trends 124

6 Italian Regional Evolutions 128

Introduction 128

Italian regional evolutions 130

Comparative regional development 140

Comparative provincial development 147

Employment, productivity and investment 149

Economic specialization, exports and international integration 155

After the Three Italies: the origins and limits of the district model 159

Conclusions 169

7 Industrial Change and Regional Development: The Changing Sectoral Profile of Regional Development and the Evolving Regional Profile of Industrial Change 170

Introduction 170

The sectoral profile of regional economies 170

Sectoral structures and uneven development 173

The changing geography of vehicle manufacturing in Italy and the world 187

The changing geography of chemical manufacturing in Italy and the world 200

Conclusions 207

8 Globalization, Industrial Restructuring and the Italian Motor Vehicle Industry 209

Introduction 209

The FIAT Group: changing functions in the value chain and changing chains 210

Globalization and market-seeking investments 216

FIAT in Italy: technological and organizational upgrading and geographies of production 225

Outsourcing, redefining corporate boundaries and restructuring the supply chain 230

Crisis, markets and models 236

Conclusions 242

Afterword 243

9 Reconfiguring Industrial Activities and Places: The Italian Chemical Industry 244

Introduction 244

The Italian chemical industry and its changing position in the wider European and world context 245

History and characteristics of the Italian chemical industry 252

Trajectories of restructuring 255

The role of SMEs 262

Another aspect of the new international division of labour: foreign companies in Italy 264

Experiences and regional impacts of restructuring: the disengagement of the chemical industry in Puglia 266

From growth pole to industrial cemetery: the disengagement of the chemical industry from Basilicata 271

Conclusions 280

10 Conclusions and Further Remarks 282

Introduction 282

Geography as a spatial expression of a social order 282

Geography and development models 283

Contemporary perspectives on industrial change and regional economic performance 284

Theorizing industrial change and regional inequality: profit strategies and value chain upgrading 286

Areal differentiation and uneven development in Italy: from the north–south divide to the Three Italies and after 288

Economic decline and the limits of the district model 290

Industrial and regional performance 293

Conclusions: inequalities, territorial divisions of labour and profit strategies 294

References 296

Notes 312

Appendices 318

Subject Index 335

Author Index 343