Fuori dalla crisi: la capacità competitiva delle imprese del distretto della meccatronica vicentina (Out of the crisis: the firms' competitive capacity in the Vicenza mechatronics district)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7433/s107.2018.07Keywords:
mechatronics; industrial district; competitive capacity; innovation; post crisisAbstract
Purpose of the paper: The paper aims at analyzing the post crisis competitive capacity of firms belonging to Vicenza mechatronics industry, that nowadays represents a strategic sector for pursuing Industry 4.0 objectives. The study wants also to disclosure which firms’ characteristics in the local system allow to reach a certain degree of competitive performance.
Methodology: The study is based on original data collected on a population of mechatronics firms in the first months of 2017. The analysis, integrated also with insights from some qualitative interviews conducted in loco, is mainly based on descriptive statistics and econometric analysis.
Findings: The study underlines important aspects of mechatronics industrial district’s competitive capacity, suggesting that to sustain valuable performances neither is necessary to reach a certain size nor sufficient to invest only in commercial and organizational innovation. Findings suggest that virtuous mechanisms are triggered when 1. innovation with high degree of novelty are introduced, and 2. formalized by patents activities, 3. there is a certain presence of human resources to dedicate to innovation and that can act as interface with the outside world, and 4. network relations at global level are developed.
Research limits: Assessments of firms’ performance are based on entrepreneurs or expert managers’ evaluations. Causality among variables cannot be assessed. Future research could integrate the research results with more objective statistical data related to the years following this first analysis.
Practical implications: The paper provides local entrepreneurs with a useful benchmark and new knowledge about trends in the local system. It gives also some guidelines about which factors may best sustain post crisis competitive positions.
Originality of the paper: This study is based on original data which provide new insight on firms’ trend performances within an industrial district. In particular, the research allows to relate firms’ post crisis competitive position with firms’ characteristics, firms’ innovation activities and firms’ capability to develop network relation both with locals well as international firms and organizations.
References
ANTONELLI C. (1995), Economia dell'innovazione: Cambiamento tecnologico e dinamica industriale, Università Laterza.
BARZOTTO M., CORÒ G., VOLPE M. (2016), “Territorial capital as a company intangible”, Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 17, n.1, pp. 148-167.
BAILEY D., BELLANDI M., CALOFFI A., DE PROPRIS L. (2010). “Place-renewing leadership: trajectories of change for mature manufacturing regions in Europe”, Policy Studies, vol. 31, n. 4, pp. 457-474.
BATHELT H. A., MALMBERG A., MASKELL P. (2004), “Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation”, Progress in Human Geography, vol. 28, n. 1, pp. 31-56.
BECATTINI G. (1998), Distretti industriali e made in Italy, Bollati Boringhieri, Firenze.
BELL M.R., PAVITT K. (1993), “Technological Accumulation and Industrial Growth: Contrasts between developed and developing countries”, Industrial and Corporate Change, vol. 2, n. 2, pp. 157- 210.
BELLANDI M., DE PROPRIS L., SANTINI E. (2018). “An Evolutionary Analysis of Industrial Districts: The Changing Multiplicity of Production Know-How Nuclei”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Online first. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bey012.
BELLANDI M., CALOFFI A. (2016), “Industrial policies in a Marshallian-based multilevel perspective”, European Planning Studies, vol. 24, n. 4, pp. 687-703.
BELUSSI F.E., SEDITA S.R. (2009), “Life Cycle vs. Multiple Path Dependency in Industrial Districts”, European Planning Studies, vol. 17, n. 4, pp 505-528.
BELUSSI F.E., SEDITA S.R. (2012), “Industrial Districts as Open Learning Systems: Combining Emergent and Deliberate Knowledge Structures”, Regional Studies, vol. 46, n. 2, 165-184.
BOSCHMA R., TER WAL A L.J. (2007), “Knowledge Networks and Innovative Performance in an Industrial District: The Case of a Footwear District in the South of Italy”, Industry and Innovation, vol. 14, n. 2, pp. 177-199.
CAINELLI G., EVANGELISTA R., SAVONA M. (2006), “Innovation and economic performance in services: a firm-level analysis”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 30, pp. 435-458.
CASTELLANI D., RULLANI E., ZANFEI A., (2017), “Districts, multinationals and global/digital networks”, Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 44, n. 4, pp. 429-447.
CHAMINADE C., PLECHERO M. (2015), “Do Regions Make a Difference? Regional Innovation Systems and Global Innovation Networks in the ICT Industry”, European Planning Studies, vol. 23, n. 2, pp. 215-237.
CHIARVESIO M., DI MARIA E., MICELLI S. (2010), “Global Value Chains and Open Networks: The Case of Italian Industrial Districts”, European Planning Studies, vol. 18, n.3, pp 333-350.
COHEN W.M., LEVINTHAL D.A. (1990), “Absorptive Capacity: A new Perspective on Learning and Innovation”, Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 35, n. 1, pp. 128-152.
COLOMBO M.G., GRILLI L. (2005), “‘Founders’ Human Capital and the Growth of New Technology-Based Firms: A Competence-Based View”, Research Policy, vol. 34, n.6, pp. 795-816.
COLTORTI F., (2015), “Le medie imprese del settore meccanico elettronico”, in Unioncamere, Osservatorio nazionale distretti italiani. Il nuovo respiro dei distretti tra ripresa e Riposizionamento, Rapporto 2015, pp.105-111.
COLTORTI F., RESCINITI R., TUNISINI A., VARALDO R. (Eds.), (2012), Mid-sized Manufacturing Companies: The New Driver of Italian Competitiveness, Springer, Milano.
DE MARCHI V., DI MARIA E., GEREFFI G. (eds), (2018), Local Clusters in Global Value Chains. Linking Actors and Territories Through Manufacturing and Innovation, Routledge, Abingdon.
DEI OTTATI G. (2009), “An industrial district facing the challenges of globalization: Prato today”, European Planning Studies, vol. 17, n. 1, pp. 1817-35.
FARACE S., MAZZOTTA F. (2015), “The effect of human capital and networks on knowledge and innovation in SMEs”, Journal of Innovation Economics and Management, vol. 1, n. 16, pp. 39-71.
GUSTAVSSON P., HANSSON P., LUNDBERG L. (1999), “Technology, resource endowments and international competitiveness”, European Economic Review, vol. 43, n. 8, pp. 1501-1530.
HALL B.H., LOTTI F., MAIRESSE J. (2009), “Innovation and productivity in SMEs: empirical evidence for Italy”, Small Business Economics, vol. 33, n. 1, pp. 13-33.
INTESA SAN PAOLO, (2015), “Economia e finanza dei distretti industriali”, Direzione Studi e Ricerche, Rapporto annuale, n. 8.
ITAMI H. (1987), Mobilizing Invisible Assets, Harvard University Press, Boston.
MALERBA F. (2005), “Sectoral systems of Innovation: a framework for linking innovation to the knowledge base, structure, and dynamics of sectors”, Economics of Innovation and New Technology, vol. 14, n. 1-2, pp-63-82.
MARSHALL A. (1920), Principles of Economics (eighth edition), Porcupine Press, Philadelphia.
MASKELL P., MALBERG A. (1999), “Localised Learning and Industrial Competitiveness”, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 23, n. 2, pp. 167-86.
MARTIN R., WIIG ASLESEN A., GRILLITSCH M., HERSTAD S.J. (2018), “Regional Innovation Systems and Global Flows of Knowledge”, in Isaksen A., Martin R., Trippl M. (eds), New Avenues for Regional Innovation Systems - Theoretical Advances, Empirical Cases and Policy Lessons, Springer, Cham, pp. 127-47.
MEDIOBANCA E UNIONCAMERE (2015), Le medie imprese industriali italiane (2004- 2013), Milano.
MORRISON A. (2008), “‘Gatekeepers of knowledge’ within industrial districts: who they are, how they interact”, Regional Studies, vol. 42, n. 6, pp. 817-835.
OECD (2005), Oslo Manual: Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Innovation Data, 3rd Edition, OECD Publishing, Paris.
PAVITT K. (1984), “Sectoral Patterns of Technical Change: Towards a Taxonomy and a Theory”, Research Policy, vol. 13, n. 6, pp. 343-373.
PENROSE E.G. (1959), The theory of the growth of the firm, Wiley, UK.
PLECHERO M., RULLANI E. (2007), Innovare. Reinventare il made in Italy, Egea, Milano.
PLECHERO M., CHAMINADE C. (2013), “The Influence of Micro-Characteristics in Different Modes of Globalization of Innovation: A Comparative Study of Indian (Pune) and Chinese (Beijing) Firms”, Industry and Innovation, vol. 20, n.7, pp. 661-682.
PORTER M. (1990), The Competitive Advantage of Nations, The Free Press, New York, NY.
RABELLOTTI R., CARABELLI A., HIRSCH G. (2009), “Italian Industrial Districts on the Move: Where Are They Going?”, European Planning Studies, vol. 17, n. 1, pp. 19-41.
RICCIARDI A. (2013), “I distretti industriali italiani: recenti tendenze evolutive”, Sinergie, n. 91, pp. 21-58.
RULLANI E. (2004), Economia della conoscenza. Creatività e valore nel capitalismo delle reti, Carocci Editore, Milano.
RULLANI E. (2010), Modernità sostenibile. Idee, filiere e servizi per uscire dalla crisi, Marsilio Editori, Venezia.
RULLANI E. (2015), “Distretti e filiere in evoluzione”, in Unioncamere (2015) Osservatorio nazionale distretti italiani. Il nuovo respiro dei distretti tra ripresa e Riposizionamento, Rapporto 2015, pp.76-101.
SEDITA S.R., DE NONI I., PILOTTI L. (2017), “Out of the crisis: an empirical investigation of place-specific determinants of economic resilience”, European Planning Studies, vol. 25, n. 2, pp. 155-180.
TEECE D.J. (1980), “Economies of scope and the scope of the enterprise”, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, vol. 1, n. 3, pp. 223-247.
UNIONCAMERE (2014), Osservatorio nazionale distretti italiani. Idee, esperienze e progetti per rafforzare o ricostruire la competitività dei territori.
UNIONCAMERE (2015), Osservatorio nazionale distretti italiani. Il nuovo respiro dei distretti tra ripresa e Riposizionamento.
UNIVERSITAS MERCATORUM (2013), Il modello di organizzazione e gestione della sicurezza semplificato per le aziende del distretto veneto della meccatronica, Universitas Mercatorum, Roma.
VARALDO R. (2014), La nuova partita dell’innovazione. Il futuro dell’industria in Italia, Il Mulino, Bologna.
WERNEFELT B. (1984), “A resource-based view of the firm”, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 5, n. 10, pp. 171-180.
WILLIAMS R. (2006), “Generalized ordered logit/partial proportional odds models for ordinal dependent variables”, Stata Journal, vol. 6, n. 1, pp. 58-82.
