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Searching for “rare diamonds”? Industrial districts and innovation in Spain and Italy

Searching for “rare diamonds”? Industrial districts and innovation in Spain and Italy This paper aims to test the existence of the so-called industrial district effect on innovation (iMID effect) in Spain and Italy and to compare the intensity of this effect between both countries. There is previous evidence of this effect for Spain, although, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it has never been measured for Italy.Design/methodology/approachInnovation intensity by local production system is measured using patents per million employees and analysed using the mean, the median, 3D maps and statistical tests.FindingsIndustrial districts generate between a third and a quarter of all technological innovations in Spain and Italy. The evidence about the district effect in innovation in Spain is consistent with previous studies. The novelty is that there is also evidence of this effect for Italy and its intensity is higher than for Spain. Almost one-half of the industrial districts fit in the most innovative quartile of local production systems, and they are located in the most innovative part of each country.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations of this study include minor database issues. Implications include new focus on the general relevance of industrial districts as highly innovative local production systems and top innovators.Practical implicationsReorientation of territorial and innovation policies.Social implicationsEffect on development and well-being through technical progress.Originality/valueThis article provides, for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, a measurement of the industrial district effect on innovation in Italy. The paper compares the results between Spain and Italy and allows for generalization of previous evidence, concluding that highly innovative industrial districts are not “rare diamonds”, revealing as an alternative and an extraordinarily powerful place-based innovation model. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal incorporating Journal of Global Competitiveness Emerald Publishing

Searching for “rare diamonds”? Industrial districts and innovation in Spain and Italy

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
1059-5422
eISSN
1059-5422
DOI
10.1108/cr-11-2021-0155
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This paper aims to test the existence of the so-called industrial district effect on innovation (iMID effect) in Spain and Italy and to compare the intensity of this effect between both countries. There is previous evidence of this effect for Spain, although, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, it has never been measured for Italy.Design/methodology/approachInnovation intensity by local production system is measured using patents per million employees and analysed using the mean, the median, 3D maps and statistical tests.FindingsIndustrial districts generate between a third and a quarter of all technological innovations in Spain and Italy. The evidence about the district effect in innovation in Spain is consistent with previous studies. The novelty is that there is also evidence of this effect for Italy and its intensity is higher than for Spain. Almost one-half of the industrial districts fit in the most innovative quartile of local production systems, and they are located in the most innovative part of each country.Research limitations/implicationsLimitations of this study include minor database issues. Implications include new focus on the general relevance of industrial districts as highly innovative local production systems and top innovators.Practical implicationsReorientation of territorial and innovation policies.Social implicationsEffect on development and well-being through technical progress.Originality/valueThis article provides, for the first time, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, a measurement of the industrial district effect on innovation in Italy. The paper compares the results between Spain and Italy and allows for generalization of previous evidence, concluding that highly innovative industrial districts are not “rare diamonds”, revealing as an alternative and an extraordinarily powerful place-based innovation model.

Journal

Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal incorporating Journal of Global Competitiveness – Emerald Publishing

Published: Nov 15, 2022

Keywords: Technological innovation; Innovation policy; Place-based policy; Marshallian industrial district

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