Perspectives on Mature Marshallian Industrial Districts

Industrial districts growing in various industrialized countries and regions after the golden age of mass production, in the second half of the twentieth century, have shown a re-emergence of forces of local development. The success stories, in particular those more peculiar and consistent as forms of industrial and social organization, like many Italian cases, have asked and favored the definition of apposite concepts and frames of interpretations. A strong basis of theoretical refinement was extracted from Alfred Marshall’s reflections on the role and working of industrial districts before the golden age of mass production. A well-known refinement is the model of the so-called Marshallian industrial district (MID). Sustained trajectories of success gravitating around the logic of such model have resulted in what may be intended as cases of typical mature industrial districts. They have been confronting since the end of the last century with the effects of a new wave of globalization challenges. It is argued in this paper that MID general structural and dynamic characters encompass a large set of empirical cases, in particular those of typical mature IDs reacting progressively, in terms of innovation and internationalization, to contemporary challenges and de-maturing. They find their way and combine old and new characters, still within the model. However, the MID’s borders may be trespassed as well, as the MID logic coalesces with other logics of industrial and social organization.Marshallian industrial districts; contemporary innovation and internationalization challenges

The Demand for Wines: Variety and Region Effects

Demand and Price Analysis,

Comparing Travel Cost Models and the Precision of their Consumer Surplus Estimates: Albert Park and Maroondah Reservoir.

This study examines different types of Travel Cost Models to estimate and compare the recreational values of two parks in Victoria, Australia: Maroondah Reservoir and Albert Park. Zonal Travel Cost models and a number of different functional forms are used in this study. Standard errors are used to estimate upper and lower bounds for the recreational value estimates, enabling comparison between the precision of the different types of Travel Cost Models and functional forms estimated. The double log functional form city zone Travel Cost Model provides the most precise estimate for Albert Park's recreational value at $19.2 million per year. Maroondah Reservoir's most precise estimate is provided by the double log functional form regional zone Trave Cost Model at a value of$2.2 million per year, considerably less than that of Albert Park. Albert Park is found to have a comparatively larger 'proximity power' (attracting many more visitors) while Maroondah Reservoir exhibited a larger degree of 'pulling power' (a higher proportion of its visitors travel further distances).COSTS ; CONSUMERS ; TRAVEL

The origins of Made in Spain fashion. The competitive advantage of the textile, apparel and footwear districts since the Golden Age

This paper explores the sources of competitive advantage of the Spanish export industrial districts that specialised in textile, apparel and footwear products. It shows that most of the nowadays outstanding Spanish firms in fashion-related international markets emerged from 1980s districts. Using a new database, the paper concludes that by then there were as many neo-Marshallian exporting districts dominated by small firms as hub-firm districts coordinated by medium-large companies. This probably allowed the latter to combine the advantages derived from Marshallian external economies (i.e. non-codified knowledge, subsidiary industries and specialized labour force) with those connected to leading firms organizational capabilities.fashion, inheritance, industrial district, textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, competitive advantage, leading firms, clusters

Chandlerian Firms vs. Entrepreneurship

This paper employs an original dataset for 146 US metropolitan areas to test some propositions that characterize two different models of organizing firms and industries: the managerial firm, epitomized by the work of Alfred Chandler, and the entrepreneurial system, recently highlighted by many authors. We discuss the reasons why, compared to the entrepreneurial systems, the Chandlerian world entails a lower spread of managerial salaries, greater product diversification, and a greater degree of products “exploitation” vs “exploration”. If there are knowledge spillovers, the entrepreneurial model produces higher expected managerial salaries. By providing systematic evidence about their characteristics, our study contributes to our understanding of the nature, the comparative advantages, and the potential division of labor between the two models.Chandlerian Firms, Entrepreneurship, Diversification, Technology

The structure of Australian residential energy demand

This paper presents the first national-level econometric estimates of the residential energy demand system for Australia. We estimate an Almost Ideal (AI) demand system for electricity, gas, and other miscellaneous fuels (mainly oil and wood) using quarterly data for both the country as a whole and for a panel of the five most populous States. The national data set covers the period from 1969 Q3 to 1998 Q2, while the state level data is only available from 1984 Q3 onwards. According to the national-level data, the pairs of electricity and miscellaneous fuels and gas and miscellaneous fuels are significant substitutes, whereas electricity and gas - the two main fuels - may be complements. The panel model, in contrast, finds significant substitution possibilities between gas and miscellaneous fuels only. The cross-price elasticities between electricity and gas are positive but not significant. The gas own-price elasticity is zero in the national model and unit elastic in the panel model. A national model estimated over the same shorter time period still shows complementarity between electricity and natural gas but most results are insignificant. Both large time-series and cross-sectional dimensions are valuable in estimating elasticities. Compared to North American estimates, our results show greater own price and income elasticities for natural gas and the miscellaneous category. They also show more substitutability between natural gas and the miscellaneous category.

What drives innovativeness in industrial clusters? Transcending the debate

Industrial clusters, Regional agglomerations, Technological learning

Trade, Foreign Investment, and Industrial Policy

During the last three decades, developing countries have made enormous strides in opening up their protected domestic markets to international trade and foreign investment. Yet most countries have not simply opened up their markets. They have also instituted a range of policies to encourage exports, attract foreign direct investment(FDI), promote innovation, and favor some industries over others. This leads to the following question: is openness to trade and FDI alone sufficient to achieve high growth rates in developing countries? If harnessing the gains from globalization requires additional policies, can we identify them? While some types of complementary policies, such as building roads and ports, are not controversial, others are. Bhagwati's suggestion to "attract foreign funds" implies tilting incentives in favor of foreign investors, which means abandoning policy neutrality. Our goal in this chapter is to explore the popular but controversial idea that developing countries benefit from abandoning policy neutrality vis-a-vis trade, FDI and resource allocation across industries.Trade, Foreign Investment, Industrial Policy, Developing Countries

Smart Specialisation Strategies for Supporting Europe 2020 Vision. Looking at the American Experience: the Case of the Boston Area

These reflections aim to highlight the crucial challenge that European Regions are called to face applying the ‘Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization’ policy for pursuing the virtuous implementation of EU Cohesion Policy and ‘Europe 2020’ Agenda. The original cultural style of the ‘US Smart Specialization model’, supported by the ‘cluster theory’ and the ‘innovation paradigm’, represents a significant lesson in Boston area