The effect of globalisation on industrial districts in Italy: evidence from the footwear sector

One of the most pervasive and disruptive effects of globalisation is the fragmentation of production processes across countries. This phenomenon is the result of delocalisation strategies pursued by firms in industrialised countries to counter increasing competitive pressures from low labour-cost producers in emerging economies. Many Italian industrial districts are deeply interested by this phenomenon. This paper will be focussed on footwear industrial districts. In the Italian footwear sector the increasing globalisation of production is imposing major changes on the organisation of production: · on the one hand, evidence at a national level shows that increasing international competition is spurring a massive fragmentation of production processes through delocalisation of labour-intensive activities abroad (towards Eastern European countries, mainly Romania); · on the other hand, evidence from a previous study of one of the author on one of the most important footwear clusters ? Riviera del Brenta ? suggests that the overwhelming presence of fashion firms and increasing concentration in distribution is limiting producers? control on some crucial activities, i.e. design, branding, marketing, distribution (Rabellotti R., 2001, ?The effect of globalisation on industrial districts in Italy: the case of Brenta?, IDS Working Paper 144, Institute of Development Studies, Brighton). Overall, these trends are reducing the range of activities carried out within the districts. Consequently, as firms in industrial districts enter international production networks, they are altering their traditional sources of competitiveness, which has traditionally come from intra-cluster relationships. This paper is concerned with the effect of globalisation of production on footwear industrial districts in Italy. The aim is to investigate the changing role of footwear districts within international production networks. The following questions will be tackled: which is the pattern of specialisation of footwear districts in Italy? Is there any common trend towards a reduction of activities carried out within the districts? Or, instead, are different patterns emerging for districts according to their segment of market and according to the value chains they belong to? The paper will explore these issues by analysing the pattern of fragmentation of production in the footwear sector at a regional and ?provincia? level, using data on outward processing trade (OPT) collected by Associazione Nazionale Calzaturifici Italiani (ANCI). This will allow to understand delocalisation strategies by location and to answer the question of whether different trends are emerging at a regional level. By matching this information with the geographical distribution of footwear districts in Italy, it should be possible to throw some light on the pattern of specialisation of different districts. As regards the other trend which might impact on the pattern of specialisation of footwear districts ? such as the emergence of big fashion firms in the luxury segment of the market? and which does not show up in the data, primary source information will be collected through surveys to producers in different footwear clusters, to complement the analysis above.

China's Outward FDI: An Industry-level Analysis of Host Country Determinants

We provide an empirical analysis of host country determinants of Chinese outward FDI for the period 2003 to 2008, using data disaggregated by country and industry. We want to assess the relevance of market-seeking, resource-seeking and strategic asset seeking motivations suggested by the theory on FDI determinants. Our results show that only FDI in manufacturing is attracted by market seeking motivations. As expected, resource seeking is an important motivation for Chinese FDI in resource related sectors, which usually refers to countries with political fragile environments. Strategic asset seeking motivations are relevant for both manufacturing and services.China, foreign direct investment, internationalization, trade-FDI nexus

Do Chinese SOEs and Private Companies Differ in Their Foreign Location Strategies?

We empirically analyze the host-country determinants of Chinese outbound foreign direct investments (ODI) in the period from 2003 to 2008, using disaggregated data by country and sector and distinguishing between State-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately owned firms. Our results show that the pattern of Chinese ODI differs according to corporate ownership. Private firms are attracted by large markets and host-country strategic assets and are averse to economic and political risks when choosing investment locations abroad. Differently, state-owned enterprises follow the strategic needs of their home country and invest more in natural resource sectors, being largely indifferent to the political and economic conditions in the host countries

The effects of globalization on italian industrial districts: evidence from the footwear sector

Collana del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Metodi Quantitativi, Facolt\ue0 di Economia, Universit\ue0 del Piemonte Orientale, Novara

the effects of globalization on italian industrial districts: evidence from the footwear sector

This paper is concerned with the effects of globalisation of production in some footwear Italian districts. The aim is to investigate and compare the position of those districts in the process of fragmentation of production that affected the Italian footwear sector in the last few years. The following questions are tackled: Are Italian footwear districts specialising in some particular phases of the production cycle? Is there any common trend towards a reduction of activities carried out within the districts? Or, instead, are different patterns emerging according to districts’ main segment of market and according to the value chains (top brand, low brand, mass market) they belong to? This study explores these issues by analysing the pattern of fragmentation of production in the footwear sector at provincia level, with data on outward processing trade (OPT) collected by Associazione Nazionale Calzaturieri Italiani (ANCI). Furthermore, it focuses on two case studies, Brenta and Barletta, in order to compare two districts characterised by a specialisation in different segments of the market. In the footwear districts investigated, we find evidence of differences in international delocalisation strategies and argue that these different patterns of specialisation are closely related with clusters’ market position. We suggest that the diverse patterns of specialisation condition the potential for industrial upgrading.

The International specialisation patterns of Italian local economic systems: concentration or diversification?

Collana del Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Metodi Quantitativi, Facolt\ue0 di Economia, Universit\ue0 del Piemonte Orientale, Novara

Chinese Multinationals in Europe

Since 2013, China is the third largest foreign investor in the world and Europe is a major destination for Chinese investing firms, especially the largest European economies where the great majority of their investments are concentrated. In this chapter, we provide a comprehensive map of Chinese Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Europe, taking into account their distribution by country, sector, entry-mode and business activity. The empirical analysis relies on firm-level data compiled from diverse data sources on greenfield investments and Merger & Acquisitions (M&As). We show that Chinese FDI in Europe are very concentrated in a few host countries and in a few sectors, namely automotive, communications, electronics, machinery and engines