European Territorial Trends - Facts and Prospects for Cities and Regions Ed. 2017

This report analyses a set of territorial trends at continental and sub-national scale, looking at patterns and determinants of regional growth, while considering pan-European and national characteristics. Past and prospective demographic and economic trends are analysed to provide a picture of ‘what, where, when and how’ things happen in European cities and regions. Specific emphasis is placed on urban areas since acknowledged sources of both opportunities and challenges. The indicators used in the analysis herein presented are freely and openly accessible in the Territorial Dashboard of the Knowledge Centre for Territorial Policies at: http://urban.jrc.ec.europa.eu/t-board/index.htmlJRC.B.3-Territorial Developmen

The spatial aspects of fairness

As well as their family background, an individual's chances in life are determined by the opportunities available to them in their geographical context. This chapter therefore deals with the spatial aspects of fairness. It focuses, firstly, on socio-economic factors which are not randomly distributed in space (i.e. they have a geographical pattern). Secondly, it focuses, not on first nature geographical differences which cannot be changed (such as the presence of mountains), but on second nature geographical factors (such as access to basic services or hospitals) which can be altered and which are important in overcoming a region's natural disadvantages. It then links the two

Quality agro-food districts, typical products, local governance

The paper investigates the coexistence of different organisational patterns of local productions and evaluate which local governance may be more appropriate in a globalized agro-food scenery. We analyze, through the spatial analysis tools and the use of suitable indicators at municipality level, some PDO/PGI products in two Italian regions, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, which adopted very different strategies. The regional institutions in Veneto preferred to individualize "from the top" the quality agro-food districts at provincial level. In Emilia Romagna, instead, the policy makers decided to recognize the initiatives from the "bottom", born through various types of agreements. The spatial analysis allows to select the most appropriate indicators in order to identify homogeneous local systems, reducing the complexity of the bssues to be addressed in the definition of their geographic boundaries. The results of our analysis allow to evaluate these approaches, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of two different models of the agro-food districts. The purpose of our comparison is not to suggest the best model to be transferred to other regions, but rather to assess whether the regional strategies are appropriate to the specificities of their territories

30 years of industrial economics viewed through the Journal L’Industria

This paper reviews the articles published in the journal L'Industria over the last 30 years, focusing on issues related to industrial policy. Articles published in the journal have both analysed the characteristics of Italian industry and discussed policy implications. The mains issues are extensively reviewed in the paper, concluding with issues arising in the present days. Today, economists and policy-makers writing in the journal stress that in the current context new models have to be built and new solutions have to be suggested. We add that a number of issues have to be examined for solutions to be proposed

Industrial Policy in Italy viewed through the journal L'Industria

The aim of this paper is to review the articles published in the journal L’Industria over the last 30 years, focusing on issues related to industrial policy. Articles published in the journal have both analysed the characteristics of Italian industry and discussed industrial policy implications. Attention has never been exclusively turned to the Italian case: industry in other countries has been considered, not only in Europe but also elsewhere in the world, in Asia and America. Foreign cases are used as examples to follow or as analyses of partners of or markets for Italian firms. Regarding industrial policy, three phases can be identified in this review. The first 10 years (in the 1980s) discussed the “dirigiste” or “interventionist” type of industrial policy, whereby governments directly intervened in markets by command-and-control and by buying also producers. The second decade, that of the 1990s, saw the adoption of a new approach to industrial policy, whereby governments no longer directly intervene in markets but rather induce behaviour by appropriate incentives and, in terms of structural policy, provide the conditions for competitiveness. These phases correspond to the phases of industrial policy implemented in Italy and the EU. The 21st century starts with a new phase of industrial policy, that this paper tries to characterise by looking at the papers published in L’Industria. The main conclusion is that the new industrial policies are still in the process of being defined in the real world, perhaps waiting for industrial economists to provide guidance. Economists and policy-makers writing in the journal stress that in the current context new models have to be built and new solutions have to be suggested. We add that a number of issues has to be examined for solutions to be proposed

Distretti agro-alimentari di qualit\ue0 e processi di governance locale: due regioni a confronto

L\u2019obiettivo del lavoro \ue8 di valutare quale tipologia di governance locale sia pi\uf9 appropriata per valorizzare la produzione dei distretti agroalimentari di qualit\ue0 in uno scenario agroalimentare globalizzato

Quality agri-food districts, typical products, local governance

The paper is focused on the coexistence of different organisational patterns of local productions; the goal is to evaluate which local governance may be more appropriate in a globalized agro-food scenery. We analyze, through the spatial analysis tools, some PDO/PGI products in two Italian regions, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, which adopted very different strategies. The spatial analysis allows to select the most appropriate indicators at municipality level in order to identify homogeneous local systems, reducing the complexity of the issues to be addressed in the definition of their geographic boundaries. The results of our analysis allow to evaluate the approaches used by Emilia Romagna and Veneto and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of two different models of the agro-food districts