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Spatial Agglomeration, Technological Innovations, and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Italian Industrial Districts

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  • GIULIO CAINELLI

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ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact on firms' productivity of innovative activities and agglomeration effects among firms belonging to Marshallian industrial districts and the possible joint effect of these two forces. We study a sample of 2,821 firms active in the Italian manufacturing industry in the period 1992–1995. Our analysis uses an original data set based on three different Istituto Nazionale di Statistica statistical sources—Community Innovation Survey, Archivio Statistico delle Imprese Attive (Italian Business Register), and Sistema dei Conti delle Imprese (Italian Structural Business Statistics)—to estimate an “augmented” Cobb‐Douglas production function to account for the impact of technological innovations and district‐specific agglomeration effects on a firm's productivity growth. Our data set allows us to distinguish between product and process innovations, thus, through econometric analysis, we hope to achieve a better understanding of which of these two types of innovative activities benefits most from participation in an industrial district. Our empirical results show that belonging to an industrial district and making product innovations are key factors in the productivity growth of firms and that product innovations appear to have a greater effect on the economic performance of district rather than non‐district firms.

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  • Giulio Cainelli, 2008. "Spatial Agglomeration, Technological Innovations, and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Italian Industrial Districts," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 414-435, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:growch:v:39:y:2008:i:3:p:414-435
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2257.2008.00432.x
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    2. Marasteanu, I. Julia & Jaenicke, Edward C., 2013. "Agglomeration and Spatial Dependence in Certified Organic Operations in the United States," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 149551, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
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    5. Fiorenza Belussi & Lisa De Propris, 2013. "They are industrial districts, but not as we know them!," Chapters, in: Frank Giarratani & Geoffrey J.D. Hewings & Philip McCann (ed.), Handbook of Industry Studies and Economic Geography, chapter 20, pages 479-492, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Davide Antonioli & Simone Borghesi & Massimiliano Mazzanti, 2014. "Are Regional Systems Greening the Economy? the Role of Environmental Innovations and Agglomeration Forces," Working Papers 2014.42, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    7. Frank Giarratani & Geoffrey J.D. Hewings & Philip McCann (ed.), 2013. "Handbook of Industry Studies and Economic Geography," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 3542.
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    9. Cainelli, Giulio & D’Amato, Alessio & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2015. "Adoption of waste-reducing technology in manufacturing: Regional factors and policy issues," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 53-67.
    10. Qingfang Wang, 2010. "Immigration and Ethnic Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study in the United States," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 430-458, September.
    11. Bressanelli, Gianmarco & Visintin, Filippo & Saccani, Nicola, 2022. "Circular Economy and the evolution of industrial districts: a supply chain perspective," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    12. Marasteanu, I. Julia & Jaenicke, Edward C., 2014. "Clusters of Organic Operations and their Impact on Regional Economic Growth in the United States," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170336, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Giulio Cainelli & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Sandro Montresor, 2012. "Environmental Innovations, Local Networks and Internationalization," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(8), pages 697-734, November.
    14. Matthias Duschl & Tobias Scholl & Thomas Brenner & Dennis Luxen & Falk Raschke, 2015. "Industry-Specific Firm Growth and Agglomeration," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(11), pages 1822-1839, November.
    15. Zhen Wang & Xupeng Zhang & Chaozheng Zhang & Qing Yang, 2022. "How Regional Integration Affects Urban Green Development Efficiency: Evidence from Urban Agglomeration in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(13), pages 1-16, June.
    16. Burlina, Chiara & Casadei, Patrizia & Crociata, Alessandro, 2023. "Economic complexity and firm performance in the cultural and creative sector: evidence from Italian provinces," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 116979, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. David Doloreux & Jose Gaviria de la Puerta & Iker Pastor-López & Igone Porto Gómez & Borja Sanz & Jon Mikel Zabala-Iturriagagoitia, 2019. "Territorial innovation models: to be or not to be, that’s the question," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 120(3), pages 1163-1191, September.
    18. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano & Montini, Anna, 2013. "Environmental performance, innovation and spillovers. Evidence from a regional NAMEA," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 101-114.
    19. José A. Belso-Martinez & Francesc Xavier Molina-Morales, 2013. "Non-Linear Relationships of Internal and External Resources on a Firm's Innovation: The Case of the Spanish Vinalopó Footwear Cluster," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 494-521, September.
    20. Wang, Keqiang & Li, Guoxiang & Liu, Hongmei, 2021. "Porter effect test for construction land reduction," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    21. José Antonio Belso-Martínez & F. Xavier Molina-Morales, 2011. "The drivers of the open district development: a social capital approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(2), pages 49-70, June.
    22. Elias Sanidas & Hyeri Park, 2011. "Korean Augmented Production Function: The Role Of Services And Other Factors In Korea¡¯S Economic Growth Of Industries," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 59-85, March.
    23. Vaz, Eric, 2013. "The Spatial Business Landscape of India," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 1(4), pages 241-253.
    24. Jaenicke, Edward C. & Goetz, Stephan J. & Wu, Ping-Chao & Dimitri, Carolyn, 2009. "Identifying and Measuring the Effect of Firm Clusters Among Certified Organic Processors and Handlers," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49205, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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