Le strategie dell?innovazione. Indagine sui brevetti europei delle imprese italiane

The strategies of innovation. Survey on European patents of Italian firms - In international rankings on innovation Italy?s position is particularly weak. Is this image realistic? A recent survey on Italian firms that applied for European patents (EPO) between 1995 and 2004 casts some doubts on this ranking. The article describes the results of the survey and outlines the Italian geography of innovation. The key assumption of the study is that the "patenting potential" of firms and territories depends on their ability in the "social construction" of innovation. In other words, it depends on the effective integration between human and social capital of firms, on the one hand, and collective goods and resources from the local (and non-local) context, on the other. Research results show that: 1) the Italian system of innovation is less weak than usually believed, even in the high technology sectors, and especially in the central and northern regions; 2) in Italy, there are two different territorial and sectoral systems of innovation (the first system is that of mechanics, with its basis in the North-East-Centre; the second one is that of high technology, with its basis in the North-West); 3) these innovation systems are territorially concentrated; 4) what differentiates the most innovative local economic systems is the high endowment of collective goods and universities; 5) the Italian policies for innovation are inadequate, since they tend to neglect the relational and systemic components of innovation. . Keywords: patents, innovation, high tech, innovative firms, innovation policies, local development Parole chiave: brevetti, innovazione, alta tecnologia, imprese innovative, politiche per l?innovazione, sviluppo locale . JEL Classification: Z13 - O31 - R11