Machinery Producers and Industrial Districts: Empirical Evidence in Italy During the Crisis

The present paper analyses Italian machinery producers, identified as «relevant» on the basis of an original database collecting data from trade fair catalogues and industrial associations. The computation of labour productivity and capital intensity allows highlighting the main trend in each sub-sector, while the export intensity, computed at firm level, add new evidence to the remaining link with local demand. Similar comparisons have been done for the subsample of firms located into industrial districts and outside, as well for diversified versus specialised firms. The evidence generally confirms that firms located into industrial districts show an higher labour productivity and an higher propensity to export or to diversify, confirming that high competences developed has been used to catch new opportunities outside the own districts.