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Globalization, Recession and the Internationalization of Industrial Districts: Experiences from the Italian Gold Jewellery Industry

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  • Valentina De Marchi

    (University of Padova)

  • Joonkoo Lee

    (Duke University)

  • Gary Gereffi

    (Duke University)

Abstract

Globalization and the recent recession crisis are significantly challenging Italian industrial districts (IDs), driving deep transformations in their internationalization, innovation and organization strategies. With our empirical focus on a single industry (gold jewellery) and a specific country (Italy), the evidence in this paper sheds light on the differences in how three industrial districts within the gold jewellery sector (Valenza Po, Arezzo and Vicenza) compete in the global arena. Our comparative analysis reveals striking differences among these districts with regard to their economic performance, as well as their upstream and downstream internationalization strategies, in response to two industry shocks Ð increasing global competition in the early 2000s and the world economic recession of 2008-09. In addition, we find that these districts changed their internal strategies over time in order to tackle the two crises. How these industrial districts are integrated within global value chains is an important explanatory factor to be considered, in addition to internal factors such as structural characteristics and specific business opportunities

Suggested Citation

  • Valentina De Marchi & Joonkoo Lee & Gary Gereffi, 2012. "Globalization, Recession and the Internationalization of Industrial Districts: Experiences from the Italian Gold Jewellery Industry," "Marco Fanno" Working Papers 0150, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche "Marco Fanno".
    • Handle: RePEc:pad:wpaper:0150
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    2. Valentina De Marchi & Riccardo Voltani, 2014. "Aziende distrettuali e non distrettuali a confronto: le performance nel settore orafo italiano," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(1), pages 163-186.
    3. Sara C. Santos Cruz & Aurora A. C. Teixeira, 2021. "Spatial analysis of new firm formation in creative industries before and during the world economic crisis," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 67(2), pages 385-413, October.
    4. Greta Buoso & Eleonora Di Maria & Francesca Vitetta & Diego Rebesco, 2024. "Trasformazione digitale dellePMI e ruolo dei kibs: un focus su Vicenza," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2024(2), pages 163-181.
    5. Amir Maghssudipour & Marco Bellandi & Annalisa Caloffi, 2023. "The role of language in international trade and the “made in Italy”," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 50(3), pages 677-702, September.
    6. Valentina De Marchi & Roberto Grandinetti & Riccardo Voltani, 2014. "Come stanno cambiando le economie regionali. Un confronto tra Veneto, Piemonte, e Puglia," ECONOMIA E SOCIET? REGIONALE, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2014(2), pages 126-160.
    7. Emanuele Brancati & Raffaele Brancati & Dario Guarascio & Andrea Maresca & Manuel Romagnoli & Antonello Zanfei, 2018. "Firm-level Drivers of Export Performance and External Competitiveness in Italy," European Economy - Discussion Papers 087, Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs (DG ECFIN), European Commission.
    8. Roberta Capello & Roberto Dellisanti & Giovanni Perucca, 2024. "At the territorial roots of global processes: Heterogeneous modes of regional involvement in Global Value Chains," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 56(3), pages 833-848, May.
    9. Jacopo Canello & Giulio Buciuni & Gary Gereffi, 2022. "Reshoring by small firms: dual sourcing strategies and local subcontracting in value chains [The importance of being a capable supplier: Italian industrial firms in global value chains]," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 15(2), pages 237-259.
    10. Shu Wang & Ying Li & Muhammad Nadeem & Maria Altaf, 2023. "Global Value Chains Embeddedness for the Energy Efficiency: A Panel Data Approach with Country-Level Decomposition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-12, March.
    11. Juan Pineiro-Chousa & Marcos Vizcaíno-González & Samuel Ribeiro-Navarrete, 2019. "Using voting decisions to identify shocks in the financial services industry," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 13(2), pages 419-431, June.
    12. Giulio Buciuni & Gary Pisano, 2018. "Knowledge integrators and the survival of manufacturing clusters," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(5), pages 1069-1089.
    13. Olena Khlystova & Yelena Kalyuzhnova, 2023. "The impact of the creative industries and digitalization on regional resilience and productive entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1654-1695, October.

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    Keywords

    industrial districts; globalization; recession; internationalization; the jewellery industry; global value chains.;
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