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CapassoM., CusmanoL. and MorrisonA. The determinants of outsourcing and offshoring strategies in industrial districts: evidence from Italy,Regional Studies. Outsourcing has increasingly become a distinguished feature of the recent evolution of industrial districts and it constitutes the object of this study. The study focuses on the industrial district of Castel Goffredo in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy, which is the largest European manufacturing area specialized in tights. It analyses the determinants of outsourcing as a function of firms' specific characteristics and how they affect the geographical reach of outsourcing relations. This firm-level analysis allows one to grasp the impact of firm heterogeneity on the outsourcing decision. CapassoM., CusmanoL. and MorrisonA. 产业区离岸外包策略的决定要素：来自意大利的相关证据，区域研究。外包逐渐成为目前产业区演进的显著趋势，这也是本研究的主题。研究集中于欧洲最大的专业生产紧身衣的北意大利 Lombardy 区 Castel Goffredo 产业园。研究分析了决定外包成为公司特定功能的要素，以及他们如何影响外包所涉及的地理范围。通过对公司层面的分析使我们能够了解公司异质性对于外包决策的影响。 离岸 外包 产业区 陶瓷部门 CapassoM., CusmanoL. et MorrisonA. Les déterminants des stratégies d'externalisation et de délocalisation dans les districts industriels: des résultats provenant de l'Italie,Regional Studies. L'externalisation est devenue de plus en plus une caractéristique distinctive de l'évolution récente des districts industriels et constitue le point de mire de cette étude. L'étude porte sur le district industriel de Castel Giffredo, situé en Lombardie, dans le nord de l'Italie, et qui est la zone industrielle européenne la plus grande pour ce qui est de la production de collants. On analyse les déterminants de l'externalisation en fonction des caractéristiques distinctives des entreprises et comment elles influencent la portée géographique des rapports externes. Cette analyse, faite au niveau de l'entreprise, permet de saisir l'impact de l'hétérogénéité de l'entreprise sur la décision d'externalisation. Délocalisation Externalisation Districts industriels Céramique CapassoM., CusmanoL. und MorrisonA. Determinanten für Outsourcing- und Offshoring-Strategien in Industriebezirken: Belege aus Italien,Regional Studies. Outsourcing, das Thema dieser Studie, ist zunehmend zum kennzeichnenden Merkmal für die aktuelle Evolution von Industriebezirken geworden. Im Mittelpunkt der Studie steht der Industriebezirk Castel Goffredo in der norditalienischen Lombardei, einer der größten Produktionsbezirke Europas mit einer Spezialisierung auf Feinstrumpfhosen. Analysiert werden die Determinanten für Outsourcing als Funktion der firmenspezifischen Merkmale; ebenso wird untersucht, wie sich diese Determinanten auf die geografische Reichweite der Outsourcing-Beziehungen auswirken. Diese Analyse auf Firmenebene ermöglicht einen Einblick in die Auswirkung der Heterogenität eines Unternehmens auf die Outsourcing-Entscheidung. Offshoring Outsourcing Industriebezirke Keramiksektor CapassoM., CusmanoL. y MorrisonA. Los determinantes de la subcontratación y las estrategias de deslocalización en comarcas industriales: el ejemplo de Italia,Regional Studies. La subcontratación, que constituye el objetivo de este estudio, se ha acabado convirtiendo cada vez más en una característica notable de la reciente evolución de las comarcas industriales. En este estudio nos centramos en la comarca industrial de Castel Goffredo en la región de Lombardía al norte de Italia, que es la zona manufacturera más grande de Europa especializada en medias. Analizamos los determinantes de la subcontratación como una función de las características específicas de las empresas y estudiamos cómo afectan al alcance geográfico de las relaciones de subcontratación. Este análisis a nivel de empresas nos permite entender el impacto de la heterogeneidad empresarial en lo que respecta a las decisiones de subcontratación. Deslocalización Subcontratación Comarcas industriales Sector de la cerámica [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: From a development perspective an investigation of the changes that have occurred in the wine industry is of particular interest because it provides evidence on how emerging economies have been able to acquire significant shares of the international market in a dynamic sector. Based on novel empirical evidence, this paper shows that emerging countries with diverse institutional models and innovation strategies have actively participated in the process of technological modernization and product standardization. These newcomers in the wine sector have responded particularly effectively to changes in demand, aligning emerging scientific approaches with institutional building efforts and successful marketing strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to analyse the nature and extent of knowledge and information networks in an Italian wine cluster. Moreover, the relation between firms' characteristics and the knowledge network structure is also explored. The empirical findings show that knowledge is unevenly distributed in clusters and that networks of knowledge and information differ a great deal in terms of their structure. In fact, knowledge flows are restricted to a tightly connected community of local producers, differing in terms of knowledge assets, innovation behaviour and overall economic performance with respect to the rest of the firms in the cluster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper investigates the sectoral variety and common patterns across different typologies of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). We examine this issue by considering the case of Lombardy, a highly developed manufacturing area the industrial activities of which are experiencing a pervasive transformation towards higher knowledge content, demanding stronger and more pervasive support by advanced services. Drawing on an original survey-based firm-level dataset, we analyze innovation patterns across KIBS, evaluating the explanatory power of traditional classifications of the service sector, as well as the heterogeneity driven by firm and market specific characteristics. Our findings highlight four profiles of KIBS: interactive innovation mode, product innovation mode, conservative innovation mode and techno-organizational innovation mode. When examining in more depth the variables that are associated with cluster membership, we find that firm strategy is the most significant determinant, with size, customer location, and training also playing a role in defining cluster specificities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morrison A. Gatekeepers of knowledge within industrial districts: who they are, how they interact, Regional Studies. Studies on industrial districts suggest that their innovative performance is strictly linked to their ability to absorb external knowledge. Yet, the existing literature provides few insights into the functioning of this process. This paper, focusing on leader firms located in a successful Italian furniture district, investigates whether they feed the district with knowledge absorbed from external sources, thereby behaving as 'gatekeepers of knowledge... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Inward FDI positively impact local innovation. • the positive role of FDI is stronger for some specific typologies of inward FDI, such as in "Science-based" activities and to a lesser extent in "Specialised supplier" activities. • Inward FDI also produce negative effects on local innovation, in particular in the case of "Scale-Intensive" sector. Locations all over the world compete to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in order to access knowledge, technology, and boost economic development. Although the literature shows a positive impact of FDI, little is known about (1) its effect on neighbouring regions and (2) the type of FDI generating the strongest learning effects. To fill this gap, we investigate the FDI-innovation relationship in Italian provinces. By adopting the Pavitt taxonomy of manufacturing sectors, we suggest that only specific categories of FDI benefit local economies, whilst other types may produce negative outcomes. The evidence on the spatial implications of FDI remains limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper investigates the diversified patterns of outsourcing in the Lombardy region and relates them to the probability of introducing product and process innovation. Based on a large firm-level survey, we show that outsourcing processes are strongly regionally embedded and that offshoring is still a limited phenomenon. Outsourcing strategies are shown to be positively related to firms’ innovation. In particular, the outsourcing of service activities is mostly related to product innovation, thus suggesting that firms successfully pursue core strengthening strategies. Our econometric estimates show that both geographical and organisational proximity matter. Indeed, the positive association of services with innovation is strongly related to their regional dimension, which points towards the importance of local user–producer relationships. When outsourcing crosses national borders, keeping the outsourced activities within extended organisational boundaries (i.e. within the group or network of affiliates) appears relevant, particularly with reference to R&D activities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]