The Way Italian Firms Grow: A Case Study from Southern Italy

This paper traces the evolution of the Italian industrial structure from the second postwar period up to today, which is mainly characterized by small-sized firms. Over time small businesses have been organized first, polyarchically in industrial districts then, hierarchically in business groups. These two models have accounted for the only successful reactions to the crisis of the Italian industry, but the phenomena have been concerned with mainly the northern and central regions of the country, while leaving the southern regions behind. The aim of this paper is to show through a case study that even small businesses in the South of Italy can achieve successful results by implementing new organizational schemes based on national and transnational cooperation.