n° 9 - November 1998

Now it's the Regions' turn!

The Ministry of Industry has finally resolved the problem of identifying clusters, thereby largely eliminating the misunderstandings and excuses which had been slowing down the implementation of cluster policy.

We will try to illustrate what's new on the subject without getting lost in the numbers and names of all the laws that are fundamentally only known to insiders.

The text of the so-called "Bersani law" that was recently approved by the Senate Industry Committee overrules the infamous set of criteria layed out by the Ministry's 1993 decree. The new definition distinguishes between "local productive systems" and "industrial clusters". The former are "characterized by a high concentration of prevalently small and medium-sized businesses, and by a unique internal organization", whereas the clusters are defined as local productive systems that, together with the previously stated characteristics, present "a productive specialization". No more reference is made, therefore, to statistical parameters that, when put to the test, come out quite puzzling. Though some ambiguous elements do remain, (what is meant by a "unique productive organization" and by what criteria is the "specialization" measured?) these can only increase the discretionary power the Regions possess. In line with the provisions of the Bassanini decree (n. 112/8; title II "Economic development and productive businesses, chapter III, "Industry"), the new text puts off the Regions' recognition of local productive systems and industrial clusters, as well as the possibility of financing "projects for development and innovation scheduled by public and private bodies".

The Ministry of Industry's new move sets the basic rules for those moves regarding all national systems of industrial vocation (industrial clusters or other systems), and places the Regions at the center of the game as they can now go ahead with cluster-favoring policies. Resources come from the national Fund for Industry, though the Cabinet council still needs to furnish more specific directions regarding the possibility of actually using these resources for the clusters.

All of the industrial policy material, including the chapter on industrial clusters, is taking on a new flavor as a result of what is being accomplished at the meetings between the Government and Regional Coordinators. It must further be mentioned that much of what the Bassanini law delegates (for example the Sabatini law) leaves little discretional autonomy for Regional action, with the Regions risking to serve only as simple "distribution windows". This is not the case for article 36 of law 317/9 which, as noted, does not place restrictions on moves favoring industrial clusters; that is on the material, human and social capital that characterizes the context in which business is conducted. One limit of this scenario is represented by the quantity of resources.

If the Regions can decide to allocate the funds amongst the different programs, then they will effectively have an instrument which allows for modulating moves that meet the specific needs of individual clusters: innovation, national marketing, promotion, training, service centers. The Ministry of Industry has proposed the allotment of 5,000 billion lira per year for all 1.488; so why not, then, provide moves that favor industrial clusters for a few hundred billion?

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Exchanges between Japanese and Italian Clusters

The Japanese have shown particular interest in Italian clusters as evidenced by the tens of public and private delegations that have come to Italy to learn more about them and, in some cases, to present projects for working together.

Their specific content varies, but the majority of cases aim to strengthen economic ties and technological exchanges between areas that have the same industrial vocation. One project, defined "cluster - cluster", was promoted in 1996 by JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization), starting with the pilot case that put the Prefecture of Ishikawa and the area of Como-Brianza, that is two textile areas, in touch with each other. On the wave of success of this first initiative that, amongst other things, saw the conclusion of various business negotiations, interest spread further to the clusters of Carpi, Biella, Prato and Empoli for the textile sector, and to Bologna for that of the manufacture of machinery. Those members of the club of Industrial Districts involved in the project were quite important: the Industrial Union of Prato (which has ties with the Prefecture of Fukui), Promoda of Empoli, and Carpi's Citer.

The projects follow the same script. The first phase foresees a series of institutional meetings ; later an exponent of the Italian cluster, accompanied by a group of business people that has been selected to meet potential local partners, is invited to hold a presentation seminar on its own area and the specialized sector in the corresponding Japanese Prefecture.

After Cav. Mario Boselli's participation in the "International Fashion Symposium '97" last November, other ambassadors of the made in Italy label went to Japan to bring their own direct testimony. In February, for example, Eng. Solitario Nesti, director of the Tecnotessile research center in Prato, held two conferences in Japan. The first took place in Okayama, a cluster specialized in the manufacture of work uniforms where over 2,000 companies are located for an overall income of nearly 4,000 billion (lira). The second was in Fukui, the main Japanese cluster for the creation of artificial microfibers for textiles and clothing. The 2,840 local businesses produce mostly fabrics for furnishings and specialized uses, and employment totals 32,000. Along with the "cluster-cluster" project, a paper was prepared by Jetro on the Italian industrial clusters that included the results of studies, field surveys and interviews of local institutions and entrepreneurs. The title of the paper, which gives a detailed analysis of cluster happenings in Como, Bologna, Belluno and Ancona, is Industrial Districts of Small and Medium Sized Manufacturing Enterprises in Italy. The contents of this field research were reported and developed in the Libro Bianco delle Piccole e Medie Imprese by MITI, the prestigious Japanese Ministry of Industry and Foreign Commerce, testimony to the concrete success of this original way of mobilizing the internal resources of our country's national systems.

All of this confirms that the Japanese industrial world is interested in deepening their knowledge of the Italian district system, so the Jetro office in Milan is selecting various requests that come from the Tokyo office. Anyone interested can contact Dr. Laura Fedeli (Jetro) at 02-866-343.

The sector that arouses the greatest interest from Japanese companies is still that of textiles and clothing. In spite of the economic crisis that has overtaken the Far East, Italy is still only second to China in exports.

Collaboration Projects (1997)

Italian Cluster Japanese Cluster

Como/Brianza Textiles/Furniture Ishikawa Textiles

Companies 5.570 Companies 4.228

Income 6.162 Income 5.194

Employees 43.058 Employees 32.632

Prato Textiles Fukui Textiles/Clothing

Companies 8.500 Companies 2.842

Income 8.040 Income 5.824

Employees 46.000 Employees 31.157

Carpi Knitwear Sumida Knitwear

Companies 2.233 Companies 828

Income 2.000 Income 673

Employees 9.736 Employees 3.489

Bologna Packing Machines Itabashi Machinery

Companies 101 Companies 1.053

Income 1.494 Income 3.234

Employees 7.139 Employees 13.315

Empoli Clothing Okoyama Clothing

Companies 521 Companies 2.033

Income 1.100 Income 3.920

Employees 6.210 Employees 28.124

Milano Clothing/design Kobe Clothing/design

Companies 2.650

Income 9.476

Employees 31.814

Biella Wool Industry Gifu Design

Companies 1.300 Companies 6.968

Income 7.000 Income 7.915

Employees 28.000 Employees 45.033

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Projects for Sardinia

Within the Multifund Operative Program 1994-99 of the Region of Sardinia, Consorzio 21 presented a project (Program Network) inspired by how industrial clusters function for the creation of industrial business networks.

The project's main goal is to stimulate groups of small and medium-sized businesses from the same sector to work together to find new markets and improve productive efficiency. Through the development of collaborative relationships between businesses for specific projects, the idea is to take advantage of internal business resources and strengthen competitive capacities.

The strategy used consists of the creation of a network of specialized services. From here other collateral action is taken to facilitate the founding of new businesses and to lay the foundation for an "innovative local system" that takes care not only of traditional sectors, but also provides for the setting up of a technological and scientific park. Referents of Program Network, which is in the implementation stage, are groups of businesses that are invited to take part in a network made up of a main core group plus other businesses.

The main core includes at least five small and medium-sized businesses that belong to the same sector; one of whom plays the role of coordinator. Other businesses can also participate in the network (such as large businesses or companies from other sectors) as long as they aid in reaching the project's goals.

Action is carried out on three levels:

Development of the manufacturer network involves 20 projects: 13 are about creating new networks, 7 are about the consolidation of existing networks.

All together there are 158 companies involved: 108 work in the food and agricultural industry, 20 in textiles and clothing, 8 in the stone sector, 6 in construction and 16 in artistic handicrafts. Business volume for these companies equals 740 billion lira.

Two thirds of the project is financed by the European Union, while the other third comes from the private sector; all totaled, available resources amount to 17 billion lira. 17% is invested in improving managerial and organizational efficiency (quality systems, internal logistics), while the remaining 83% will be utilized to increase the presence of Sardinian companies in extra-regional markets (marketing plans, participation in tradeshows).

All of this action goes hand in hand with business development through the modernization of management and the support of company activities, developmental services (an innovative type of service oriented toward opening external markets and marketing for companies), and spinning services, which are indispensable for the problems connected with the technological innovations that spinning companies are facing.

As regards promotion of the cluster's members, however, Program Network proposes working on business culture through training (marketing, export, teamwork, management of company networks, etc.) and the organization of institutional meetings and projects that deal with intersectorial integration (such as tourism), with the aim of making whatever type of production is typical of the said area into a symbol of that specific geographical area.

The project for favoring the founding of, or of consolidating the embryonic cores of clusters is ambitious, and presents various original features with respect to traditional industrial policies, for the development of the areas of southern Italy; its experimental flavor alone makes it deserving of being carefully followed. For information regarding Consorzia 21 in Cagliari, Sardinia, phone: 070 670921.

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How many industrial clusters are there in Italy?

Help us identify them.

Journalists, students and politicians often ask us how many industrial clusters there are. We very frankly reply that there isn't a simple, pat answer to this question as it depends on how they are defined. In any case there are various studies that propose more or less exhaustive lists of industrial clusters that are defined in various ways.

In 1992 Censis and Tagliacarne published a study with a long list of 187 clusters. Shortly thereafter F. Sforzi presented the results of a careful survey carried out by ISTAT using the data of the 1981 census. The study identified 161 "areas of light industrialization" and, among these, 61 "marshallian industrial clusters". Recently the exercise was repeated on the following census and, with a slightly different definition, 199 clusters were identified.

Using a different measuring stick for defining small and medium-sized businesses, S. Brusco and S. Paba established the existence of 238 industrial clusters. And, in a conference on the environment, a paper was distributed by Enea where a study of 128 Italian industrial clusters is mentioned.

More empirical maps do exist that were drawn up based on a district's fame and the availability of certain data on it; an early list with the data of 65 clusters was collected by L. Paolazzi and M. Moussanet (Jewels, dolls and knives, 1992); G. Garofoli managed to put back together the data of 101 of these systems (The small business book, 1996); a careful publication by Ceris-Cnr on behalf of Cnel, finally, took a close look at 84 clusters.

The map was drawn up by following the latter sources; it obviously has no claim to being exhaustive. We propose it as a means of satisfying the many question that we are asked from all over and, above all, to invite the leaders of the various clusters (associations of different job categories, local bodies, chambers of commerce, service centers, etc.) to help us integrate it and update it with the latest data.

We would like to ask you (and thank you in advance) to send corrections and updates to: Club dei distretti industriali: fax 0574 455297; e-mail:distretto@ui.prato.it.