Ethnic entrepreneurship in the Prato Industrial District. An analysis of foundings and failures of Italian and Chinese firms

The aim of this chapter is to contribute to this debate investigating the evolution of Chinese and Italian firms in Prato after the second World War till today. Through a demographic analysis of firms’ foundings, failures and density, we analyse the process of transformation occurred in the ID of Prato, with a specific focus on the last two decades, which have witnessed the settlement of Chinese immigrants, and the emergence and development of ‘fast fashion’. The work allows us to reconstruct the processes of internal transformation of the Prato ID up to its most recent changes and to discuss managerial implications of this change.