Change and persistence in Italian Industrial Districts over and after the decade 2001-2011

Italian industrial districts in the last two decades have faced the pressure of accentuated globalization forces, the significant difficulties of the institutional context across the nation, and the impact of the great international crisis exploded in 2008. According to Business Census data (2011), industrial districts still represent a characteristic production mode of the Italian economy, covering a significant part of the national manufacturing employment. This chapter reviews recent debates and contributions on the structural changes occurred in Italian industrial districts in the first decade of the new century. The comparison of Census data in the period 2001- 2011 helps in particular to identify a variety of patterns of economic and geographic change among them. Business Registers data extend the analysis to changes in the period 2012-2013. The conclusion proposes a reflection on debates about policies that may support the resilience of Italian industrial districts and their role in a possible new age of industrial and innovation investments in Italy