The supporting and hampering role of place leadership in Italian industrial districts

The chapter discusses the role played by different types of place leadership (PL) in contemporary Italian industrial districts (IDs). Sections 2 and 3 of this chapter will present a conceptual framework that assesses the role of different types of PL in IDs featuring different systemic conditions. Specific features of PL are identified in combination with different socioeconomic configurations that an ID may take along different life-cycle phases. Section 4 presents a short review of some trends in Italian IDs, looking at recent variations in economic, social, and institutional aspects. Section 5 introduces a frame of relations between types of PL and types of local governance, and then Section 6 applies the typology of PL to a broad range of ID case studies. Section 7 concludes by highlighting some policy recommendations to avoid PL that raises barriers towards positive path transformations