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Local policies for innovation: the case of technology districts in Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Federica Bertamino

    (Agency for Territorial Cohesion)

  • Raffaello Bronzini

    (Banca d'Italia)

  • Marco De Maggio

    (University of Salento)

  • Davide Revelli

    (Banca d'Italia)

Abstract

In this paper we study a policy tool called technology districts, implemented in Italy over the last decade to foster local innovation activity. First, we examine the characteristics of technology districts and those of the firms within them. Next, we assess the performance of district firms. We find that in the Southern regions technology districts are more numerous but smaller than those located in the Centre-North, are poorly diversified from a sectorial point of view and more distant from the economic structure of the area. We find that the firms that did join a district had previously been, on average, larger, more innovative and profitable, and also show higher leverage than the others. Our results show that overall after the birth of a district the performance of the firms that joined it did not differ significantly from that of similar firms that did not.

Suggested Citation

  • Federica Bertamino & Raffaello Bronzini & Marco De Maggio & Davide Revelli, 2016. "Local policies for innovation: the case of technology districts in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 313, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    • Handle: RePEc:bdi:opques:qef_313_16
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Andrea Bellucci & Luca Pennacchio & Alberto Zazzaro, 2019. "Public R&D subsidies: collaborative versus individual place-based programs for SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 213-240, January.
    3. Robbiano, Simone, 2022. "The innovative impact of public research institutes: Evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    4. Aiello, Francesco & Albanese, Giuseppe & Piselli, Paolo, 2019. "Good value for public money? The case of R&D policy," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1057-1076.
    5. Giuseppe Calignano & Rune Dahl Fitjar, 2017. "Strengthening relationships in clusters: How effective is an indirect policy measure carried out in a peripheral technology district?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(1), pages 139-169, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    technology districts; innovation; patents; public policies; matching; differences-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • R0 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General
    • H2 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue

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