Regional misalignment in twin transition: coping with a double perspective on green and digital transformations

Many voices in the policy debate concur on the need to accelerate the green and digital transitions of businesses to build sustainable and competitive regional economies. Academic research on the topic is still in its early stages and the twin transition remains ill-defined. Using novel data on the food sector in an Italian region, the paper provides insights into the barriers that a twin transition perspective may encounter at both the firm and systemic levels to become a means to support new sustainable development trajectories. The analysis highlights that a weak twin transition evolution is due to the peculiarities of how green and digital perspectives are normally addressed and operationalized within Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and along their network of local support. We maintain that triggering an effective and more impactful twin transition regional path requires aligning more strategically the green and digital initiatives within the companies. Moreover, we maintain that surrounding systems of stakeholders and policymakers need to develop supporting strategies and initiatives informed by a thorough understanding of local SMEs characteristics, sectoral specificities, and peculiar problems of misalignment.