Restructuring of local Production Systems: Two Italian case studies about responses to globalisation

This is a presentation of the changes of the economic organisation of two Italian local production systems affected by global competition. Assessment of positions, strategies, and relationships between companies highlights structural changes. Conclusive evidence of global pressure on local systems comes with a need for them to differentiate strategies and develop suitable learning patterns. As a result the inter-firm division of labour and inter-firm relationships are redefined by a partial re-location of production and a verticalisation of firms’relationships. The theoretical framework of our analysis of the processes of change is outlined in part 1. Then, we proceed to present an outlook of the general economic context and to narrow our focus on two examples: manufacturing of eyewear at Cadore and sports shoe at Montebelluna (Veneto region). The third section consists of a study of those two cases through the correspondence analysis technique.