The effect of globalisation on industrial districts in Italy: evidence from the footwear sector



trend towards a reduction of activities carried out within the districts? Or, instead, are
different patterns emerging for districts according to their segment of the market and
according to the value chains (top brand, low brand, mass market) they belong to?

The paper will explore these issues by analysing the pattern of fragmentation of
production in the footwear sector at a “
provincia” level, using data on outward
processing trade (OPT) collected by Associazione Nazionale Calzaturieri Italiani
(ANCI). This will allow to understand differences in delocalisation strategies and to
answer the question of whether different trends are emerging at a local level.

The paper will then explore two cases based on new and previous evidence (Riviera
del Brenta in Veneto, and Barletta in Puglia) in order to understand the differences in
delocalisation strategies followed by districts in different segments of the market and
how such differences are related to local linkages with emerging big fashion firms in the
luxury segment of the market.

The paper is organised as follows. Section 2 describes data and methodology and
analyses the delocalisation strategies of different footwear districts in Italy. Section 3
discusses and compares two case studies - Riviera del Brenta in Veneto and Barletta in
Puglia - which represent two opposite models of production as regards both their
delocalisation strategies and the value chain they belong to. Section 4 concludes with
some remarks on policy implications for industrial upgrading in the Italian footwear
sector.

2. Fragmentation of production in the Italian footwear sector.

The footwear sector is one of the traditional manufacturing sectors in which Italy
has a strong comparative advantage at the national level. Footwear production is hightly
concentrated in some regions where local industrial structures consolidated over time.
The major footwear districts in Italy are located in Marche (Fermano-Maceratese),
Toscana (Firenze-Prato), Veneto (Riviera del Brenta, Verona, Treviso), Puglia (Barletta,
Salento).

In the last couple of decades the footwear sector - like other traditional labour-
intensive sectors - has been undergoing major changes, as emerging economies have
been gradually displacing industrialised countries as suppliers of labour-intensive
goods. As a consequence, industrial countries are slowly but definitely losing their



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