The generative effects of economic crises
the case of the Italian innovation system
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/18070337-130138ptKeywords:
Digitalization, Political Economy, Italy, Institutional Change, Economic SociologyAbstract
This article seeks to shed light on the profound changes taking place in the Italian innovation system. While the system ensured sustained growth until the Eighties, the country’s competitiveness in the high and medium-high tech sectors was eroded by the shift from Fordism to post-Fordism. Recently, however, there have been signs that firms are once again showing an appetite for innovation, and that there is a renewed commitment on the part of the state to supporting business’ technological advances and digitalization. After detailing the distinctive features of the Italian innovation system, we describe the striking improvements in digital propensity and capacity for innovation that Italian firms have made in recent years. On the whole, as we show, the Italian economic system has benefited from “generative dynamics” triggered, first, by the Great Recession of 2008 and, later, by the 2020 pandemic crisis. In addition, we discuss the role of public policies in promoting the Italian innovation system with a specific focus on medium-high tech manufacturing.
Downloads
References
AKAMAI. Akamai State of the Internet / Connectivity Report: Q1 2017. Akamai, 30 maio 2017. https://www.akamai.com/site/en/documents/state-of-the-internet/q1-2017-state-of-the-internet-connectivity-infographic.pdf
AICA; ANINTEC-ASSINFORM. Osservatorio delle competenze digitali 2019. Milão: AICA, 2019. https://competenzedigitali.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Osservatorio_CompetenzeDigitali_2019.pdf
BELLANDI, Marco. The industrial district in Marshall. In: GOODMAN, E. et al.(ed.). Small firms and industrial districts in Italy. Londres: Routledge, 1989. p. 136-152.
BENECCHI, Andrea et al. Digitalisation in Italy: evidence from a new regional index. Bank of Italy Occasional Paper, n. 662, 2021.
BLOOM, Nicholas; SADUN, Raffaella; VAN REENEN, John. Americans do IT better: US multinationals and the productivity miracle. American Economic Review, v. 102, n. 1, 167-201, 2012.
BRYNJOLFSSON, Erik; SAUNDERS, Adam. Wired for innovation: How information technology is reshaping the economy. Boston: MIT Press, 2009.
BURRONI, Luigi; GHERARDINI, Alberto; SCALISE, Gemma. Policy failure in the triangle of growth: Labour market, human capital, and innovation in Spain and Italy. South European Society and Politics, v. 24, n. 1, p. 29-52, 2019.
BURRONI, Luigi, TRIGILIA, Carlo. Le città dell’innovazione. Dove e perché cresce l’alta tecnologia in Italia. Bolonha: Il Mulino, 2011.
CALVINO, Flavio et al. Closing the Italian digital gap: The role of skills, intangibles and policies. OECD Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Papers, n. 126, 2022.
CERVED. Rapporto Cerved PMI 2014. Cerved.com, Feb. 2015, https://know.cerved.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Rapporto-Cerved-PMI-2014.pdf
CONFINDUSTRIA DIGITALE. Il digitale in Italia 2022. Mercati, Dinamiche, Policy. 53. ed. Roma: Anitec-Assinform, 2022, https://www.anitec-assinform.it/kdocs/2060500/il_digitale_in_italia_2022_v4a_2_3.pdf
DEVERELL, Edward. Crises as learning triggers: Exploring a conceptual framework of crisis-induced learning. Journal of Contingencies and Crisis management, v. 17, n. 3, p. 179-188, 1989.
DONATIELLO, Davide; RAMELLA, Francesco. The innovation paradox in Southern Europe. Unexpected performance during the economic crisis. South European Society and Politics, v. 22, n. 2, p. 157-177, 2017.
DOSI, Giovanni et al. Technical change and economic theory. Londres: Pinter Publishers, 1988.
DOWNING, Stephen. The social construction of entrepreneurship: Narrative and dramatic processes in the coproduction of organizations and identities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, v. 29, n. 2, p. 185-204, 2005.
EDQUIST, Charles. Systems of innovation: Technologies, institutions and organisations. Londres: Pinter Publishers, 1997.
EDQUIST, Charles. Systems of innovation. In: FAGERBERG, Jan, MOWERY, David C., NELSON, Richard R (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, New York: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 181-208.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022, Thematic chapters. Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022a. https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/88764
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022 – Italy. Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union, 2022b. https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/88708
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. European Innovation Scoreboard 2021. Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union, 2021.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. Community Innovation Survey (CIS). Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/inn_cis2_esms.htm
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. Digital Economomy and Society Index 2017 – Italy. Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union, 2017.
EUROPEAN COMMISSION. Community Innovation Survey (CIS). Luxemburgo: Publications Office of the European Union, 2006. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/metadata/en/inn_cis2_esms.htm
FABIANI, Silvia; SCHIVARDI, Fabiano; TRENTO, Sandro. ICT adoption in Italian manufacturing: firm-level evidence. Industrial and Corporate Change, v. 14, n. 2, 225-249, 2005.
FILIPPETTI, Andrea; FRENZ, Marion; ARCHIBUGI, Daniele. The effects of the economic downturn on innovation: Creative destruction versus creative accumulation. In: ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE GARNET NETWORK OF EXCELLENCE, 4., Rome, 2009. Anais […]. Roma: Garnet Network of Excellence, 2009.
FOSSEN, Frank M.; SORGNER, Alina. Digitalization of work and entry into entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Research, n. 125, p. 548-563, 2021.
FREEMAN, Christopher. Technology policy and economic performance: Lessons from Japan. Londres: Pinter Publishers, 1987.
GHERARDINI, Alberto; PESSINA, Gianmaria. Cavalcare l’onda del cambiamento. Il Piano Impresa 4.0 alla prova dei distretti. L’industria, n. 2, p. 191-214, 2020.
GHERARDINI, Alberto; RAMELLA, Francesco. Digitalizzazione e PMI: Mappatura del processo di digitalizzazione delle imprese piemontesi (primo rapporto). Torino: Centro «Luigi Bobbio» per la ricerca sociale pubblica e applicata, 2022.
GOLDFARB, Avi; TUCKER, Catherine. Digital economics. Journal of Economic Literature, v. 57, n. 1, p. 3-43, 2019.
HORVÁTH, Dóra; SZABÓ, Roland Z. Driving forces and barriers of Industry 4.0: Do multinational and small and medium-sized companies have equal opportunities? Technological Forecasting and Social Change, v. 146, p. 119-132, 2019.
INFOCAMERE, Cruscotto di Indicatori Statistici. Report con Dati Strutturali sulle startup innovative. 2015, https://www.mise.gov.it/index.php/it/impresa/competitivita-e-nuove-imprese/start-up-innovative/relazione-annuale-e-rapporti-periodici
INFOCAMERE. Cruscotto di Indicatori Statistici. Report con Dati Strutturali sulle startup innovative. Roma: MIMIT, 2021. https://www.mise.gov.it/images/stories/documenti/Report_Infocamere_3trimestre_2021.pdf
ISTAT. Situazione e prospettive delle imprese dopo l’emergenza sanitaria COVID-19. Statistiche Report, 4 Feb. 2022.
ISTAT. Conti economici nazionali. Anno 2020. Roma: Istituto nazionale di statistica, 2021.
JORGENSON, Dale W.; HO, Mun S.; STIROH, Kevin J. A retrospective look at the U.S. productivity growth resurgence. Journal of Economic Perspectives, v. 22, n. 1, p. 3-24, 2008.
KANKARAŠ, Miloš et al. Skills matter: Further results from the survey of adult skills. Paris: OECD Publishing, 2016. (OECD Skills Studies Series).
LUCCHESE, Matteo; NASCIA, Leopoldo; PIANTA, Mario. Industrial policy and technology in Italy. Economia e politica industriale, v. 43, n. 3, p. 233-260, 2016.
LUNDVALL, Bengt-Ake. National systems of innovation: Towards a |theory of innovation and interactive learning. Londres: Pinter Publishers, 1992.
MALERBA, Franco. Sectoral systems of innovation: Concepts, issues and analyses of six major sectors in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
MALERBA, Franco. The national system of innovation: Italy. In: NELSON, R. R. (ed.). National innovation systems: A comparative analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. p. 230-238.
MANARESI, Francesco. Net employment growth by firm size and age in Italy. Bank of Italy Occasional Paper, n. 298, 2015.
MARSHALL, Alfred. Principles of Economics. Londres: Macmillan, 1920.
MORISET, Bruno; MALECKI, Edward J. Organization versus space: The paradoxical geographies of the digital economy. Geography Compass, v. 3, n. 1, p. 256-274, 2009.
NELSON, Richard R. (ed.). National innovation systems: A comparative analysis. Nova York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
NIEBEL, Thomas. ICT and economic growth – Comparing developing, emerging and developed countries. World Development, v. 104, p. 197-211, 2018.
NUVOLARI, Alessandro; VASTA, Michelangelo. The ghost in the attic? The Italian national innovation system in historical perspective, 1861–2011. Enterprise & Society, v. 16, n. 2, p. 270-290, 2015.
PESSINA, Gianmaria; RAMELLA, Francesco. Italy at a critical juncture. Game changing crises for the innovation system. Stato e Mercato, v. 42, n. 1, p. 117-153, 2022.
RAMELLA, Francesco. Sociology of Economic Innovation. Nova York: Routledge, 2016.
RAMELLA, Francesco; MANZO, Cecilia. The economy of collaboration: The new digital platforms of production and consumption. Nova York: Routledge, 2021.
SCHIVARDI, Fabiano; SCHMITZ, Tom. The IT revolution and southern Europe’s two lost decades. Journal of the European Economic Association, v. 18, n. 5, p. 2441-2486, 2019.
SHAMIM, Saquib et al. Management approaches for Industry 4.0: A human resource management perspective. IEEE congress on evolutionary computation (CEC), Vancouver, 2016. Anais […]. Vancouver: IEEE, 2016. p. 5309-5316.
STRANGE, Roger; ZUCCHELLA, Antonella. Industry 4.0, global value chains and international business. Multinational Business Review, v. 25, n. 3, p. 174-184, 2017.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Alberto Gherardini, Francesco Ramella
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which allows the sharing of work with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
