Dal modello Nec di Fuà al nuovo ruolo delle medie imprese

The starting point for this essay is Giorgio Fuà's thesis regarding Italian economic development from the end of the 1960s onwards. Fuà stated that a "latecomer" such as Italy would not automatically follow the same path observed in the history of more advanced countries. Indeed, Italy embarked on a completely different path to growth. Since the 1970s the most important engines of Italian growth have been the industrial districts, consisting of clusters of highly specialized small firms, the growth being concentrated mainly in the North, East, Centre (Nec) regions of Italy. The second stage of growth in Fuà's model sees the emergence of more organized firms. The most recent trends appear to bear out Fuà's arguments. Researches carried out in the 1990s by Mediobanca and Unioncamere shed new light on the medium-sized businesses located in the districts areas as the most successful category of tirms in the Italian manufacturing industry