Globalization, Recession and the Internationalization of Industrial Districts: Experiences from the Italian Gold Jewellery Industry
Abstract
Globalization and the recent recession crisis are significantly challenging Italian
industrial districts (IDs), leading to deep transformations in their internationalization,
innovation and organization strategies. With our empirical focus on a single industry
(gold jewellery) and a specific country (Italy) and through the theoretical lenses
of the global value chain (GVC) approach, the evidence in this article sheds light
on the differences in how three IDs within Italy's gold jewellery sector (Valenza
Po, Arezzo and Vicenza) compete in the global arena. Our comparative analysis reveals
striking differences among these districts with regard to their upstream and downstream
internationalization strategies in response to two industry shocks: increasing global
competition in the early 2000s and the world economic recession of 2008-2009. Our
explanation for the varied gold jewellery district responses to these two global crises
involves both internal and external factors: (1) structural differences between the
three IDs; (2) distinct business strategies; and (3) how these districts are linked
to the gold jewellery GVC. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
Type
Journal articleSubject
industrial districtsglobalization
recession
internationalization
the jewellery industry
global value chains.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16487Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1080/09654313.2013.771624Publication Info
De Marchi, V; Lee, J; & Gereffi, G (2014). Globalization, Recession and the Internationalization of Industrial Districts: Experiences
from the Italian Gold Jewellery Industry. European Planning Studies, 22(4). 10.1080/09654313.2013.771624. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16487.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Show full item recordScholars@Duke
Gary Gereffi
Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Gary Gereffi is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Director of the Global Value Chains
Center at Duke University (https://gvcc.duke.edu/). He has published over a dozen
books and numerous articles on globalization, industrial upgrading, and social and
economic development, and he is one of the originators of the global value chains
framework. His most recent books are: <a href="https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/

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