From SMEs to industrial districts in the process of internationalisation: Theory and evidence

Many studies have shown that Italian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have recently been prone to international involvement, but only in the simplest form of exporting. The absence of a more complex internationalisation has been explained with the existence of numerous obstacles of technological, informative and financial nature. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the hypothesis that inter-firm relationships in the form of a group of firms or of an ‘industrial district’ (ID) may enhance the perspectives of the internationalisation of SMEs, especially in developing countries. A simple theoretical model of an ID is presented. Then the hypothesis of the internationalisation of the ID driven by a ‘leader firm’ is studied. In our model, co-operation with the developing country’s firms may ease the productive undertaking in that country. With the aim of preliminary testing this hypothesis in the social and economic context of Latin America, we analysed the experience of groups of SMEs and of ‘quasi-IDs’ in some countries (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico), with the prospect of future cooperation with the Italian IDs, and further international expansion.