During the first two-thirds of the 20th century the themes of sectorial structure and compared performance prevail in Italian economic historiography. In contrast, in the last part of the century attention is focused on the behavior of single economic actors and their micro-economic strategies....

pt. 1. Big business : catching the technological frontier -- pt. 2. The power of localism : exploiting windows of opportunity -- pt. 3. In search of an identity : struggling with the context -- pt. 4. Cooperation : the importance of networking