The Internet Economy increases the integration among the subject involved in the production and diffusion of knowledge, in particular sources and interfaces of innovation: their action is amplified when Information and Communication Technology (ICT) favors the creation of an integrated network...

The working paper presents an overview to the system of industrial policy in Germany. Special focus is directed to the relationships between federal and regional (Länder) policies. As German industrial policy is distributed across various policy fields, objectives, strategies and instruments of...

In Italy the examples of evaluation of local policy for innovation are very few. As an impact assessment is possible only if the number of centres to examine is little, this analysis has chosen a monitoring evaluation and, particularly, the reorganization of the matter regarding innovation...

Impact evaluation plays a major role in determining the effectiveness of public policies. In fact, information about the program net effect is a crucial element in policy planning. Accordingly, as advocated by the Barca Report, impact evaluation spreading and its use in programming on European...

The rich literature on industrial districts leaves little space to the theme of innovation. Italian industrial districts are mainly specialised in traditional industries and the firms which compose them are of small size and then less prepared to manage technological change. Nevertheless...

A new approach of the innovation policies at the local level is concerning the creation of regional innovation systems. In Italy however the district level seems to be more adequate for the public intervention to capture the specific sectorial and local nature of the innovation process. In the...

Net impact evaluation in a non-experimental context is discussed, addressing the case of vocational training policies provided by Piedmont Region, in the North-West Italy. Impact evaluation plays a major role in determining the effectiveness of public policies, being the net effect a crucial...

The chances offered in Italy for financial aids are several, but the effective instruments to foster innovation and R&D are very few. In this context, in the last decade, the initiatives of the European Union and of the Italian Regions were remarkable and have increased the opportunities for...

The main aim of this analysis has been the reorganization of the matter regarding innovation centres for firms in Italy, in relation to "who does what", mainly through an analysis of the characteristics of the services being offered, to determine the number of the organizations presently really...

The mechanical engineering is one of the leading industries of Europe. A very successful case is represented by the Italian packaging machinery industry that passed through the last recession without relevant consequences. This is largely due to the evolution of the original district of Bologna...