The so called “socio-technical transitions” is driven by actors such as firms and industries, policy makers and politicians, consumers, civil society, engineers and researchers. This paper addresses the role of consumers in the transition process and their interaction with the established...

Strategic alliances are considered to be a way for private sector firms to fill production gaps and to improve performance through collaboration with partners. The creation of such alliances is indeed shown to increase the competitiveness of firms in national and international frameworks....

In recent years, an increasing number of studies have stressed the relevance of the consumer experience in the research of new trajectories towards sustainability. On the early stage of an innovation process the purchase continue to be strategic for the market creation although consumers should...

Clusters that emerged in the past have changed during the latest decades, so that today the research challenge in economic geography is on their evolution over time. The aim of this paper is to update on the evolutionary path of SMEs Italian clusters, which faced with the economic crisis are...

After the crisis of the traditional agricultural system in the 50’s, starting from the 80’s rural tourism is driving the renaissance of Tuscan countryside. The empty spaces of rural areas, which characterise the agricultural landscape, show a new set of functions developed by and for the...

Italian industrial districts are undergoing fundamental changes due to globalization. Taking a firm perspective, we argue that the analysis of firm strategies, in particular the rise of business groups, is key to understand the organizational adjustments industrial districts have recently gone...

In this paper we analyze the survival probability of firms in Tuscany (Italy) in the first decade of the $21^{st}$ century. Using the Official Register of Firms, held by Unioncamere Toscany, we build a panel for the period 1998-2010. Taking into account both individual and context variables, we...

The paper explores the use of open source geographic information system (GIS) applied to firms. Most data available in a company have a spatial dimension and even decisions in marketing and management often have a spatial dimension. The paper is focus on illustrating the variegated opportunities...