"The CFL (On-the-job Training) Programme was introduced in Italy in 1985 with the aim of reducing youth unemployment. The new programme offered employers two main advantages: it exempted them almost completely from payment of payroll taxes and it provided them with virtually the only opportunity...

Industrial districts palyed a very important role in the Italian economic development. This paper provides fresh evidence based on microdata (Veneto Worker Histories) and discusses the ambiguities in the district definition, its uncertain boundaries and the development into territorial...

The paper deal with the rapid development of the Veneto region in the last decdes of the past century. The various elements explaining economic growth are analised in details and compared with the growth of other Italian regions.

Vertical disintegration in most industries and the globalization of markets has led to significant changes in the pattern of international division of labour among manufacturing firms. At the same time increased competition from low cost producers, exchange rate constraints, the opening up of...

This paper deals with the role played by the Laboratorio Tessile of Elda Cecchele in the production of fabric for fashion clothing and accessories in the 50s and 60s. The Laboratorio supplied many important Italian stylists, in particular Giuliana Camerino and Franca Polacco in Venice. The...

The aim of this paper is to analyze the internationalization of Italian firms in Romania, operating in the sectors of footwear, furniture and industrial refrigeration. After describing and quantifying the internationalization process between Veneto and Romania, we discuss for each of the...

Vertical disintegration in most industries and the globalization of markets has led to significant changes in the pattern of international division of labour among manufacturing firms. At the same time increased competition from low cost producers, exchange rate constraints, the opening up of...

As European firms have faced strong competition from businesses in other industrial economies, in order to reduce production costs and keep prices competitive they have begun outsourcing their production to low wage countries. Although final firms have taken clear advantage from outsourcing...

Programmable automation in the form of numerically controlled and computerized numerically controlled machine tools and flexible manufacturing systems has been commonly hailed as signalling a fundamental economic-technical paradigm shift similar to the shifts due to the introduction of the steam...