Title: Internationalisation and the agglomeration effect in the global value chain: the case of Italian automotive suppliers

Authors: Emanuele Bacchiocchi; Massimo Florio; Anna Giunta

Addresses: Department of Economics, Business and Statistics, Milan University, Via Conservatorio 7, 20122 Milan, Italy. ' Department of Economics, Business and Statistics, Milan University, Via Conservatorio 7, 20122 Milan, Italy. ' Department of Economics, Roma Tre University, Via Silvio D'Amico 77, 00145 Rome, Italy

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to study the internationalisation process in a representative sample of 786 firms operating in the Italian automotive industry, a paradigmatic example of a producer driven global value chain. Building on the global value chain literature, the contribution this paper makes is by taking into account the agglomeration and the chain governance dimension (vertical linkages with a leader automotive firm) together in order to investigate what is their respective role in enhancing internationalisation of supplier firms in the automotive industry. After performing a probit regression analysis, we find that being located in a high-density industrial district and producing more research-intensive automotive-specific goods, increase the probability of internationalisation of the supplier firm. High dependency from domestic sales to FIAT, the dominant firm in the Italian market, and being a subcontractor of generic goods has the opposite effect.

Keywords: internationalisation; automobile industry; agglomeration effect; global value chains; Italy; automotive suppliers; value chain management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTLID.2012.047673

International Journal of Technological Learning, Innovation and Development, 2012 Vol.5 No.3, pp.267 - 290

Published online: 16 Aug 2014 *

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