Network in the automotive industry: the case of Lombardy and Triveneto

Abstract

In the abstract I expose and comment the chapters of my thesis. The first chapter concerns network literature necessary to understand the present industry scenario. There are described the interconnections among network firms and among networks, and the main types of network governance. The second chapter is focused on the automotive industry. There is a detailed explanation of the evolution of networks in the automotive industry: from the vertically integrated structure (1920) to vertical network (2000). Moreover, it has paid a close attention on the management of the automotive industry. Chapter 3 and 4 are focused on Italy. Firstly, it is described the evolution path from classical Marshallian Industrial Districts to open networks. Secondly, it is reported an empirical analysis on the automotive industry in Lombardy and Triveneto area. In 2015, there were interviwed 98 automotive component companies located in the Northern Italy by ANFIA and CAMI. The survey concerns: inter-firm relationships of the automotive components firms; R&D and innovation investments; and the strong export tendency of LTR companies.