New Digital Technologies in Industrial districts: the case of Veneto Region

Abstract

In this dissertation, we consider two main concepts : the industrial districts as one of the main source of wealth and knowledge within the Veneto region and the relevance of Industry 4.0 as one of the great change of our days within the economic scenario.

This dissertation aims to analyse the main factors influencing the adoption of digital technologies linked to Industry 4.0 in Veneto region (Italy). The work is based on a representative sample of firms from 13 different sectors. We take into account different factors : industrial districts, internationalization and business elements. It means we consider if a firms is part of an industrial district within Veneto region, the presence of export activities, the business size, the variation of the number of employees and the sector in which a firm operates. The analysis shows that internationalization and the other business elements have a positive impact of the application of digital technologies. On the other side, industrial district is not represented a factor influencing this trend. Logit regression indicates that export activities, the belonging of certain sectors and an higher number of employees increase the chance of adopting digital tools linked to Industry 4.0. What can be the future trends of this phenomenon ?