Effects of learning, unlearning and forgetting on path development: the case of the Macerata-Fermo footwear industrial districts

ABSTRACT

The paper examines processes of knowledge transformation in Industrial Districts (IDs) and how they contribute to industrial path development. Drawing on a case study of the footwear IDs in the provinces of Macerata and Fermo, Italy, we discuss how the knowledge configuration of the ID, within and outside of its core industry, changes as a result of internationalization activities, affecting path development. The Fermo IDs are characterized by a high multiplicity of know-how nuclei within the core industry and low non-core multiplicity. In this case, we find that unlearning processes are concentrated within the core, supporting at most an extension of its lifecycle. Conversely, the higher non-core multiplicity of the Macerata IDs is favouring also interactions between core firms (sole and heel producers) and non-core firms (producers of plastic instruments), enabling unlearning processes that may open up new paths of development.

KEYWORDS:

• Learning
• unlearning and forgetting
• knowledge transformation
• path development
• structural change

JEL:

• R11
• F23
• L67

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Prof. Francesca Spigarelli and respondents for their contribution during the fieldwork. We gratefully acknowledge the comments received by attendees at RSA Annual Conference 2018. The usual disclaimer applies. We would like to acknowledge the support received from the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions project ‘MAKERS: Smart Manufacturing for EU Growth and Prosperity’ (grant agreement 691192).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 The definition of development paths extends the classification proposed, among others, by Isaksen and Trippl (2016).

2 Boschma and Frenken (2011) and Isaksen and Trippl (2016).

3 With licensing, local firms are responsible for the production and distribution of the brand owned by the external MNE under payment of a royalty, while with subcontracting agreements local firms act only as producers.

4 The current coordinated initiative to provide training courses in the footwear industry (i.e. the technical institute) has been activated in 2010, after years of increasing training gap due to the absence of effective collective actions

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: [Grant Number 691192].