ABSTRACT
The scientific debate about the features of Italian local production systems or industrial districts, which developed in international economic literature, originates from the research and studies carried out by economists and social scientists based in Central and Northeast of Italy. The socialisation of competencies in fact facilitates a better interchange of skills and synergy that often are the key characteristics of local enterprises and economies. Manufacturing socialisation has several effects on the territory. New enterprises are generated when this process is accompanied by knowledge of the production cycle, the existence of channels for distribution, the availability of economic-financial resources and technical, economic and commercial assistance. In the 1980s, the academic debate denied or greatly underestimated the significance of human resources in the competitive effectiveness of district and network enterprises. In the 1980s, the morphology of local manufacturing, small homogeneous independent enterprises, changed because of financial and credit problems.
