ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates variations in ideal-typical characterizations of post-industrialization. The evolution of economic systems from industrial to post-industrial has become a dominant theme in the analyses of contemporary economies. The chapter suggests that specific structural mechanisms acting on each sector of the economy are at the base of tertiarization processes. It presents that in Turin the process of tertiarization is characterized by the neo-industrial model, with the slight decline of industrial firms and the development of producer services that are connected to industrial rationalization. Evidence of the similarity of the Turin Production System (TPS) with the neo-industrial framework is the variation in enterprises' belonging to a holding or a group. Post-industrial paths are less clear, and the cognitive processes maintain a close relationship with the traditional ones characterizing the former manufacturing specialization. This outcome is largely confirmed by both the quantitative and the qualitative analysis.
