Il distretto delle calzature di Barletta: origini, evoluzione e prospettive

This paper aims to suggest new insights on the footwear district of Barletta, in the Southern Italy. Through a series of in-depth interviews with diversified and qualified stakeholders, as well in light of the analysis of such structural data as exports, the size and the absorptive capacity of firms, a representation of its relational dynamics are discussed, both in a horizontal versus vertical and a local versus non-local perspective. Moreover, the strategic re-positioning of the district is discussed, assessing the main factors which contribute to its innovativeness. The paper is structured as follows. In section 1 the footwear district in the Barletta region is introduced, including a description of its history and structure. In section 2, the relevance of the district in a national perspective is underlined, in particular taking into account its performance in the years from 1991 to 2010. The actual configuration of the district and its impact in terms of competitiveness is presented in sections 3 and 4, where a representation of its growth perspective is even provided. Empirical results, the opportunities and challenges the district is nowadays undergoing are finally discussed in section 5.