How the replica of Italy’s Northeast Industrial District model failed in Timisoara (Romania)

Italy’s industrial districts of the Northeast are often cited as models of success for their economic organisation, thus becoming almost an archetypal myth. One of the reasons cited for the Northeastern firms’ success is proximity (both geographical and relational), particularly as regards the creation and development of the districts and their capacity for innovation and competitiveness on a global scale. Our research compares the structures of proximity in Montebelluna, an industrial district in the Italian Northeast, with Timisoara (in Romania), which was one of the more favoured areas of delocalisation for Veneto firms. This comparison made it possible to bring into focus the non-economic categories (such as trust, face-to-face relations, cooperative attitudes, local buzz…) that contributed to a large part of their success, while, in reality, they are often overvalued. Above all, the analysis reveals how these Italian industrial districts concealed an unequal distribution of power, not only inside the firms and between the firms, but also between the firms and their delocalised territories. Today the “North East” model is questioned and debated; yet a rethinking of regional dynamics is possible only if these hidden dimensions of district development are taken into consideration.