An Intellectual Capital Perspective for Territorial Competitiveness and Sustainability

Purpose - This paper present an Intellectual Capital perspective for Territorial Competitiveness and Social Responsibility, which, in this context, is defined as a pathway promoted by a plurality of public and private actors, for- and non-profit, who find that social cohesion and the relationships are the drivers in the construction of shared territorial governance. Design/methodology/approach - The paper integrates the results of an intensive literature review with a longitudinal empirical research. Within a contructivism paradigm, a deductive-inductive research approach has been followed. First, drawing from the literature review, a conceptual framework has been proposed by authors, then it has been applied to the investigated phenomenon. In particular, we focused our analysis on an initiative of territorial governance promoted in the Marches Region. This Region was selected as a case study because it is emblematic of the Italian context; the territory is characterized by the diffuse presence of small businesses in the socio-economic fabric and by the proactive role of the local government. Originality/value - The suggested interpretative framework enabled us the understanding of the intangible drivers influencing the sustainable growth of local systems. The originality of the model is the combination of different perspectives and concepts (i.e. knowledge economy and territorial social responsibility). Practical implications - The application of this model represents an innovation in support of public policies. The case allows us to evaluate that policies for promoting sustainability at a meso level are not effective when they are not coherently fostered by regional authorities together with local private actors. The Intellectual Capital perspective lens offers a powerful instrument to be aware of the gaps that local policy makers should fill trough their initiatives in the knowledge economy era.