New forms of industrial districts

The industrial district may be seen as a species hosting not only many different cases, but also, more generally, some ideal–typical forms that characterize different historical contexts. The form that, according to previous contributions, seems to emerge in contemporary contexts of advanced economies under globalisation, technological and societal challenges, is the so-called Mark 3 ID. This paper expands precisely on differential features, contexts, and factors of strength and weakness of ID Mark 3. The thought of Giacomo Becattini, in particular his conception of the Marshallian industrial district, is assumed as a central reference point. The Mark 3 ID is discussed in this paper under the frame of such conception of industrial organization and development, centred on place-specific collective capital and specialized small-to-medium sized firms. © 2017, Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale.