Industrial Policy and Artisan Firms (1930s-1970s)

This essay shows that after WW2 the Italian state carried out a policy for artisanship (that is, for the smallest firms) of an extent that was unparalleled in Europe. This policy was based on the provision, on the one hand, of lower taxes and and employers' contributions as well as welfare benefits at reduced premiums and, on the other hand, of 'substitutive factors': soft loans, srevices and promotional initiative by state agencies. Such a policy for artisanship played a twofold role: partly 'defensive', protecting a segment of marginal firms, and partly 'proactive', prompting modernisation and innovation of more promising firms. The latter were clustered especially in the industrial districts of the centre and north-east of the country, whose development turned out to be boosted to a significant extent by state intervention.