Designing a Policy for Reshoring: The Case of the Emilia-Romagna Region

The paper presents a pioneering project promoted by the Regional Administration of Emilia-Romagna (Italy) to design a policy for reshoring. The project lasted about three years (2016-2019) across separate stages and involved the four regional universities (Bologna, Ferrara, Modena and Reggio Emilia, Parma). The primary outcome is a set of policy templates – one selected by the Regional Administration and then prototyped and tested – which can inspire other institutions and territories. In doing so, the paper also reviews the emerging literature on reshoring policy initiatives and discusses the broader topic of attractiveness, including the related dimensions and sources; whose evolution is considered critical for understanding and steering reshoring events.