Italian industrial districts and the 2008 recession

Using a “difference-in-differences” approach, we show that the share of entrepreneurs in Italy declined more in industrial districts than in comparable labour markets during the 3 years following the 2008 recession. We have examined alternative explanations of this finding, thus concluding that it is consistent with the idea that intense social interactions typical of industrial districts act as a multiplier that amplifies the response to shocks. However, we cannot exclude that this may translate into a positive effect on employment as the flows from entrepreneurship to employment appear to be greater within industrial districts.