Internationalisation and the agglomeration effect : evidence from the Italian automotive supply chain

The aim of this paper is to study the characteristics of the internationalisation process and to identify its determinants in a representative sample of 786 firms in the Italian automotive chain. We carried out a a multinomial logit and an ordered probit analyses. The main findings of the econometric analyses based on the available micro-evidence are that: a) the firms in the Italian supply chain engage in complex modes of internationalisation; b) the individual firm’s characteristics play a significant role in the probability of internalization; c) the firms located in the province of Turin have a clear localisation advantage, because of an “industrial district” effect. We also observe that internationalisation is negatively correlated to the share of Fiat, the Italian dominant car maker, in the supplier’s sales