The Globalization of Italian Agro-food Industry. International Trrade, Delocalisation and the Emergence of "Mini-Multinational"

The process of globalization is often analysed taking into account to the increase of international trade and to the growing of foreign direct investment. These two issues about economic globalization process are mainly utilised at macroeconomic level, with particular reference to the whole world, broad geographical area and single country. The economic analyses at micro level have mainly considered the specific role of multinational in the process of globalization. The aim of the paper is to enlarge the analysis to the whole structure of the food industry. In particular, we will focus on two main aspects of the globalization process: a) the different behaviour of the main sectors of the food industry; b) the different role played by size of the firms, with specific reference to the SMEs. The first part of the paper will analyse and compare the “efficiency” of the food industry in terms of integration on the international markets, measured as the long run trends (1970-2005) in the value of export and import on the value added of the food industry. The analysis will be detailed to better understand the different behaviour on the world markets of the main sectors of the Italian food industry. We will also determine the contribution of the food industry to the success of “made in Italy” products who are relevant also in other Italian manufacturing sectors (mechanic, textile, furniture,..). The second part of the paper will examine the process of internalization of food industry in terms of foreign investments and delocalization of firms. The Italian experience will be analysed to understand the role of the small and medium size enterprises in the globalization process. In particular, we will analyse the role of medium size enterprises, which are now becoming the more relevant part of the manufacturing industry, after the decline of big firms in Italy. We will determine if also in the food industry, as in other Italian manufacturing industry, there is the presence of the so called “mini-multinational” with a growing presence in the international markets, not only as exporter but also as foreign investors. The role of food enterprises in the globalization process will be analysed on the basis of the numerous survey conducted in Italy at regional and national level. In particular, we will analyse the results of surveys on manufacturing firms conducted by Emilia-Romagna Region, by Italian Central Bank, by Medio Banca - on medium size firms-, and by Italian Institute of Statistics.