First the earthquake and now the apocalypse of the flood: beyond man's responsibilities, more unfortunate than that theEmilia Romagna it really couldn't be. But the locomotive of Italy "will start again this time" argues the industrial economist with conviction Franco Mosconi, who teaches at the University of Parma and who has seen both tragedies in the face. The original Emilian development model, which Mosconi has been describing and analyzing for years and which finds new suggestions in his new book "Emily model. Innovative companies and community spirit” (Posteditori, 270 pages) has the strength to immediately start the comeback. And the reason for hope lies in the main virtue of the Region that the President of the republic, Sergio Mattarella, summed it up perfectly in these words: "In such an industrious land, work has been put back at the center of community life". Then there is the dimensional growth of the companies, their internationalization, their investments in technologies and above all in human capital, but at the basis of the metamorphosis and success of the Emilian development model there is the centrality of work, innovation and the community spirit. In this interview with FIRSTonline, Professor Mosconi talks about the strength and origins of the Emilian miracle..
PProfessor Mosconi, being from Carpi and teaching at the University of Parma, will remember very well the damage caused by the 2012 earthquake in Emilia-Romagna: between that earthquake and today's flood, who has done or is likely to do more damage to the economy , to businesses and to the social life of your region?
“Yes, I've been in Emilia for many years now and I remember the damage well. My family of origin lives in Romagna, between Bagno di Romagna and Cesena (the Savio Valley). Objective and subjective assessments add up and it is impossible for me to make estimates: the concern for those, family and friends, who live there prevails, and will continue to be so for many days. The Nobel Giorgio Parisi in recent days in an interview with Corriere della Sera (May 19) stated, first, that "these are extreme events to which we will have to get used to" and, second, that "they depend on climate change" to fight which " we're doing very little."
After the 2012 earthquake, Emilia-Romagna companies recovered quickly and very well: this time the difficulties for companies will be the same or not and, on a first assessment, how long will it take to resume normal activity? What are the most urgent interventions to resume the productive activity of the Region?
“From Bologna to the Riviera, passing through Faenza, Forlì, Cesena, and taking into account all the affected valleys (as has been pointed out, over 20 rivers have flooded), we are talking about a very vast area. Of course, the area affected by the earthquake at the end of May 2012 was also large: on that occasion the most serious damage, both in terms of human lives and structures, was concentrated above all in the biomedical district of Mirandola. Now looking at the images from above and the photographs, and listening to the voices of the people who live, work and operate in Romagna, the first impression is that this time the extent of the severely affected areas is very, very large. And these are areas intended both for agricultural production, and for industrial and tourist activities. This coexistence will make the recovery process difficult because the former have been completely destroyed (with very serious damage to farmers' families, cooperatives, businesses in the sector), while the latter and third have suffered structural damage. President Bonaccini yesterday spoke of "damages of a few billion euros". And I think what the Government and the Region are doing is right: asking the European Commission to activate the solidarity fund to help the reconstruction of Emilia-Romagna after this devastation caused by bad weather”.
Tre years ago in a book of yours with the already very significant title “The metamorphosis of the Emilian model” you explained very clearly what the success factors of this economic model are. What new reflections does her new book “Modello Emilia. Innovative companies and community spirit” ?
“The Prologue begins with a quote from the President of the Republic. It was 20 May 2022 and in Medolla, in the province of Modena and part of the Mirandola district, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the earthquake, President Mattarella stated: "In such an industrious land, work has once again been placed at the center of community life" . I don't think there are better words to describe what happened."
Stefano and Vera Zamagni, in the preface to their new book, argue that the case of Emilian economic development is an exception, in the sense that it has not followed the traditional path of industrialization as a large company but has bet on widespread and specialized industrialization, very oriented towards exports and the quality of human capital and that all this is combined with living standards "among the highest in the world". In Emilia, is it the excellence of the business that has made society virtuous or the other way around?
“The virtuous link between business excellence and company cohesion is two-way and they influence each other. Excellent companies contribute to raising the technological level of the regional economic system, but at the same time the regional system offers prepared human capital and welfare services adapted to the needs of families, first and foremost of working women (think of nursery schools)”.
In the introduction of your book, you warn that "prosperity isn't always", but can we think that, at least for the next three years, Emilia-Romagna will continue to be Italy's locomotive?
“It is a question from a macroeconomist and, as you know, I teach economics and industrial policy and it is in this field that I carry out my research activity. I can only draw, and I have done so several times also in the book, from those who deal professionally with macro Scenarios. The Research Office of Unioncamere Emilia-Romagna directed by Guido Caselli, reprocessing data from Prometeia, tells us that between 2000 and 2022 the GDP of Emilia-Romagna increased by 13,1%, that of Lombardy by 16,8 % and that of Veneto by 7,6%. Where Emilia-Romagna is clearly first is in the added value of industry (23,2% against 11,3% in Veneto and a decrease in Lombardy) and in exports (+92,9% again in the period 2000- 2022 against 52% in Lombardy and 51,3% in Veneto). Further significant macroeconomic evidence: Mario Draghi, visiting the Sassuolo district in his capacity as Prime Minister (June 2021), gave a speech, also reported in my book: "Between 2010 and 2019 - said Professor Draghi – the gross domestic product of Emilia-Romagna has grown by almost 7% against an increase in the national product of 0,8%”. In conclusion, let me say that it is good to leave it to the readers to judge whether all this evidence goes, as I believe, in the direction of the locomotive.
What is better about the Emilian model than the Milanese or Veneto one and what could instead be imported from those two models?
“Today, there is no Emilia felix (admittedly and not granted that she ever existed in the past). I affirm it in the book, and I say it all the more today in the presence of what is happening with the devastation. There is a regional economy which, as I said earlier, comes from more than twenty years of growth (in GDP and exports) and transformation: metamorphosis, in fact. Along the Via Emilia, dialogue and cooperation between institutions, the business world (individuals and through their associations), the banking world and - mind you - the "third pillar" (copyright Professor Rajan) works very well i.e. civil society. On some fundamental objectives, useful for the well-being and growth of the entire regional community, these actors know how to find shared solutions. It is what we call community spirit and which deeply characterizes the Emilia-Romagna society".
Will the Emilian model still be based on the medium-sized enterprises of the Fourth Capitalism for a long time or, sooner, could it baptize a new large enterprise in the most advanced industrial sectors?
“First of all, there are already some multinationals in the food sector today. Again: Mediobanca's surveys of both the main Italian companies and medium-sized industrial companies (the latter in collaboration with Unioncamere and Istituto Tagliacarne) tell us that these categories of companies are well represented in Emilia-Romagna. What's more: Intesa Sanpaolo's Monitor of the industrial districts gives us a widespread diffusion of this particular form of organization of production, where - in an increasing number of cases - leading companies or leaders of the supply chain (medium-large size) emerge. Finally, in the cooperative world itself, of which this region is the "cradle", there are many cooperatives that have made the leap in size by combining internal growth and external growth (via M&A). Of course, there is no colossus like the one born from the far-sighted merger, wanted by Leonardo Del Vecchio, between Luxottica and Essilor, a true 'European champion'”.
In addition to the propensity to export, the dimensional growth of companies, their technological development, the ability to attract talent and strategic investments, you often emphasize the importance of the quality of Emilia's human capital and it is no coincidence that you has often been beaten in the past for the creation of ITS in Italy as well. Finally these institutes are there: what effects are they having on Emilia Romagna and how much can they benefit the improvement of the labor market and the economic growth of the entire country?
“Yes, the PNRR provides for a reform and strengthening of the Higher Technical Institutes (ITS) and it does so by explicitly mentioning the “ITS model of Emilia-Romagna…”. Let's hope that the one and a half billion euros earmarked for this purpose will be invested to the last penny in this fundamental non-academic tertiary education channel, parallel to university; a fundamental channel for training specialized technicians for our quality manufacturing companies, both in the classic sectors of Made in Italy and in high-tech ones. Other networks (or networks, if you prefer) exist in the region and, like the Rete Politecnica (which brings together all the ITS and IFTS courses), they contribute to creating virtuous links between the economy and society, between companies and research, between institutions and associations ”.
In conclusion, the Emilian model is, due to its typicality, destined to remain centered on its territory of origin or can represent the basis of a modern industrial policy in the wake of Industry 4.0. and, in this case, what could be the supporting pillars?
“A region that has an export-to-GDP ratio of over 40% is, of course, a region where the territory of origin matters: how else can we explain the growth of the excellence present in our districts/clusters and in our supply chains? In a word, a bit in all our cities and valleys. But a region (an economy, better) made like this is naturally open to the world, both for trade flows (import/export) and for foreign direct investment flows (incoming and outgoing FDI). Industrial policy, today more than yesterday, must be aimed at investments in knowledge (R&D, human capital, ICT) and at the development of enabling technologies. The birth of the Data Valley, centered in Bologna on the Tecnopolo, is the most emblematic of the new initiatives built along the Brussels-Rome-Bologna axis. In other words, the new industrial policy, in the third decade of the XNUMXst century, can only be shaped thanks to an effective collaboration between the three levels of government - Community, national, regional - which, in various capacities, have competence over this fundamental policy area . That the whole world is (re)discovering”.
