Smes and Innovation: the Role of the Regional Industrial Policy in Italy

Small-medium firms represent more than 90% of Italian firms, 50% of Italian production and 2/3 of employment and they need support in innovation process especially in known technology. The Italian small-medium firm, in fact, operates chiefly in medium to low technology sectors. They are often too small to make the necessary investments in training, computer systems, research and development, but cannot for these reasons reject innovation. At present, innovation policies embrace three main types of support: mission policies, diffusion and technology transfer policies, infrastructural policies and more recently technological districts. According to this basic classification, the paper examines the Italian policy for innovation at the national and regional level above all concerning R&D and industrial districts. In this context, the role and new opportunities for the industrial policy of the Italian Regions will be analysed in depth. Finally, the paper will highlight the improvements to reduce the gap between SMEs technology approach and the State aids programs.