With and without co-operation: two alternative strategies in the food-processing industry in the Italian South

Abstract

Tomato processing and the production of buffalo mozzarella are two industries that offer an example of a desirable economic development path for the Italian South, based on the valorization of local resources and traditions and on the local ownership of a multitude of small firms. Although they are comparable in many aspects, the two industries have followed different trajectories in terms of inter-firm co-operation. While the tomato processing firms seem to confirm the traditional view of Southern Italian entrepreneurs as individualistic and unable to co-operate, the producers of buffalo mozzarella have built their remarkable commercial success precisely by creating a business-level institution to promote the reputation of their product. The paper discusses the possible explanations for this different co-operative attitude in the two industries: those that depend on the different nature of the two economic activities and those that depend on deliberate choices made at certain critical stages of the industries' development.

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