Giovanni Balcet
(University of Turin)

Giampaolo Vitali
(Ceris-Cnr)

The paper is focused on the internationalisation process of the Italian firms within the textile-clothing industry. According to the economic literature on this topics, the Italian industry, as well as the textile-clothing sector, seem to be a follower, as far as the internationalisation process is concerned. Only since the Nineties, the international pattern of growth of the textile-clothing sector is strictly linked to the delocalisation of production and the creation of foreign affiliates. Within this contest, the Outward-Processing Trade (OTP) played a major role: the increase of the OTP data from 1991 to 1998 is very strong, especially if the consider the geographical area of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). Among the CEECs, the Italian firms are mainly linked to Rumania. Our paper confirms the complementary existing among the different types of internationalisation tools.

Key words: Textile-Clothing industry, internationalisation, OTP, CEEC
Jel Classification: F240, L67

Giovanni Balcet, University of Turin, Dipartimento di Economia, Via Po 53, 10124 Torino, Italy giovanni.balcet@unito.it
Giampaolo Vitali CERIS-CNR, Via Avogadro 8, 10121 Torino, Italy, g.vitali@ceris.to.cnr.it.

This paper was presented at the ICCEES World Conference in Tampere, July 29 – August 3, 2000.
Although this paper has been jointly produced, sections 1 and 2 are by Gianni Balcet, and sections 3 and 4 are by Giampaolo Vitali.