Structural cycles and industrial policy alignment: the private–public nexus in the Emilian Packaging Valley

Abstract

The article investigates changes in the interaction between business organisations, local governments and public technology intermediaries resulting from business organisations’ shifts towards higher-value product segment opportunities. Specifically, we analyse how local governments can (or not) align their industrial policies to the industrial transformations—both technological and organisational—underpinning firms’ value creation–capture dynamics. The concept of structural cycle is introduced here to study the two interdependent processes of ‘technology transition’ and ‘organisational reconfiguration’ characterising those firms shifting towards higher-value product segments. This private–public nexus is investigated in the Emilian Packaging Valley context. The mixed-method study focuses on the case of IMA Spa, its shifts from the food to the pharmaceutical value product segment of the packaging machine industry and its changing relationships with regional public policies and institutions. A number of industrial policy implications for sustainable value creation dynamics in local production systems are finally derived.