Abstract

At the beginning of this century an abrupt stop interrupted a long lasting development process in North East Italy regions, while the 2006 data show signs of a likely recovery. In this article the main macroeconomic features of the North East region are presented and commented, together with the changes in its industrial structure, its labour market, its international trade flows and system of innovation. Even it is too early to draw any sound conclusion, it is possible that a selection process is going on among firms; trade flows and innovation performances are still not entirely satisfactory, and in the Labour market good employment records are matched by poor productivity results. The tertiary sector, above all in its more advanced and metropolitan features, is on the whole underdeveloped. More research is needed to understand if a structural change is in progress.