Abstract

A new world industrial pattern has been emerging in last years due to the development of «new» large countries which have entered the road to industrial development. This process has been initially fostered by the possibility for such countries to benefit from «trade in tasks». The international crisis of late years asks to be envisaged in this perspective, if we want to understand its sharpness and its deepness. In this context Italy is engaged in a deep restructuring process, leading - once again - to a new configuration of its industrial structure; the outcome of such a process strongly depends upon how closely firms' strategies will be consistent with the outlined international framework.