Abstract

This paper presents the main Italian "research projects", i.e. these sets of research works more or less coordinated having in common the analysis of a specific theoretic or applied problem in the field of IO, produced in the last decade. With respect to the previous times there are continuities, but also meaningful novelties. The main continuity is connected with the pervading presence of small firms in Italy. Researches regarding district organization, but also firms demography and innovation are numerous and often quite interesting. At the same time the dramatic decline of big firms in Italy draws less attention, even if theoretical contributions in the field of corporate governance are not missing. The idea of industrial policy changes radically: studies in competition policy, privatization and public utilities regulation substitute those showing the role of state intervention and the effects of incentive policies. A certain propensity of Italian economist in favour of heterodox approaches is confirmed by interesting contributions in the area of evolutionary economics and organizations dominated by limited rationality. At the same time there is a completely new flourishing of studies published on international journals following the mainstream (oligopoly theory, game theory, and applied IO).