New Manufacturing Trends in Developed Regions. Three Delineations of New Industrial Policies: ‘Phoenix Industry’, ‘Industry 4.0’, and ‘Smart Specialisation’ by Alberto Bramanti

ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses new industrial policies in the context of advanced regions in England, southern Germany and northern Italy. Manufacturing activities are of the utmost importance for preserving innovative capabilities, ensuring value added and retaining skilled jobs.
The challenge that strong manufacturing regions face lies in upgrading their innovation strategies to emphasise the new system nature of manufacturing. The chapter highlights three ways regions may choose to address the challenges of global competition and sustainable growth.
The birth of a ‘Phoenix Industry’ in the West Midlands (UK), the ‘Industry 4.0’ programme in the southern Länd of Baden-Württemberg (D) and the ‘Smart Specialisation’ strategy in the Lombardy region (IT) represent three different but converging ways of reinterpreting the innovation vocation of these core regions.
Two policy implications are discussed: the place-based dimension of new industrial policies, and the attention paid to the labour market and the emerging need for new skills. Both of these policy implications highlight a need for multi-actor, multi-level governance structures, which make them some of the greatest challenges in all of the considered regions.

ALBERTO BRAMANTI is Associate Professor of Applied Economics, Department of Institutional Analysis and Public Management (PAM) and CERTeT (Centre on Regional Economics, Transport and Tourism), Bocconi University, Milan (IT).
alberto.bramanti@unibocconi.it 05