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Geographic Map of Sustainability in Italian Local Systems

2010; Routledge; Volume: 46; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00343404.2010.504703

1360-0591

Antonio Dallara, Paolo Rizzi,

Social Capital and Networks

Abstract Dallara A. and Rizzi P. Geographic map of sustainability in Italian local systems, Regional Studies. This paper is a quantitative application of the economy–society–environment (ESA) model to Italian provinces. The ESA model is a framework used to describe territorial systems. It is grounded in a theoretical scheme called SEST (socio-economic territorial systems), which connects performances of the local system with socio-economic structure, external economies, public/private strategies, and territorial governance. The ESA model is focused on the three pillars of sustainability: economy, society, and environment. Clusters and rankings are defined and enable a comparison to be made with more homogeneous local systems. An analytical description of the development of the Italian systems is outlined through principal component analysis. Dallara A. et Rizzi P. Une carte géographique de la durabilité des systèmes locaux en Italie, Regional Studies. Cet article cherche à appliquer de façon quantitative le modèle économie–société–environnement (modèle ESA) aux provinces italiennes. Le modèle ESA sert de cadre à la présentation des systèmes territoriaux. Il est fondé sur un schéma théorique de systèmes territoriaux socioéconomiques qui relient la performance du système local à la structure socioéconomique, aux économies externes, aux stratégies publiques/privées, et au gouvernement territorial. Le modèle ESA porte sur les trois piliers de la notion de durabilité: à savoir, l'économie, la société et l'environnement. On définit les grappes et les classements, ce qui permet la comparaison avec des systèmes locaux plus homogènes. A partir de la méthode de composantes principales, on esquisse une présentation analytique du développement des systèmes italiens. Développement durable Système local Méthode de composantes principales Analyse comparative territoriale Dallara A. und Rizzi P. Die geografische Karte der Nachhaltigkeit in italienischen lokalen Systemen, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag wird das Wirtschafts-, Gesellschafts- und Umweltmodell in quantitativer Weise auf die italienischen Provinzen angewandt. Das Wirtschafts-, Gesellschafts- und Umweltmodell dient als Rahmen zur Beschreibung von territorialen Systemen. Es beruht auf einem theoretischen Schema mit der Bezeichnung SEST (sozioökonomische Territorialsysteme), das die Leistungen des lokalen Systems mit der sozioökonomischen Struktur, externen Ökonomien, öffentlichen/privaten Strategien und territorialer Regierungsführung verknüpft. Das Wirtschafts-, Gesellschafts- und Umweltmodell konzentriert sich auf die drei Säulen der Nachhaltigkeit: Wirtschaft, Gesellschaft und Umwelt. Es werden Cluster und Rangfolgen definiert, die einen Vergleich mit homogeneren lokalen Systemen ermöglichen. Anhand einer Hauptkomponentenanalyse wird eine grobe analytische Beschreibung der Entwicklung der italienischen Systeme vorgenommen. Nachhaltige Entwicklung Lokales System Hauptkomponentenanalyse Vergleichende territoriale Analyse Dallara A. y Rizzi P. Mapa geográfico de la sostenibilidad en los sistemas locales italianos, Regional Studies. Este artículo es una aplicación cuantitativa del modelo de entorno económico-social para las provincias italianas. El modelo de entorno económico-social es una estructura que se utiliza para describir sistemas territoriales. Se basa en un esquema teórico denominado SEST (sistemas territoriales socio-económicos) que conecta los rendimientos del sistema local con la estructura socio-económica, las economías externas, las estrategias públicas/privadas y la gobernanza territorial. El modelo de entorno económico-social se centra en los tres pilares de sostenibilidad: economía, sociedad y medio ambiente. Definimos las aglomeraciones y clasificaciones que permiten hacer comparaciones con sistemas locales más homogéneos. Mediante un análisis de los componentes principales hacemos una descripción analítica del desarrollo de los sistemas italianos. Desarrollo sostenible Sistema local Análisis de componentes principales Análisis comparativo territorial Keywords: Sustainable developmentLocal systemPrincipal component analysisTerritorial comparative analysisJEL classifications: O18R1 Notes Here the concept of territorial governance means 'the entirety of institutions which co-ordinate or regulate action or transactions among subjects within an economic system' (Le Galès, 2001) and it differs from the transaction-cost theory à la Williamson which positions institutions on a range between markets and hierarchies only. The governance mechanism stresses, therefore, the interactions among local actors and institutions in allowing specific and coherent transformation paths (Garofoli, Citation2007). For a deep investigation on the SEST concept, see Ciciotti Citation(1997), LEL Citation(1999), and Ciciotti and Rizzi Citation(2005). In this respect, refer also to the voluntaristic competition (based on policies and strategies), which is meant to be integrated with structural competition (based on sectorial and infrastructural mix peculiarities of the area concerned). Refer also to Rist Citation(1997) for the theory and practice of sustainable development, where: environmental and ecological variables are basic but part of a multidimensional perspective and social, cultural, health-related and monetary/financial aspects have to be integrated into the analysis. (Soederbaum, Citation2008) Since the sustainable development is characterized by many aspects, the range of related subjects turns out to be extremely wide. Pezzoli Citation(1997) carried out a survey on the relevant literature and found at least ten different groups of subjects including natural sciences, geography, economics, sociology, politics and philosophy. Yet, the sustainable development concept is tightly bound to the environment issue; most European Union policies indeed concern sectors and are based especially on ecological–environmental topics. For a summary, see Nijkamp and Fusco Girard (1997). The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) work based on such approach. The structure variables refer to the basic characteristics of economic–social–environment systems – for the latter dimension, refer to state variable. As to performance variable, refer to the results, that is, the outcomes of structure and strategies, where the strategies' variables refer to actions–behaviours of single public–private actors. This principal component requires: a significant Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test and test of sphericity; an auto-value greater than 1 and the other auto-values for the remaining principal components remarkably less than 1; high communality values; and high and significant coefficients to calculate scores (Zani, Citation2000; Tabachnick and Fidell, Citation2001; Jolliffe, Citation2002). The last two variables show a minus sign as an index of a weak structure of enterprises and a different productive structure compared with the national average. Economic expenditure includes roads, airports, railways, river–lake–sea facilities, water and power works, communication systems, and others (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT), Rome). The variable 'crime' results from principal component analysis applied to eight elementary variables. Social centres and schools; public buildings; houses; health facilities (ISTAT). The first southern province turns out to be Cagliari at fifty-sixth in the national ranking. The cluster analysis was realized by the synthesis of the macro-variables structure–performance–strategies of the three sustainability pillars. The cluster analysis underlines better indicators in the south of Italy as to social performance and strategies, which is a result in disagreement with Putnam's (1993) thesis. By using the notion of social capital as 'connections among individuals, social networks and norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness that arise from them', Putnam explains the southern economic and institutional delay, that is, the small social capital endowment of these areas, through social relations indicators (club numbers, associations, electoral participations). On social performance, the macro-variables used in this paper come from demography and health variables, whereas from a strategies point of view, along with the volunteering and criminality (respectively, positive and negative indicators of social capital), personal strategies (suicides, divorces) are also included. Moreover, in Italy some studies on social capital introduce positive dynamics on the social capital in the south during the years before the Putnam analysis (Rizzi, Citation2003; Rizzi and Popara, 2006; Putnam, 1995). The main theoretical and practical references on the role of social capital on development are Bordieu Citation(1986), Coleman Citation(1990), Dasgupta and Serageldin Citation(1999), Durlauf Citation(2002), Glaeser et al. Citation(2002), and Portes Citation(1998).