Territorial Paradigms of competitiveness in international markets: regional and subregional export performance of Umbria, Italy. A local development perspective

The goal of the paper is to investigate the regional and sub-regional competitiveness of Umbria (Nuts II region in Central Italy) on international markets through one of its traditional measure: export performance. The innovative methodological aspect of the research lies in complementing the analysis carried out referring to the regional administrative boundaries (spatial approach) of Umbria through the application of Michael Porter portfolio techniques, with a sub-regional analysis using territorial units (Local Labour Systems) determined according to a functional criterion, able to approximate properly the existing social and economic sub-regional (territorial) differentiation. The emergence of sub-regional areas of strong competitiveness on international markets otherwise invisible using an aggregated spatial approach, together with the existence of a multiplicity of organisational dimensions at a territorial level, suggest the necessity of joining the different (regional and sub-regional) levels of analysis in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public policy intervention. This suggests that de-centralising policy design and implementation to Regional Authorities could not be enough if the actual territorial articulation of the area considered is not appropriately taken into account.