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Abstract
The Italian Industrial Districts (IDs) are considered to be one of the main reasons for the rapid industrial
development and success of Italy since the Second World War. The SME's have also played an important role
in this. In this paper we outline the general characteristics of the ID approach and the main structural changes
in the new millennium, due to them facing the process of globalization. The distinctive figures of the agrifood
districts and their mosaic style of development are than analysed to highlight the similarities and differences
between them and the other IDs. First show that they are more relevant and that their geographical
distribution is more important than those of other recently analysed Italian ID's. The different zones of origin
of agrifood districts and their specialized production is often related to typical or high‐quality products, with a
strong connection to territorial traditions and manufacturing skills. These characteristics make agrifood
districts different in some ways from other ID's where the declining “district effect” has been noted due to the
general difficulties of Italian manufacturing industries. We will analysis these general structural changes
focusing on the districts of the meat industry.