THE EVALUATION OF THE LOCAL INNOVATION POLICY:THE CASE OF THE INNOVATION CENTRES IN ITALY

In Italy the examples of evaluation of local policy for innovation are very few. As an impact assessment is possible only if the number of centres to examine is little, this analysis has chosen a monitoring evaluation and, particularly, the reorganization of the matter regarding innovation centres for firms in Italy, mainly through an analysis of the characteristics of the services being offered, of the number of the organizations presently really operative on the national territory, of their locations and field of action, with a first evaluation of their economic performances. This research has studied only those innovation centres, (private, partially state-controlled or totally state-controlled) belonging or not to industrial district, offering technological services to firms. Limits and advantages of the Italian experience have been pointed out.