Italian Industry

The structure of industrial production and the service industries is characterized by the prevalence of small and medium-sized companies (94% and 5.6% according to 1981 data), employing, however, only 70% of the workforce, 30% being monopolized by large c ompanies (more than 100 workers) though these comprise only 0.4% of the total. This means that companies are widely dispersed over the whole country, obviously with significant location and concentration of industry, and more than half the industrial comp anies operate at little more than workshop level, as is seen by the small workforce in each production unit.

On the other hand, the small number of large companies is explained by increased concentration, at that level also indicated by the high number of employees.

There is only a limited number of cooperative companies (food sector and the transformation of agricultural products), while large companies tend to become multinational. The presence of companies with foreign capital monopolizing specific commodity secto rs (pharmaceuticals, photographic materials, electronics, cosmetics etc.) is far from rare.

One particular kind of development regards medium-sized companies, frequently derivations of small family-run businesses with a specialized production, which as a result of management flexibility have succeeded in reconverting production and using technol ogical innovations which, with increased competitivity, enable them to penetrate international markets, in this way contributing to the consolidation of the Italian image and presence throughout the world.