RENIR » Research Area

The history of technical and vocational education literature includes some rich and varied studies that allow the evolution of workers' training to be traced from the time of Italy's unification, with particular reference to the northern part of the country. The research will be aimed at identifying the main organizations promoting training policies and will focus on capturing the diversity between Turin and Milan. The greater dynamism observed in Turin since the middle of the 19th century was due to several political and economic factors. The most dramatic changes occurred in the post-war period followed by the years of the so-called economic miracle when Turin became a one company town and Milan developed into a polycentric industrial city.

The aim is to describe the historical evolution of Turin's productive structures in the century from the first industrial revolution to the emergence of a tertiary economy. Starting from census data to trace the evolution of the productive structure, we will conduct a survey of the characteristics of the local society, demographic and migratory trends, social stratification and housing developments. Particular attention will be paid to the role of institutions, the ruling élites, and associations and interest organizations in supporting local developments and configuring industry guidelines. The evolution of economic power within the local economy will be considered according to the various important stages. The history of the car industry capital will be fleshed out with comparisons with other North-West poles and, in particular, Milan.

There are several thorough historical and qualitative accounts of the development of Italy's car industry and, especially, the case of the Torino cluster. However, no systematic attempts have been made to create a comprehensive database of car producers in Italy. There are 404 companies that have produced at least one car or produced prototypes that were never commercialized. We intend to analyse: i) the origins of the local concentration in Torino and Milano and why Torino become the Italian car industry leader; ii) the reasons for Fiat's success; iii) the effects of two shake-outs – in 1906 and 1929 – in the Italian industry on the number of firms and their economic concentration; and iv) the relation between car and aeronautics industries.