Emilia Romagna is a wealthy region in northern Italy known for its manufacturing industry and famous food and automotive companies. The region has a strong economy with over 70% employment and is dominated by industry, trade, and services. Parma has a similar economy based on manufacturing, food production, and small to medium sized firms. The region utilizes industrial districts to support specialized production across small, independent businesses in sectors like biomedical, textiles, footwear, furniture, and food.

1. Economic characteristics of our region
Wroclaw
October 2012
1

2. Emilia Romagna is a region of Northern Italy
situated in an area called “Pianura Padana”,
where the Po river runs. This area includes other
regions like Piemonte, Lombardia and Veneto.
Emilia Romagna is one of the richest region in
Europe, with an employment rate reaching 70%.
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3. This is a reason which has
caused a strong immigration
from non-European countries
in recent years.
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4. The most famous sport car companies like
Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati and
Ducati for motorcycles are established in
Emilia Romagna.
Some of the food excellences, like Barilla
and Parmalat, are also in our region.
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5. The tertiary sector with tourist
industry is very important in
Rimini and on the Adriatic Riviera
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6. Parma is a medium size town, about
200.000 inhabitants. Parma, as
Emilia Romagna too, is a manufacturing
based economy. It has many medium and
small firms. Food industry and plant design
are the two most important industries.
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7. 40%
31%
29%
EmiliaRomagna
Industry and agriculture
Trade, transport, hotels and
restaurants
Other services
This chart shows the various sectors of our region.
We note that the industry has the highest percentage
(the agriculture weights for only a 3%). More than one
third of workers work in industry.
WORKERS FOR ECONOMIC SECTORS
7

8. 0%
1000%
2000%
3000%
4000%
5000%
39,5
31,5
28,9
Parma Emilia Romagna
A comparison between
Parma and Emilia Romagna
WORKERS FOR ECONOMIC SECTORS
8

9. 62,5%
30,6%
6,0% 0,8%
FIRMSFOR REVENUESIZE
EmiliaRomagna
.000/€
0- 100
100 - 1000
1000 - 10000
10000 e più
9

10. 60,8%
31,1%
7,1% 1,0%
FIRMS FOR REVENUESIZE
Parma
.000/€
0- 100
100- 1000
1000 - 10000
10000 e più
10

11. The distribution of firms by revenue size
class is very similar, but Parma has the
percentage of firms with the revenue up
to 100.000 euros lower than Emilia
Romagna, while it is higher in class
having more than 10 millions of revenue.
11

12. 56%38%
4%
1% 1%
0%
FIRMS FOR SIZE CLASS
Emilia Romagna
1 worker
2 to 9
10 to 19
20 to 49
50 to 249
over 250
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13. 57,0%
37,3%
3,6%
1,5%
0,6%
0,1% FIRMS FOR SIZE CLASS
Parma
1worker
2to 9
10to 19
20to 49
50to 249
over 250
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14. 331.471
372.777
704.248
424.168
371.171
795.339
Museums Monuments Galleries
CULTURE
EmiliaRomagna
VISITORS REVENUE
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16. Food industry
Parma
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17. Food industry
Parma
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18. THE ECONOMY OF DISTRICTS
The notion of industrial district was worked
out by one of the most important
economist, the english Alfred Marshall,
who led the “Cambridge school” from 1884
to 1908.
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19. THE ECONOMY OF DISTRICTS
Emilia Romagna has several economic
districts in which small independent
businesses carrying out a main
productive activity are highly specialized
in different stages of the production
process.
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20. In any district there is a meaningful
relationship between the presence of
enterprises and the resident population,
as well as the specialized production of
all the production units involved.
THE ECONOMY OF DISTRICTS
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21. The economy of districts
In Emilia Romagna we have six important
industrial districts:
 Biomedical – Mirandola
 Textile – Carpi
 Footwear – San Mauro Pascoli
 Upholstered furniture – Forlì
 Ceramic – Sassuolo
 Agro-Food - Parma
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