Economic complexity across firms, regions, and strategic dependence: some recent applications and open questions

This seminar presents four works that apply economic complexity to different problems of structural change. The first examines firm-level technological complexity and shows that, among SMEs in an Italian industrial region, more sophisticated technological profiles are associated with broader international scope and stronger global capabilities. The second focuses on Italian provinces and studies the relationship between industrial districts and long-run complexity growth, finding that the mere presence of districts is not sufficient, while district numerosity and, above all, productive relatedness are positively associated with capability accumulation.
The seminar then turns to two ongoing projects with preliminary results. The first investigates tourism specialization and regional development in Italian provinces, showing that tourism can support capability accumulation up to a point, but may weaken economic complexity once intensity becomes excessive. The second links the debate on technological sovereignty to the economic complexity literature, asking whether strategic technological dependence constrains structural transformation. Preliminary evidence suggests that dependence does not simply reduce diversification overall, but tends to redirect it toward more related activities while limiting entry into more distant products.
The aim of the seminar is to discuss these contributions as part of a broader empirical agenda on complexity, capabilities, and structural change, moving across firms, regions, and countries.