Uno studio economico-territoriale del nord-ovest italiano tramite l'analisi delle componenti principali

Economic studies on micro-territorial settings have received growing attention in the social sciences, highlighting the complexity of social and economic mechanisms in macro-economic dynamics. The aim of this paper is to describe and analyse such a socio-economic composite system by using well-defined indicators. More specifically, the goal is to develop empirical studies on local labour systems. The reference area is that of North-West Italian regions (Piedmont, Lombardy, Aosta Valley and Liguria) Methods and Results In order to find out the main economic factors underlying local markets, we adopt the principal component analysis. The analysis yields three significant components for North-Western regions in Italy: Manifacturing&Employment, Services&Unemployment and EntrepreneurialDensity&ValueAdded. The first one highlights a positive relation among the number of manufacturing firms and higher employment level as well as more widespread infrastructure in the reference area; the second one underlines a positive relation among firms linked to service and trade sectors and higher unemployment rate; the last one reveals a positive relation among added value, employment rate and number of firms, but negative with respect to micro-enterprises. Conclusions This article shows up the type of relations among the environment, the field of interest and the reference region for units under study, through principal components technique. The analysis was particularly focused on geo-spatial characteristics, identifying homogeneous areas of study beyond administrative boundaries.