Sub-Regional Socio-Economic Relations Analysis for New Development Policies. Input-Output Analysis and Value Chain Approach Applied to Labour Market Areas in Tuscany

Article by Tommaso Ferraresi, Sabrina Iommi and Leonardo Piccini, published in the journal Scienze Regionali, Issue 2/2026, May–August

pp: 151-176 | DOI: 10.14650/120806

Abstract

The growth of territorial gaps in mature economies, which adds to the critical issues associated with the transition from an industrial to a tertiary production structure, requires reflection on the need for new and more effective development policies. In this work an integrated input-output and value chain approach is proposed, to analyse the socio-economic relations between the territories at the local scale, using the partition of the Labour Market Areas for Tuscany, to derive more accurate indications for the construction of targeted development policies. The work demonstrates that local development policies can act on three distinct levers: localization of leading sectors, participation in value chains through intermediate exchanges, participation in the distribution of labour income through commuting flows. Tuscany is an interesting case study for two main reasons: the variety of its local systems and the presence of a consolidated school of thought on local development. Furthermore, the methodology presented here is innovative and replicable in other contexts.

Keywords

• local development policies
• input-output analysis
• labour market areas

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