Inside the Black Box of ‘Industrial Atmosphere’: Knowledge and Information Networks in an Italian Wine Local System

A well-grounded empirical and theoretical literature shows that local production systems can benefit from external economies generated by a shared ‘industrial atmosphere. This paper aims at contributing to this field of studies by entering into the black box of the ‘industrial atmosphere’ reconstructing the informal contacts underpinning collective learning in a local production system. The study is based on empirical evidence collected at firm level in a an Italian wine local system and uses methods of network analysis.