Mapping territories beyond administrative boundaries. Insights from inter-provincial specializations in Lombardy

This paper develops an exploratory, mostly-qualitative case study of the spatial structure of productive specialization in Lombardy, Italy’s leading manufacturing region, using an analytical framework that combines export-based measures of revealed comparative advantage with the network view of development. Drawing on provincial (NUTS-3) data for 13 manufacturing industries and a detailed product-level study of the Brescia–Cremona–Mantua area, it identifies sectoral specializations and inter-provincial complementarities that are consistent with productive systems extending beyond individual administrative units. By situating provincial specializations within the Product Space, the analysis provides a relational perspective on regional productive structures, showing how shared capabilities underpin regional manufacturing systems. Results indicate that provinces with diversified exports are more integrated into complex, interrelated value chains, and cross-provincial complementarities suggest patterns of functional integration across the region. These findings contribute to debates on regional development and multi-level governance, showing how territorially coordinated policies can leverage existing productive interdependencies in regions with functionally integrated economic areas.