ABOUT CSIL

Who we are

CSIL Centre for Industrial Studies is anindependent economic research and consulting company. CSIL was founded in Milan in 1980 and it specialises in applied economic research, SMEs economics, evaluation and technical assistance to development projects and programmes.

Its partners are economists, engineers, market researchers, management consultants, experts in business organisation, and in policy evaluation.

What we do

CSIL offers research and consulting services on economic development processes, with an integrated vision of the micro (local scale, niche business environment, SMEs) as well as the macro dimension (country studies, global scenarios, forecasts based on econometric models, development of public policies).

In almost 30 years, CSIL has gathered unsurpassed experience with analysis and other consultancy activities for the development and consolidation of regional development strategies, especially for industrial districts. Competitiveness analysis, elaboration of cluster development strategies and international market strategies have been the core of CSIL activities. Additionally, our experts exhibit longstanding collaboration experience with the European Commission and other international organisations in the evaluation of public policies and investment projects. They elaborate evaluation methodologies, in particular cost-benefit analysis, on behalf of international institutions and release important guidelines in this field.

CSIL boasts an empirical and experimental perspective, based on the direct and detailed observation of diverse realities, attentive to differences and similarities, with a concrete and versatile approach. In some SMEs sectors (as furniture, lighting, appliances) and in some specific fields (as investment project evaluation and cost-benefit analysis within the regional policy framework) CSIL is among the most respected expert teams at international level.

Where we go

Our researchers go to do fieldwork all over the world. For instance, in the last year our experts carried out missions in:
Ankara, Barcelona, Bilbao, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Bruxelles, Bucarest, Cairo, Cologne, Dubai, Guangzhou, Hannover, Istanbul, Kaiserlautern, Karlsruhe, Krakow, Las Vegas, Lausanne, Lion, Liverpool, London, Madrid, Marseille, Moscow, New York, Paris, Prague, Seville, Shanghai, Sharja, Shenzen, Singapore, Stockholm, Timisoara, Tokyo, Toulouse, Vienna, Warsaw.

From where we come: our intellectual roots

Some of CSIL partners have been post-graduate students at ISTAO, the Adriano Olivetti Institute, one of the most prestigious schools of applied economics and management studies in Italy, funded in Ancona by Giorgio Fuà (1919–2000). Fuà, one of the most important Italian economists of his generation, combined a Schumpeterian development vision with the intuition that the flowering type of human enterprise is the result of a complex set of social, cultural and political-institutional – and intrinsically local – factors. CSIL keeps on having strong bonds with ISTAO, and at the moment one of the CSIL business units operates in Villa Favorita (Ancona), where the school is located.

One of CSIL founding partners was Alberto Zevi (1920–1993) – a longlife friend of Fuà. Zevi did offer generous financial support to the first research projects at CSIL. His bright and versatile personality found its expression in enterprises creation in the field of woodworking machinery, graphic industry, plastic processing and, finally, one of the most prestigious Italian publishing houses (Adelphi). In memory of Alberto Zevi, every year CSIL entitles a scholarship addressed to young researchers. Zevi's conception of innovation consisted not only of big events, but also of a continuum and molecular process acting through observation, imitation, adaptation and combination of elements, with particular attention to the international comparison.

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