For many decades the smallness of Italian rms had been perceived as a “trademark” to be proud of, especially in Italian North-Eastern and Cen- tral regions (Becattini, 1979; Brusco et al., 1981; Fuà & Zacchia, 1983; Piore & Sabel, 1984). Although already in the past a criticism to such “model of capitalism” had started (see a review of Italian capitalism in: Barca, 1997), it has increased only as a result of the economic crisis. Over the last years the Italian SMEs, as well as those from other Southern European countri- es, have faced severe problems for growth: the drop in the domestic mar- ket sales together with the credit crunch have affected the performance and also the survival of many SMEs (Costa & Margani, 2009; Monducci et al., 2010); other SMEs have been acquired by larger rms and multinatio- nals (also from emerging countries, see: Pietrobelli et al., 2011). As it often happens, the crisis has been interpreted by some Italian rms as a forced opportunity to change and look for new markets. Therefore, expanding to external markets outside the home country has been perceived as an enabler for the continuation of SMEs growth (Majocchi & Zucchella, 2003). However, “which markets” can be regarded as an enabler for the Italian SMEs expansion, is still a question to be studied (Paoloni et al., 2005).
