Territorial Capital as a Company Intangible: Exploratory Evidence from Ten Italian Multinational Corporations

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, to explore to what extent being located in a territory is value-relevant for a company. Second, to understand if a company is aware of, and how it can sustain, the territorial tangible and intangible assets present in the economic area in which it is located.

Design/methodology/approach
The study presents an empirical multiple case-study, investigating ten mid-/large-sized Italian companies in manufacturing sectors.

Findings
The results indicate that the sampled manufacturing companies are intertwined with the environment in which they are embedded, both in their home country and in host ones. The domestic territorial capital has provided, and still provides, enterprises with workers endowed with the necessary technical skills that they can have great difficulty in finding in other places. In turn, companies support territorial capital generation through their activities.

Research limitations/implications
To increase the generalisability of the results, future research should expand the sample and examine firms based in different countries and sectors.