FROM OFFSHORING TO RESHORING. FOCUS ON THE BACKSHORING PHENOMENON IN ITALY

The expansion of the physical dimension of enterprises across national boundaries, through direct control exercised over other production units, has shown to have not negligible effects on the commercial flows. International trade, therefore, represents the engine driving the global economy. In a difficult time like what is going through the global economy, business strategy decisions have a key role in the international economies of each country. Offshoring is the process of overseas relocation of certain business activities in order to gain greater benefits, such as labor supply at a lower cost of labor. In recent decades, this phenomenon has become increasingly important, as there are many companies that have adopted this type of strategy, thanks to the many economic benefits it brings. However, this type of choice entails certain disadvantages. The attention of the international press is increasingly attracted by the growing instances of reshoring: the relocation. The objective of the following work is to analyze the backshoring, the return of companies’ previously relocated activities to home country. United States and Italy, respectively, are the two countries that have had the largest number of reshoring cases. More than half of back/near-shoring manoeuvres result from a return action from China (especially US companies). In addition, the phenomenon of backshoring has played an important role in industrial policy in overcoming the economic crisis. This theses investigates the phenomenon of production relocation, and in particular the backshoring, and therefore the return to the country of origin. The theoretical approaches adopted for this research are the classical theories of internationalization, organizational theories and theories on business strategy, in particular the perspective of the psychic distance to be included among the hidden costs taken into consideration by the Schulte model. The work, therefore, intends to offer a look at the phenomenon from within the company, focusing on the key processes of perceiving distance (geographical, cultural and psychic) that influence localization choices.