Vera Zamagni traces the growth of industrialization and argues that despite several advanced areas, Italy only became an industrialized nation after World War II, and that during the 1980s the South was still clearly behind the rest of the country. She analyzes data from a macroeconomic perspective when she examines the growth of the finance sector and the role of the State, and from a microeconomic perspective when she draws conclusions from the changing population structure and from the actions of individual businesses. A central theme in this study is the argument that Italy's success is derivative not from its own individuality but from its ability to be flexible and incorporate the successes of other countries such as Japan's integrated business network and Germany's financial structure.