Territorial capital in local economic endogenous development

This paper aims at describing the concept of territorial capital, understanding its importance, originality and limitations in local economic endogenous development. After providing a critical review of this concept, a qualitative analysis conducted in a province of the South of Italy attempts to illustrate the nature and operation of territorial capital through the lens of small firms' owners and managers. The analysis reveals that the valorization of territorial capital is a factor of competitiveness which is also able to generate non-economic values. However, not all places have the right preconditions to trigger a process of endogenous development effectively. In such cases, a more integrated approach, which combines both endogenous and exogenous forces, and targets complementary elements of territorial capital at the same time, is required to uncap the local development potential fully.