I've also been looking into this system for some time viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1077&view=next
I believe these were fitted from the outset by innocent as it's a system adapted from Ducati motorcycles of the time and these did incorporate a resistor in the cut out circuit. The resistor is also mentioned in a Lambretta dealers letter to help fitters understand/diagnose the system (although no mention is made of it's position).
It could be fitted anywhere in the cut out circuit, but placed where it is, inside the loom, keeps it out of harm's way.
I initially, like others, thought it was designed to protect the feed coil from damage, However, later Ducati Vespa systems, using similar stator outputs, don't suffer from problems attributed to this and no resistor was fitted to them. So either the resistor was there to, IMO protect the earlier 323901 cdi, or the resistor was a precautionary measure and not really needed at all.
My attempt at making one