Industrial Clusters shows the latest state of knowledge on the topic of industrial clusters, with a particular focus on clustering in the UK, bringing together a chronological coverage of the phenomenon. This set of original essays by a group of leading business and industrial historians offers fresh perspectives about clusters and clustering. A primary emphasis of the collection is how knowledge is generated and disseminated across a cluster, and whether these processes stimulated innovation and consequently longer-term sustainability. This analysis also prompts questions about which unit of analysis to examine, from the entrepreneurs and firms they created through to the industry as a whole and district in which they are located, or whether one should look outside the region for explanatory factors. Covering regions as diverse as North Wales, the Scottish Highlands, the City of London, the Potteries, Sheffield and Lancashire, the essays have been channelled to provide a detailed understanding of these issues. The editors have also provided a challenging Conclusion that suggests a new research agenda that could well unravel some of the mysteries associated with clustering. This edited collection will be of interest to international researchers, academics and students in the fields of business and management history, innovation, industrialisation and clusters.

This volume contains the proceedings of the international conference "Complexity and Industrial Clusters: Dynamics and Models in Theory and Practice", organized by Fondazione Comunita e Innovazione and held in Milan on June 19 and 20, 2001 under the aegis of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (founded in Rome in 1604), one of the oldest and most famous national academies of science in the world. Fondazione Comunita e Innovazione encourages research and the dissemination of knowledge about social, economic, cultural and civil issues. It promotes research and innovation related to local production systems and industrial districts, with special reference to: the interactions between large companies and SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises), the effects of industrial districts on the development and welfare of their communities and of neighbouring areas, the effects of globalisation on these local systems of productions. Fondazione Comunita e Innovazione was created in Milan in 1999. It supports studies, publications, and events, both on its own and in cooperation with corporations, research institutes, foundations, associations and universities. It also grants scientific sponsorship to research that is in line with its mission, as set forth in its by-laws. The founding member of the Fondazione is Edison (formerly Monted:son). The other subscribing members, in historical order, are: Ausimont, Tecnimont, Eridania, Accenture, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

'This well-edited volume should be on the shelf of every regional development agency library. Its seventeen chapters written by 31 predominantly academic contributors are divided into four coherent sections: the first on cluster and network modelling, the next on empirical analysis, a third on case studies, finishing with two chapters on policy analysis and strategies.' - Tony Jackson, Journal of Economic Development This book provides a state-of-the-art overview of spatial industrial clusters and inter-firm networks. Given the prevailing political belief that clusters can be a major vehicle for economic development and growth, it is important to have a sound understanding of clusters and how they emerge, grow, eventually stagnate and disappear. It is also vital to know when and how to apply policy measures to support cluster development in order to increase economic welfare. This book illuminates both the theoretical and empirical issues relating to clusters and inter-firm networks, and presents a number of interesting case studies from a variety of different countries.

The World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Research Institute, and the Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID), in collaboration with researchers affiliated with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), recently conducted a study on Africa s domestic enterprises to improve the understanding of the constraints micro and small enterprises in Africa face in improving productivity and expanding their markets. In Africa, there are stark performance gaps between domestically owned enterprises and foreign-owned enterprises in terms of sales performance, productivity, and ability to reach distant markets. Among others, size appears to be a dominant factor in explaining the gap. Against this background, the study analyzes how naturally formed industrial clusters concentrations of enterprises engaged in same or closely related industrial activities in specific locations could potentially mitigate constraints Africa s micro and small enterprises face and enhance their business performance. The study is one of the first comprehensive quantitative inquiries on industrial clusters in Africa. The analysis specifically focuses on the role of spontaneously grown clusters of light manufacturing industries based on a set of original case studies of industrial clusters conducted for this research project. One of the key findings from the case studies was that cluster-based micro and small enterprises are performing better than similar micro and small enterprises outside of the clusters in terms of sales performance and ability to reach distant markets. Market access is a leading reason for cluster-based enterprises to choose their current locations. However, cluster-based enterprises face another set of unique growth constraints. By the very nature of spontaneous agglomera tion, new enterprises continue to flow to the clusters seeking the profit opportunities and better access to markets at such locations. The result can be intense competition in addition to increased congestion. Space constraints often impede growth within clusters. The lack of alternative locations available for industrial activities in the same cities, generic infrastructure bottlenecks, and unclear zoning policies and their unpredictable changes limit firms location choices and constrain their mobility. While competition should improve efficiency, lack of capacity among those competing cluster-based enterprises to invest and innovate does not generate growth out of the competition. The vast majority of naturally formed clusters of light manufacturing industries in Africa are still at a survival level, where agglomeration externalities are only limited to expand quantity but not quality as we observe in more advanced innovation-oriented clusters in elsewhere in the world. Existing studies on such natural industrial clusters in Africa have found that the lack of managerial skills among entrepreneurs running micro and small enterprises is a major constraint for innovation and growth in the clusters. As a part of this study, pilot managerial skills training programs were conducted in two industrial clusters on an experimental basis, where a group of randomly selected entrepreneurs within the clusters were given three-week long crush course of based management such as bookkeeping, marketing, business planning, and production management. The impact evaluation of the experiments showed significant positive impacts of the training programs on value added and gross profits of enterprises. Raising the current survival-type industrial clusters, which have been formed as a coping mechanism to weak investment climate, into more dynamic innovating clusters will be an important avenue for fostering growth of micro and small enterprises in Africa. While national efforts to improve investment climate and investments in human capital are undoubtedly important, there could be more targeted policies to be formulated, in complementing general policies, to support growth of micro and small domestic enterprises using existing industrial clusters as a natural springboard for their growth. In that context, the study discusses the merit of cluster-based managerial human capital development to build steps toward more innovation-oriented clusters, the importance of sound spatial planning policy, particularly at the local level in the context of urban planning, the need to expand market access and economic linkages for industrial clusters including regional integration and linkages with large enterprises.

. . . the book is an interesting collection of anecdotal evidence. . . the book makes for interesting reading, both from the point of view of case studies and in terms of empirical methodological applications. Silvia Grandi, Economic Geography Research Group This is a valuable book. The individual chapters contain original case-study evidence and analytical insights. . . it is one that should be consulted by any scholar working in the area if industrial agglomerations and new technology. Simona Iammarino, Economic Geography This book, a collaborative effort by researchers from Japan, Italy and the USA, seeks to explore the reasons for industrial clustering in certain regions of Asia, Europe and North America. The studies presented illustrate real examples of industrial clusters, adding anecdotal evidence to the emerging theory of economic geography by exemplifying the centripetal and centrifugal forces that regulate the clustering process. The authors examine clusters in a diverse set of countries including China, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the USA and Vietnam. Significantly, the book provides an interesting split between studies of IT and software-related industries, and more traditional sectors, such as steel and vehicle manufacturing. Industrial Agglomeration and New Technologies pays attention to a varied array of factors that influence clustering, such as knowledge spillovers, tacit knowledge, communication and transport costs, and the effects of various government policies. The case studies provide useful examples for government and industry leaders, as well as a starting point for researchers seeking an ultimate answer to the question: Why do firms form clusters?

Tales from the Development Frontier presents analytical reviews and case studies that show how selected countries have developed light manufacturing to create jobs and foster prosperity. The focus is on China, a current powerhouse in light manufacturing, but the volume also analyzes a selection of countries in Africa and Asia.

This book presents an in-depth analysis of the functional dynamics of Indian industrial clusters which have grown and stayed as hubs of business activity in India, thanks to a large calibrated domestic market for goods. The examples given contribute towards the understanding of theoretical underpinnings of small firm clusters in LDCs and also indicate steps towards effective policy making for SME development in general, and local economic regeneration in LDCs in particular. The industries studied include modern as well as traditional/artisanal sectors which span at least ten Indian states. They provide insights into informality, labour, inter-firm relationship (cooperation and competition), technological and organisational flexibility, and forms of supportive institutional arrangements and nature of linkages with agencies external to the cluster, among other things. This book will be of particular interest to SME practitioners and to students and researchers of economics, business management, regional development, economic geography, industrial sociology and industrial organisation.