Why Do Business Service Firms Cluster? Small Consultancies, Clustering and Decentralisation in London and Southern England

David Keeble and Lilach Nachum

Working Papers from Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge

Abstract: Notwithstanding their remarkable recent growth, surprisingly little research has hitherto been conducted on the evolving geography of professional and business services in Britain. This paper analyses the results of a detailed survey of 300 small and medium-sized management and engineering consultancies, in investigating the forces underpinning both the striking clustering of such firms in central London and their growth in decentralised locations of East Anglia and South West England. Particular attention is paid to the role of demand-side influences, localised 'collective learning' processes, and increasing globalisation in clustering, and to so called 'enterprising behaviour theory' in explaining decentralisation.

Keywords: business services; clustering London; globalisation; SMEs; collective learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L1 L2 L84 O31 R3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-03
Note: PRO-1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp194

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