The Symbiotic Division of Labour between Heterogeneous Districts in the Dutch and Italian Horticultural Industry

Fiorenza Belussi and Silvia Rita Sedita ()
Additional contact information
Fiorenza Belussi: Department of Economics and Business, Padua University, via del Santo 33, 35123 Padova, Italy, fiorenza.belussi@unipd.it

Urban Studies, 2008, vol. 45, issue 13, 2715-2734

Abstract: This article focuses on the historical development of one ornamental horticulture district in the Netherlands and two in Italy. The aim is to underline the global division of labour among three districts driven by industrial district heterogeneity, uneven learning systems and a unique specialisation in production and retailing. The historical development of all the districts is very similar, but the application of science and the role of local institutions explain the evolution of the cluster in the Netherlands. Despite the lack of natural resources and unfavourable climate, high labour and energy costs, the Dutch district and the Netherlands-based horticulture industry hold a leading position. Although endowed with better natural resources, the Italian districts belong to a very weak national innovation system and are now strongly dependent on the Dutch system.

Date: 2008
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0042098008098202 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:45:y:2008:i:13:p:2715-2734

DOI: 10.1177/0042098008098202

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Urban Studies from Urban Studies Journal Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().