Cluster and business performance: Historical evidence from the Portuguese cork industry

Amélia Branco (ameliab@iseg.ulisboa.pt) and João Carlos Lopes
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João Carlos Lopes: ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, and Research Unit on Complexity and Economics (UECE), Lisboa, Portugal

Investigaciones de Historia Económica - Economic History Research (IHE-EHR), Journal of the Spanish Economic History Association, 2018, vol. 14, issue 01, 43-53

Abstract: This paper analyses the relative performance of clustered and non-clustered companies during the different phases of the cluster life cycle. It starts by explaining the location of most of the Portuguese cork manufacturing companies in Santa Maria da Feira, a small county in the north of the country, whereas the bulk of cork is produced in the South. The historical roots of the Feira cluster are examined, as well as the identification of its life cycle phases. The performance of clustered and non-clustered companies is compared using labour productivity data over a long time span of several decades. This exercise illustrates the crucial importance of history for the understanding of cluster dynamics, as well as many other (evolutionary) economic phenomena. KEY Classification-JEL: R12. L73. N60. O14

Keywords: Industria; corchera.; Ciclo; de; vida; del; clúster.; Localización; industrial.; Portugal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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