On the evolution of the Castel Goffredo hosiery cluster: A life cycle perspective

Giulio Carli and Andrea Morrison

No 1811, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: The life cycle approach has become popular in studies on industrial clusters. However, some concerns have been raised over the inherent determinism of this approach and its tendencies to focus exclusively on cluster internal dynamics while neglecting the role of external factors and socio-economic contingencies. This paper addresses these criticisms by investigating the long term development of Castel Goffredo, a traditional textile cluster in Italy. In our analysis we identify and characterise the main stages of the life cycle and its antecedents. We singled out the main triggering factors behind each of these stages and show that a variety of factors, both external and internal to the cluster, contributed to its development. Our findings confirm that an adaptive cycle approach, which focuses also on contingencies and external factors, appear to be appropriate for investigating the long term evolution of clusters.

Keywords: cluster life cycle; industrial cluster; hosiery industry; evolutionary economic geography; complexity; industrial districts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O1 R1 R12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-03, Revised 2018-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-geo and nep-his
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: On the evolution of the Castel Goffredo hosiery cluster: a life cycle perspective (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egu:wpaper:1811

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