Abstract: How do differences in the local business environment influence location of industry within countries? How do the benefits of a good business environment compare with those from good market access and agglomeration economies from industry clustering? The authors examine these questions by analyzing location decisions of individual firms. Using data from a recently completed survey of manufacturing firms in India, they find that both the local business environment and agglomeration economies significantly influence business location choices across cities. In particular, excessive regulation of labor and of other industrial activities reduces the probability of a business locating in a city. The authors ' findings imply that in order to attract industrial activity, smaller or remoter cities need to offer even more attractive policy concessions or reforms to offset the effects of their relatively adverse (economic) geography. Their methodology pays special attention to the identification of agglomeration economies in the presence of unobserved sources of natural advantage.
There is now a wide spread interest in regions as a key focus in the organization and governance of economic growth and wealth creation. This important book considers the factors that influence and shape the competitive performance of regions. This is not just an issue of academic interest and debate, but also of increasing policy deliberation and action. However, as the readings in this book make clear, the very idea of regional competitiveness is itself complex and contentious. Many academics and policy makers have used the concept without fully considering what is meant by the term and how it can be measured. Policy formulation has tended to rush ahead of understanding and analysis, and the purpose of this book is to close this important gap in understanding. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.
How logistics clusters can create jobs while providing companies with competitive advantage. Why is Memphis home to hundreds of motor carrier terminals and distribution centers? Why does the tiny island-nation of Singapore handle a fifth of the world's maritime containers and half the world's annual supply of crude oil? Which jobs can replace lost manufacturing jobs in advanced economies? Some of the answers to these questions are rooted in the phenomenon of logistics clusters—geographically concentrated sets of logistics-related business activities. In this book, supply chain management expert Yossi Sheffi explains why Memphis, Singapore, Chicago, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and scores of other locations have been successful in developing such clusters while others have not. Sheffi outlines the characteristic “positive feedback loop” of logistics clusters development and what differentiates them from other industrial clusters; how logistics clusters “add value” by generating other industrial activities; why firms should locate their distribution and value-added activities in logistics clusters; and the proper role of government support, in the form of investment, regulation, and trade policy. Sheffi also argues for the most important advantage offered by logistics clusters in today's recession-plagued economy: jobs, many of them open to low-skilled workers, that are concentrated locally and not “offshorable.” These logistics clusters offer what is rare in today's economy: authentic success stories. For this reason, numerous regional and central governments as well as scores of real estate developers are investing in the development of such clusters. View a trailer for the book at: http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/22284-logistics-clusters-yossi-sheffi
'A Handbook of Industrial Districts is a very well-organized and structured collection of scientific works on the theory of industrial districts.' - Roberta Capello, Regional Studies In this comprehensive original reference work, the editors have brought together an unrivalled group of distinguished scholars and practitioners to comment on the historical and contemporary role of industrial districts.
This impressive new book uniquely focuses on the phenomenon of media clusters and is designed to inform policymakers, scholars, and media practitioners about the underlying challenges of media firm agglomerations, their potential, and their effects. Including an array of distinguished contributors, this book explores the rationale and purpose of media clusters, how they compare with clusters in other industries, and the significant differences in characteristics, development processes and drivers among various media clusters worldwide. It incorporates perspectives from economic geography and economics, public development and industrial policy, organizational studies, entrepreneurship, as well as cultural and media studies, to provide a comprehensive view that provides critical insight into these clusters.
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.
Competition, competitiveness, innovation and growth are inherently linked. This book covers the main ideas underlying competitiveness and its applications, drawing lessons for developing economies and relevant policy recommendations.
The authors in this book regard the process of economic expansion as a non-homogeneous and multifaceted phenomenon which has deeply affected human welfare, and cultural, social and political change. The book is a bridge between the theorists (Rosenstein-Rodan, Lewis, Myrdal, and Hirschmann) who in the post-war period analyzed regional inequalities, structural change and dualism, and the modern literature on economic growth. The latter has emphasized the existence of multiple equilibria, bifurcations and various types of dynamic complexity, and clarified the conditions for the emergence of phenomena such as cumulative causation, path dependence and hysteresis. These are the typical ingredients of structural change, economic development or underdevelopment.
This report analyzes 7 industry sectors pre-selected by the Appalachian Regional Comm. on the basis of their importance to the region's economy and export potential. The 7 clusters include: miscellaneous plastics parts in Northwest PA and OH, electronic components in NY, household furniture in Al and MS, knitting mills in NC and VA, medical devices in Southwest PA, industrial machinery in NC and SC, and environmental technologies in Eastern TN. The targets of the analysis are small and mid-sized manufacturing enterprises which have been slow to modernize and hesitant to export, and which comprise a potential source of growth. Tables and figures.
