Networks

The Struggle to develop regional industry policy: the role of the plastics and auto sectors in the Regional Chamber of ABC, São Paulo
Leite, M. / Institute for Development Studies / IDS Working Paper 154 / 2002
Much of the current policy debate on fostering the industrial upgrading focuses on the importance of local or regional policy networks. The question, which has been neglected in this debate, is whether conducting local or regional industrial policy is possible where local enterprises are part of a global production system. The ABC region of São Paulo provides a good opportunity for testing this proposition. Its two key sectors, auto and plastics, differ substantially in their involvement in the Regional Chamber, the most important public-private upgrading initiative launched in recent years. The paper shows how and why the very active participation of firms in the plastics chain contrasts with the passive attitude of firms in the auto chain.
(pdf-file, 310 kb, 44pp.)

The Concept of the "World Economic Triangle". Global Governance Patterns and Options for Regions
Messner, Dirk / Institute for Development Studies / IDS Working Paper 173 / 2002
The study develops the concept of the "world economic triangle" that emerges in the process of interaction between industrial locations, global value chains and global networks dedicated to setting standards. Regions are: (1) increasingly tied into global value chains that are characterised by forms of "private global governance" beyond pure market coordination; and (2) increasingly faced with global (technical, social, ecological, etc.) standards which are defined and often monitored by global policy networks. Taking into account the interactions between local and global governance in the "world economic triangle" helps to show new challenges, options and limits for local firms and for local policymakers.
(pdf-file, 712 kb, 107pp.)

Learning To Let Go: the Role of the Public Sector in Cluster Building in the Basque Country and Scotland 
Sandra Taylor, Philip Raines / University of Strathclyde, Glasgow / Regional and Industrial Policy Research Paper no. 48 / 2001
In order to explore some of the practical implications of cluster building, and draw lessons of potential relevance to other contexts pursuing policies with similar objectives, this paper examines two concrete examples of regions where the cluster concept has been applied over a sustained period as an instrument of regional development. The paper focuses in particular on the limits on the role of policy, considering the wider question of whether policy can create self-sustaining cluster groups.
(pdf, 193 KB, 37pp.)

The Cluster Approach and the Dynamics of regional Policy-Making
Philip Raines / University of Strathclyde, Glasgow / 2001
The paper examines how the cluster concept has been interpreted in a number of European cluster-based policies, focusing on the internal processes by which policy has been developed in different institutional and strategic environments.
(pdf-file, 180 KB, 35pp.)

Developing Cluster Policies in Seven European Regions
Philip Raines / University of Strathclyde, Glasgow / Regional and Industrial Policy Research Paper no. 42 / 2000
"Over the past decade, there has been an upsurge of interest in the "cluster" concept in economic development policy, as seen in the increasing support for the development of industrial clusters at both national and sub-national levels. The study focused on the practical issue of cluster policy-making and endeavoured to highlight examples of, and the factors influencing, good pratice in different aspects of cluster policy. These aspects have been envisaged as part of a cluster policy "life cycle", extending from the initial idea to its evaluation."
(pdf, 169 KB, 34pp.)

Industrial Clusters and Networks: Case Studies of SME-Growth and Innovation
Khalid Nadvi / UNIDO / 1995
Despite the growing awareness that SMEs are integral to industrial development, strategies aimed at supporting them have tended, more often than not, to fail. This paper reviews some cases of SME successes from the South. What distinguishes these cases, and the framework of this paper, is that these successes relate not to individual SMEs but to the collectivity of SMEs. The paper is concerned with small producers that operate within two distinct "institutional" settings: industrial clusters and industrial networks, that link together geographically dispersed producers and other agents. This paper explores how clustering and networking can enhance economic growth and spur technical progress in SMEs.
(pdf-file, 490KB, 78pp.)

Strategien lokaler/regionaler Entwicklung: Cluster, Standortpolitik und systemische Wettbewerbsfähigkeit
Jörg Meyer-Stamer / Nord-Süd Aktuell / 1999
Kritische Betrachtung von Clusterstrategien sowie Konzepten von lokaler und regionaler Wirtschaftsförderung bzw. Standortpolitik. Die Frage nach der Rolle des Konzeptes Systemische Wettbewerbsfähigkeit in diesem Kontext sowie das Verhältnis von Globalisierung und lokaler Entwicklung werden diskutiert.
(pdf-file, 98 KB, 12pp.)

Principles for promoting clusters and networks of SMEs
John Humphrey, Hubert Schmitz / UNIDO / ONUDI / 1995
"This discussion paper addresses the role of public policy in promoting clustering and networking of small firms as a means of raising their competitiveness. The European and developing country experience presented suggests that such clustering and networking can have important benefits, especially in cooperation with private sector companies. Experience suggests that this collective approach leads to lower costs and mutual learning, and that intervention is most effective when based on the 'triple C' approach, i.e. customer-oriented, collective and cumulative. Examples from Brazil and Chile indicate that, from a policy standpoint, South-South experience is at least as important as North-South."
(pdf-file, 153KB, 39pp.)

Regional Cluster in Europe
European Network for SME Research (ENSR) / 2002
Clusters of firms have been mostly studied in some European countries (like Italy) while other countries (like the United Kingdom) have recently started to take into account the cluster dimension in enterprise policies. The report looks first at the diverse situation in respect to knowledge of clusters in the European countries. Then, it attempts to make some comparisons between a number of clusters around Europe. Finally, the report focuses on the policy implications of clusters, at European, national and regional level.
(pdf-file, 561 KB, 66pp.)

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