Rethinking the industrial district: 35 years later

The year 2014 marked a double anniversary: the 35th and 25th anniversaries of the publication of two seminal papers of Giacomo Becattini on the industrial district. The first paper (Becattini, 1979) conceptualizes the industrial district as a «unit of investigation», while the second (Becattini, 198...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Sforzi, Fabio
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/26625
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/26625
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Industrial district
Cluster
Regional economics
Regional studies
Economic history
Distrito industrial
Clúster
Economía regional
Estudios regionales
Historia económica
Economía
Geografía
Economics
Geography
Sociology
Sociología
Descripción
Sumario:The year 2014 marked a double anniversary: the 35th and 25th anniversaries of the publication of two seminal papers of Giacomo Becattini on the industrial district. The first paper (Becattini, 1979) conceptualizes the industrial district as a «unit of investigation», while the second (Becattini, 1989) conceptualizes the industrial district as a «model of production». Between the two papers there is a mutual dependence. The industrial district as a «model of production» deprived of the industrial district as a «unit of investigation» loses its originality as a way of interpreting economic change and becomes merely «one type of a cluster». This paper deals with the relationship between district and cluster, then also between the industrial district as a singular theoretical construct and the many industrial districts described by empirical investigations, and concludes with some remarks on the topicality of the industrial district.