IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/cambje/v42y2018i6p1671-1685..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Learning, unlearning and forgetting processes in industrial districts

Author

Listed:
  • Marco Bellandi
  • Erica Santini
  • Claudia Vecciolini

Abstract

This paper proposes a conceptual framework on knowledge accumulation and depletion in industrial districts (IDs). The framework introduces three types of endogenous cognitive processes, namely learning, forgetting and unlearning, affected by internal and external dynamics. Such processes determine the reconfiguration of the ID cognitive structure based on the expansion and contraction of local knowledge. We apply the framework to three empirical cases: the Stoke-on-Trent ceramic ID, the Prato textile ID and the Macerata–Fermo footwear IDs. The empirical analysis describes the reconfiguration of the ID cognitive structure in relation to different cross-boundary relations, such as the introduction of a new policy, technological change and internationalisation. The results inform us that the contraction of some productive specialisations through forgetting may not be just the prelude of decline, but rather a condition fostering the exploration of new learning opportunities within paths of manufacturing recovery.

Suggested Citation

  • Marco Bellandi & Erica Santini & Claudia Vecciolini, 2018. "Learning, unlearning and forgetting processes in industrial districts," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 42(6), pages 1671-1685.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:42:y:2018:i:6:p:1671-1685.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/bey032
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lombardi, Silvia & Santini, Erica & Vecciolini, Claudia, 2022. "Drivers of territorial servitization: An empirical analysis of manufacturing productivity in local value chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    2. Mei Ren & Caihong Huang & Xiaomin Wang & Wei Hu & Wenxin Zhang, 2019. "Research on the Distribution of Pollution-Intensive Industries and Their Spatial Effects in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-20, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:42:y:2018:i:6:p:1671-1685.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/cje .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.