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Industrial Districts, Innovation and I-district Effect: Territory or Industrial Specialization?

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  • Rafael Boix
  • Joan Trullén

Abstract

The I-district effect hypothesis establishes the existence of highly intense innovation in Marshallian industrial districts due to the presence of external localization economies. However, industrial districts are characterized by specific manufacturing specializations in such a way that this effect could be due to these dominant specializations. The objective of this research is to test whether the effect is explained by the conditions of the territory or by the industrial specialization and to provide additional evidence of the existence and causes of the highly intense innovation in industrial districts (I-district effect). The estimates for Spain of a fixed-effects model interacting territory and industry suggest that the high innovative performance of industrial districts is maintained across sectors, whereas the industrial specialization behaves differently depending on the type of the local production system in which it is placed. The I-district effect is related to the conditions of the territory more than to the industrial specialization. The territory is a key variable in explaining the processes of innovation and should be considered a basic dimension in the design of innovation and industrial policies.

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  • Rafael Boix & Joan Trullén, 2009. "Industrial Districts, Innovation and I-district Effect: Territory or Industrial Specialization?," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(10), pages 1707-1729, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:18:y:2009:i:10:p:1707-1729
    DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2010.504351
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    2. Manuel Lopez-Estornell & Ignacio Fernández de Lucio, 2011. "Knowledge and performance in innovative firms: An analysis of district and inter-district effects," ERSA conference papers ersa11p361, European Regional Science Association.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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