Cluster and business performance: Historical evidence from the Portuguese cork industry
2016; Elsevier BV; Volume: 14; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/j.ihe.2016.05.002
ISSN2340-3373
AutoresAmélia Branco, João Carlos Lopes,
Tópico(s)Business Strategy and Innovation
ResumoThis paper analyses the relative performance of clustered and non-clustered companies during the different phases of the cluster life cycle. It starts by explaining the location of most of the Portuguese cork manufacturing companies in Santa Maria da Feira, a small county in the north of the country, whereas the bulk of cork is produced in the South. The historical roots of the Feira cluster are examined, as well as the identification of its life cycle phases. The performance of clustered and non-clustered companies is compared using labour productivity data over a long time span of several decades. This exercise illustrates the crucial importance of history for the understanding of cluster dynamics, as well as many other (evolutionary) economic phenomena.
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