Implications for Policy and Further Research

Abstract

In the preceding chapter some important results were reached comparing the findings of the empirical investigations carried out in two Italian footwear districts and two Mexican clusters with the stylized facts of the ideal-type of industrial districts described in Chapter 3. First of all, clustering brings gains in both cases. Secondly, the Italian districts and the Mexican clusters are characterized by different degrees of collective efficiency: in Italy both external economies and cooperative effects are higher than in Mexico. Thirdly, to some extent the differences between the Italian districts and the Mexican clusters are explained by introducing into the ‘model’ the impact that different external conditions may have on the structure of clusters. Finally, districts are not an island of unity but there is heterogeneity among economic actors within them.