Abstract
This paper reviews the history of the emergence of the molds and plastics industries in Portugal, finding that this history fits nicely with the accounts—originally proposed in Steven Klepper’s various works—of new industries emerging from older, related industries, and regional clusters emerging from the mobility of specialized workers from successful incumbents to new firms created in the same regional environment. In addition, it addresses the role played by entrepreneurship, spinoffs, and the transmission of organizational competences from successful incumbents to new firms through the mobility of specialized workers played in the evolution of the two referred industries.
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Notes
- 1.
The definition of “spinoffs” follows Klepper (2002), i.e., de novo firms whose founder(s) worked previously in the same industry.
- 2.
Mills (1967) pointed out that agglomeration leads to diseconomies driven by congestion costs associated with land prices.
- 3.
Concelho is the Portuguese administrative division for a region with a city council (i.e., analogous to a US county). Currently there are 278 concelhos in continental Portugal, with an average area of 320 km2.
- 4.
The King granted Stephens free use of the wood from his forest, a large loan without interest and a waiver on the imports tariff for the raw materials and export tariff for the glass products to sell, among other benefits (Barosa 1993).
- 5.
Nobre & Silva was the second plastics company to operate in the country and the first to locate in Leiria, close to Marinha Grande. The first company to produce plastic products was SIPE—Sociedade Industrial de Produtos Eléctricos had been created in 1935 in Dafundo to produce bakelite products for the electric industry.
- 6.
Klepper and Thompson (2010) propose a model of spinoffs generated by strategic disagreements which fits this event rather well.
- 7.
From 4 to 6 years, as mentioned by Pedro F (1985) Enquadramento Histórico da Indústria de Moldes. In: I Congresso da Indústria de Moldes, Marinha Grande, pp 19–24.
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This paper is dedicated to the memory of Steven Klepper, a close friend and a mentor.
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Costa, C., Baptista, R. (2015). Organizational Heritage and Entrepreneurship: Steven Klepper’s Theories Reflected in the Emergence and Growth of the Plastic Molds Industry in Portugal. In: Baptista, R., Leitão, J. (eds) Entrepreneurship, Human Capital, and Regional Development. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-12871-9_14
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