Interpreting the role of proximity on Industrial District competitiveness using a complexity science-based view and Systems Dynamics simulation

The paper investigates how proximity affects Industrial District competitiveness. We adopt the complexity theory by analyzing the influence of the proximity on the Industrial District adaptive capacity. Our argument in fact is that the more adaptive the Industrial District, the more the competitive success. Based on the complexity theory, we identify the structural features that allow Industrial District adaptation and their best values. Then, by developing a computational model based on the Systems Dynamics, we conduct a simulation analysis to evaluate the influence of proximity on the values of Industrial District structural features affecting its adaptive capacity. Results show that too much proximity is detrimental for the Industrial District competitiveness.

[1]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[2]  André Torre,et al.  Proximity and Localization , 2005 .

[3]  P. Pontrandolfo,et al.  Supply chains within industrial districts: A theoretical framework , 2002 .

[4]  A. Shaw,et al.  On the Analytical Dimension of Proximity Dynamics , 2000 .

[5]  M. Porter,et al.  The Competitive Advantage of Nations. , 1990 .

[6]  Stefano Breschi,et al.  Mobility of inventors and the geography of knowledge spillovers. New evidence on US data , 2006 .

[7]  Jan W. Rivkin,et al.  Organizational sticking points on NK Landscapes , 2002, Complex..

[8]  Gerald J. Miller,et al.  Handbook of strategic management , 2000 .

[9]  S. Kauffman.  At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity , 1995 .

[10]  A. Markusen.  Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts* , 1996 .

[11]  Roberto Grandinetti,et al.  Evolutionary patterns of Italian industrial districts , 1999 .

[12]  Viktor Mikhaĭlovich Glushkov,et al.  An Introduction to Cybernetics , 1957, The Mathematical Gazette.

[13]  R. Stough,et al.  Industrial Clusters and Inter-Firm Networks , 2005 .

[14]  R. Boschma,et al.  Evolutionary economics and economic geography , 1999 .

[15]  O. Williamson,et al.  The Economics of Transaction Costs , 1999 .

[16]  Bart Nooteboom,et al.  Empirical Tests of Optimal Cognitive Distance , 2004 .

[17]  J. Christensen.  Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment , 2008 .

[18]  B. Nooteboom.  Learning and Innovation in Organizations and Economies , 2000 .

[19]  Stuart A. Kauffman,et al.  Optimal search on a technology landscape , 2000 .

[20]  G. Becattini,et al.  Industrial districts and inter-firm co-operation in Italy , 1990 .

[21]  Malcolm Warner,et al.  International Encyclopedia of Business and Management , 2001 .

[22]  Fiorenza Belussi,et al.  Nuovi modelli d'impresa, gerarchie organizzative e imprese rete , 1992 .

[23]  Jean-Claude Lugan,et al.  La modélisation des systèmes complexes chez E. Morin et J.-L. Le Moigne , 2009 .

[24]  Andre Torre,et al.  Local organisations and institutions. How can geographical proximity be activated by collective projects? , 2003, Int. J. Technol. Manag..

[25]  S. Breschi,et al.  Knowledge Spillovers And Local Innovation Systems: A Critical Survey , 2001 .

[26]  Alberto Quadrio Curzio,et al.  Complexity and Industrial Clusters , 2002 .

[27]  David L. Levy,et al.  Applications and Limitations of Complexity Theory in Organization Theory and Strategy , 2000 .

[28]  Sally Davenport,et al.  Exploring the role of proximity in SME knowledge-acquisition , 2005 .

[29]  Mark S. Granovetter.  Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness , 1985, American Journal of Sociology.

[30]  A. Chandler,et al.  Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 , 1994 .

[31]  Nunzia Carbonara,et al.  New models of inter-firm networks within industrial districts , 2002 .

[32]  M. Meeus,et al.  Do Organizational and Spatial Proximity Impact on Firm Performance? , 2005 .

[33]  Kevin Morgan,et al.  The Associational Economy , 1998 .

[34]  Michael X Cohen,et al.  Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier , 2000 .

[35]  R. Grant.  Contemporary Strategy Analysis , 2005 .

[36]  R. Pouder,et al.  Hot Spots and Blind Spots: Geographical Clusters of Firms and Innovation , 1996 .

[37]  J. Sutherland.  The Quark and the Jaguar , 1994 .

[38]  Bart Nooteboom,et al.  Innovation and inter-firm linkages: new implications for policy , 1999 .

[39]  J. Jewkes,et al.  Theory of Location of Industries. , 1933 .

[40]  R. Grant.  Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Concepts, Techniques, Applications , 1991 .

[41]  J. Sterman.  Business Dynamics , 2000 .

[42]  A. Marshall.  Principles of Economics , .

[43]  M. Porter.  Clusters and the new economics of competition. , 1998, Harvard business review.

[44]  P. Cooke,et al.  The Associational Economy: Firms, Regions, and Innovation , 2000 .

[45]  B. Uzzi,et al.  Social Structure and Competition in Interfirm Networks: The Paradox of Embeddedness , 1997 .

[46]  E. Mitleton-Kelly.  Ten principles of complexity and enabling infrastructures , 2003 .

[47]  Eve Mitleton-Kelly,et al.  Complex systems and evolutionary perspectives on organisations: the application of complexity theory to organisations , 2003 .

[48]  M. Porter,et al.  The Competitive Advantage of Nations. , 1990 .

[49]  John Cantwell,et al.  special issue: The new geography of corporate research in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) , 2002 .