ABSTRACT
The development of clusters and industrial districts (IDs) is currently linked to their internationalization process. This takes place through joining global value chains (GVCs) with different functions. Yet, recent trends show the streamlining of production across the GVCs in a cascade of new requests that sometimes are met and in other occasions are not. This leads to disruptions within clusters and IDs as some firms are not in condition to respond adequately and leave the chain. This might imply a streamlining of the cluster/ID itself, with an obvious impact on local economic development. Such a problem can only be addressed if strategies are applied by both the local business system and the regional government to support a synergic work between the cluster/ID firms and the regional innovation system so as to improve the firms’ skills and competences, thus creating the competitive edge these firms need to remain essential to current GVCs and their leading companies.
