ABSTRACT
In much of the writings on industrial districts during the last ten to fifteen years the seemingly paradoxical productive role played by traditional, pre-capitalistic socio-cultural structures in competitive, modern local and regional economies has been discussed as well as questioned. Commentators have generally agreed that what made the districts so successful was their combination of functional and territorial integration. The territorial dimension of the socio-cultural structures represented the basic input promoting flexibility and dynamism. However, on the one hand, the continual influence of socio-cultural structures was said to make the districts vulnerable to changes in the global capitalist economy, but on the other hand, much work was put into the evaluation of the adaptability and replicability of the district model to other regions in need of development strategies. The European experience of industrial districts had become a major point of reference in the international debate on regional policy promoting endogenous development (Asheim, 1994).
