ABSTRACT
Many cluster advocates assume that geographical concentration of industrial activities positively affects competitiveness. This correlation is not watertight,
however. According to Saxenian (1994: 161) ‘spatial clustering alone does not create mutually beneficial interdependencies. An industrial system may be geographically agglomerated and yet have limited capacity for adaption. This is overwhelmingly a function of organizational structure, not of technology or firm size’. Therefore, many scholars stress that clustering may also be responsible for the loss of national or regional competitive advantage (Grabher, 1993; Hassink, 1997). Geographically concentrated clusters can become insular, inward-looking systems, as many clusters in old industrial areas, both resource-based monostructural areas, dominated by, for instance, steel, coal-mining and shipbuilding industry, and clusters specialised in consumer goods (textiles, for instance) (Schamp, 2000), have shown us (Hassink and Shin, 2005; Hudson, 1994).
