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2007 | Book

Introduction Read chapter Read first chapter

SME Cluster Development

A Dynamic View of Survival Clusters in Developing Countries

Author: Mario Davide Parrilli

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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About this book

This book offers a new interpretative key, which we call 'a stage and eclectic approach', to the development of clusters. This approach supports public efforts to increase the effectiveness of policy-making and development operations in local contexts.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Introduction

1. Introduction
Abstract
In the present world of globalisation, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are key actors in almost every production system. In all continents they represent the largest number of firms, and also contribute significantly to both employment generation and GDP formation (AESMEC, 1998; Observatory of European SMEs, 2002/2; Peres and Stumpo, 2002). This volume focuses on the development of small and medium enterprises and small and medium enterprise clusters (SME clusters). Its objective is to propose some relevant suggestions for the development of SMEs and of a special kind of SME cluster that is found in Latin America and, more generally, in developing countries: ‘survival clusters’ (Altenburg and Meyer-Stamer, 1999; Knorringa, 2002). These clusters are formed by micro and small craft firms working with obsolete technology and manual techniques to produce, with no division and specialisation of labour, low-quality non-standardised goods for low-income consumers in local markets. Overall, these agglomerations of firms have little margin for capital accumulation and economic growth (Altenburg and Meyer-Stamer, 1999). The identification of this category of SME clusters is relevant for theoretical and practical purposes because they frequently populate the economy of developing countries.
Mario Davide Parrilli

Small and Medium Enterprise Development

Frontmatter
2. Integrating the National Production System: The New Challenge for Chile
Abstract
This chapter expands the argument made in the Introduction about the fracture arising nowadays within local production systems in developing countries, and more specifically, in Latin America. In this case, special reference to Chile is made because of the extreme clarity of process indicators that this economy presents with regard to that problem: the fracture in the national production system between a small modem sector of large and medium enterprises versus a large group of micro and small traditional enterprises.
Mario Davide Parrilli
3. Inclusion Versus Fragmentation: Different Responses to Liberalisation in European and Latin American Small and Medium Enterprises
Abstract
In this chapter, we present a comparative analysis of the role played by SMEs in the processes of liberalisation and productive restructuring in Latin America and Europe in the past few decades. This process has produced different levels of performance by generating, on the whole, a large number of very competitive SMEs in relevant parts of Europe and a large number of less competitive SMEs in Latin America (Observatoire des PME Européennes, 2000; Observatory of European SMEs, 2002/1; 2002/2; Peres and Stumpo, 2002).
Mario Davide Parrilli

Small and Medium Enterprise Cluster Development

Frontmatter
4. Different Theoretical Approaches to SME Cluster Development: Relevance in the Case of Nicaragua
Abstract
This chapter constitutes the connection between the first part of this work and the second. It links the first part on SMEs to the second part on SME clusters and SME cluster development. In doing so, in this chapter we analyse the concept of ‘cluster’ and describe its main features, making reference to the main theoretical approaches to cluster development.
Mario Davide Parrilli
5. A Stage and Eclectic Approach to Industrial District Development: Two Policy Keys for Survival Clusters in Developing Countries
Abstract
Through this chapter we intend to continue the analysis on clustering begun in Chapter 4 and to identify more clearly the main hypotheses of this Part II of this volume, which refer to a specific type of cluster that is localised in developing countries: the ‘survival cluster’. This represents the less dynamic kind of cluster, composed mainly of craft producers oriented to local markets and, therefore, achieving a very low rate of capitalisation and growth. Nevertheless, this kind of cluster is very common in developing countries (Altenburg and Meyer-Stamer, 1999; Knorringa, 2002) and, hence, deserves special attention.
Mario Davide Parrilli
6. Empirical Explorations in Survival Clusters in Central America and in Competitive Italian Industrial Districts
Abstract
Theoretical and empirical research on the clustering of firms shows that this form of networking is an important means in promoting the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises in the global market. In the specific context of developing countries, among other positive effects, the clustering of small firms can also help avoid typical economic and societal divisions that hold back the escape from underdevelopment (Parrilli, 2004a; see also Chapters 3, 4 and 5). In this chapter, the analysis focuses on the theoretical framework that has been developed in Chapter 4 and formalised in Chapter 5, and its potential effects for analysis and policy-making in the context of ‘survival clusters’, which are quite common in developing countries, and, within that category, of the most dynamic.
Mario Davide Parrilli
7. Conclusions
Abstract
This volume analyses specific issues related to two topics: SME development and SME cluster development in the case of developing countries, in particular Latin America. These two parts are certainly interconnected because they focus on the development of specific local social and economic agents: the SMEs. However, the two parts are also independent from one another, due to their own peculiarities. In fact, Part I (SME development) focuses on the fracture that is arising within several Latin American national production systems between a competitive modern sector and a traditional small-scale enterprise sector. This fracture is based upon the inadequate working of the market, which raises market failures in finance, technology and market access. These badly hit micro and small traditional firms, while not affecting the large national modern companies, which benefit from a wider access to international technology and services. Overall, this fracture is creating problems in the whole development process of these countries. A solution is, therefore, investigated, identified and proposed, especially in the final section of Chapter 3.
Mario Davide Parrilli
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
SME Cluster Development
Author
Mario Davide Parrilli
Copyright Year
2007
Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan UK
Electronic ISBN
978-0-230-80150-9
Print ISBN
978-1-349-28360-6
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230801509

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