Metodologia de identificação de aglomerações produtivas locais [Methodology for identifying local productive agglomerations]

The literature on industrial and regional economics is full of cases studies of local productive agglomerations. A significant part of the empirical studies on this subject have concentrated on the analysis of existing productive agglomerations. In contrast, there are few studies that attempt (or are able) to identify the startup of these agglomerations. From the perspective of development policies, this gap is relevant, as it leads to favoring established agglomerations to the detriment of those that are in the early stages. Therefore, it is necessary to develop methodologies that enable us to overcome this deficiency. This is the aim of this paper. The authors propose a methodology for the identification of potential local productive agglomerations based on secondary data. Through the use of the Principal Component Analysis technique, a Concentration Index is elaborated, which is an indication of the potential of an industrial sector, in a specific region, to become a local productive agglomeration.