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The Strength of Weak Lock-Ins: The Renewal of the Westmünsterland Textile Industry

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  • Robert Hassink

    (University of Oslo, Department of Sociology and Human Geography, PO Box 1096 Blindern, N-0317 Oslo, Norway)

Abstract

Modern theoretical concepts in economic geography are used to try to explain the positive sides of geographical clustering of industries. Of the few theoretical concepts which are used to try to explain the negative sides of clustering, that is, the decline of old industrial areas, evolutionary regional economics, in general, and the lock-in concept, in particular, are promising ones. Lock-ins have been furthest developed by Grabher in his study on the steel and coal-mining complex in the Ruhr Area, Germany. They can be considered as thick interfirm, institutional, and cognitive tissues aimed at preserving existing industrial structures and therefore unnecessarily slowing down industrial renewal. It is particularly in regions with political lock-ins in which the legacy of manufacturing endures. On the basis of a study on the restructuring of the textile industry in Westmünsterland in Germany, in this paper I analyse whether these kinds of lock-ins can also be observed in regions with strong concentrations of the textile industry, an industry that strongly differs from the above-mentioned steel and coal-mining complex. I show that the impact of lock-ins can be regarded as relatively weak in the textile region of Westmünsterland. Partly because of that, industrial renewal has been relatively successful, which in turn has kept lock-ins weak.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Hassink, 2007. "The Strength of Weak Lock-Ins: The Renewal of the Westmünsterland Textile Industry," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(5), pages 1147-1165, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:39:y:2007:i:5:p:1147-1165
    DOI: 10.1068/a3848
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eike W Schamp, 2005. "Decline of the District, Renewal of Firms: An Evolutionary Approach to Footwear Production in the Pirmasens Area, Germany," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 37(4), pages 617-634, April.
    2. Frank Moulaert & Farid Sekia, 2003. "Territorial Innovation Models: A Critical Survey," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(3), pages 289-302.
    3. Kevin Morgan, 1997. "The Learning Region: Institutions, Innovation and Regional Renewal," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 491-503.
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    Cited by:

    1. Haichao Yu & Yan Liu & Chengliang Liu & Fei Fan, 2018. "Spatiotemporal Variation and Inequality in China’s Economic Resilience across Cities and Urban Agglomerations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-19, December.
    2. Robert Hassink, 2010. "Locked in Decline? On the Role of Regional Lock-ins in Old Industrial Areas," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 21, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Robert Hassink & Chun Yang & Tianlan Fu & Lixun Li, 2017. "Emerging Adaptation of Local Clusters in China in a Shifting Global Economy: Evidence from the Furniture Cluster in Houjie Town, Dongguan," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 214-232, June.
    4. Graf, Holger & Broekel, Tom, 2020. "A shot in the dark? Policy influence on cluster networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(3).
    5. Jerker Moodysson & Lionel Sack, 2016. "Institutional stability and industry renewal: diverging trajectories in the Cognac beverage cluster," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(5), pages 448-464, July.
    6. Tödtling, Franz & Auer, Alexander & Sinozic, Tanja, 2014. "Driving factors for cluster development - Which kind of spatial rootedness and change?," SRE-Discussion Papers 2014/06, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    7. Vissers Geert & Dankbaar Ben, 2013. "Path dependence and path plasticity: textile cities in the Netherlands," ZFW – Advances in Economic Geography, De Gruyter, vol. 57(1-2), pages 83-95, October.
    8. Franz Tödtling & Alexander Auer, 2021. "Knowledge bases, innovation and multi-scalar relationships: which kind of territorial boundedness of industrial clusters?," Chapters, in: Dirk Fornahl & Nils Grashof (ed.), The Globalization of Regional Clusters, chapter 7, pages 163-188, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Giulio Carli & Andrea Morrison, 2018. "On the evolution of the Castel Goffredo hosiery cluster: a life cycle perspective," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 915-932, May.
    10. Der-Shiuan Lee, 2018. "Towards Urban Resilience through Inter-City Networks of Co-Invention: A Case Study of U.S. Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-23, January.

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