IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/aareco/2003_026.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Industrial clusters, firm location and productivity – Some empirical evidence for Danish firms

Author

Listed:
  • Strøjer Madsen, Erik

    (Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business)

  • Smith, Valdemar

    (Department of Economics, Aarhus School of Business)

  • Dilling-Hansen, Mogens

    (University of Aarhus)

Abstract

According to the economic literature, industrial clusters are groups of firms on the same location composing a production system with spillovers that can be vertical and/or horizontal. This paper focuses on horizontal clusters by exploring the spatial distribution of industrial clusters in Denmark. The key issue in the theoretical part of the paper is whether firms located in industrial clusters are more productive than their counterparts located separately outside industrial agglomerations. Firms located in clusters are potentially more productive than other firms because of the agglomeration advantages of e.g. networks, knowledge spillovers, human capital mobility etc. In the empirical part of the paper, industrial clusters are identified using municipalities as the spatial dimension. In the first part of the analysis, clusters are identified at the NACE-2 digit industrial level. Next, using firm-level data for the 1990s the relative ‘cluster-firm’ productivity is estimated. The study finds evidence of a significantly higher productivity in clusters. However, the magnitude of the cluster advantages varies a lot across industries and is highest in textile.

Suggested Citation

  • Strøjer Madsen, Erik & Smith, Valdemar & Dilling-Hansen, Mogens, 2003. "Industrial clusters, firm location and productivity – Some empirical evidence for Danish firms," Working Papers 03-26, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:aareco:2003_026
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.hha.dk/nat/wper/03-26_esmvs.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Henderson, Vernon & Kuncoro, Ari & Turner, Matt, 1995. "Industrial Development in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(5), pages 1067-1090, October.
    2. Edward L. Glaeser & Glenn Ellison, 1999. "The Geographic Concentration of Industry: Does Natural Advantage Explain Agglomeration?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(2), pages 311-316, May.
    3. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stojčić, Nebojša & Anić, Ivan-Damir & Aralica, Zoran, 2019. "Do firms in clusters perform better? Lessons from wood-processing industries in new EU member states," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C).
    2. Acheampong, Vera & Owusu, Nana Yaw Agyeman & Kupzig, Nina, 2023. "Special Economic Zones in Ghana: A case study of enclaves in Tema, Dawa and Sekondi," KCG Working Papers 26, Kiel Centre for Globalization (KCG).
    3. Békés, Gábor & Harasztosi, Péter, 2013. "Agglomeration premium and trading activity of firms," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 51-64.
    4. Andrés Camacho Murillo & Hector Ríos Hernández, 2011. "Competencia intra-industria, aglomeraciones regionales y crecimiento económico: caso industria de alimentos," Revista Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, June.
    5. Ali, Hoda Abd El Hamid, 2011. "Universities, Industrial Clusters, and Economic Development in Egypt," MPRA Paper 60111, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2012.
    6. Churen Sun & Zhihao Yu & Tao Zhang, 2012. "Agglomeration, Productivity, and Firms¡® Exports: Evidence from Chinese Firm-level Data," ERSA conference papers ersa12p882, European Regional Science Association.
    7. Bjørner, Thomas Bue & Mackenhauer, Janne, 2013. "Spillover from private energy research," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 171-190.
    8. Irina-Elena Gentimir, 2013. "The Role Of The Private Sector In Developing And Supporting International Competitiveness," CES Working Papers, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 5(2), pages 205-215.
    9. Sun, Churen & Yu, Zhihao & Zhang, Tao, 2012. "Agglomeration and Trade with Heterogeneous Firms," MPRA Paper 49001, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 17 Aug 2013.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Florian Noseleit, 2020. "The Role of Entry and Market Selection for the Dynamics of Regional Diversity and Specialization," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(1), pages 76-94, July.
    2. Jordi Jofre-Monseny & Raquel Marín-López & Elisabet Viladecans-Marsal, 2012. "What underlies localization and urbanization economies? Evidence from the location of new firms," Working Papers 2012/9, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    3. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Lafourcade, Miren & Thisse, Jacques-François & Toutain, Jean-Claude, 2011. "The rise and fall of spatial inequalities in France: A long-run perspective," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 243-271, April.
    4. Edward L. Glaeser & William R. Kerr, 2009. "Local Industrial Conditions and Entrepreneurship: How Much of the Spatial Distribution Can We Explain?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 623-663, September.
    5. Henry Overman & Stephen Redding & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Economic Geography of Trade, Production, and Income: A Survey of Empirics," CEP Discussion Papers dp0508, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    6. González-Val, Rafael & Pueyo, Fernando, 2019. "Natural resources, economic growth and geography," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 150-159.
    7. Gilles Duranton & Diego Puga, 2001. "Nursery Cities: Urban Diversity, Process Innovation, and the Life Cycle of Products," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1454-1477, December.
    8. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    9. Paci, Raffaele & Usai, Stefano, 2000. "Externalities, Knowledge Spillovers And The Spatial Distribution Of Innovation," ERSA conference papers ersa00p104, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Xiwei Zhu & Ye Liu & Ming He & Deming Luo & Yiyun Wu, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and industrial clusters: evidence from China industrial census," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 595-616, March.
    11. Giulio Cainelli & Andrea Fracasso & Giuseppe Vittucci Marzetti, 2015. "Spatial agglomeration and productivity in Italy: A panel smooth transition regression approach," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 94, pages 39-67, November.
    12. van Soest, D.P. & Gerking, S.D. & van Oort, F.G., 2002. "Knowledge Externalities, Agglomeration Economies, and Employment Growth in Dutch Cities," Other publications TiSEM d3b82b0f-1b50-4845-98ce-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    13. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2009. "The Wealth of Cities: Agglomeration Economies and Spatial Equilibrium in the United States," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(4), pages 983-1028, December.
    14. Thomas Doring & Jan Schnellenbach, 2006. "What do we know about geographical knowledge spillovers and regional growth?: A survey of the literature," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 375-395.
    15. González-Val, Rafael & Pueyo, Fernando, 2009. "First Nature vs. Second Nature Causes: Industry Location and Growth in the Presence of an Open-Access Renewable Resource," MPRA Paper 18586, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Overman, Henry G., 2004. "The spatial distribution of economic activities in the European Union," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 64, pages 2845-2909, Elsevier.
    17. Jens Abildtrup & Virginie Piguet & Bertrand Schmitt, 2011. "The impact of agro-food industry on employment and population changes: The case of Denmark and France'," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1622, European Regional Science Association.
    18. J. Vernon Henderson, 2003. "Urbanization and Economic Development," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 4(2), pages 275-341, November.
    19. Devereux, Michael P. & Griffith, Rachel & Simpson, Helen, 2004. "The geographic distribution of production activity in the UK," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 533-564, September.
    20. Henry Renski, 2015. "Externalities or Experience? Localization Economies and Start-up Business Survival," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 458-480, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Industrial clusters; productivity;

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hhs:aareco:2003_026. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Helle Vinbaek Stenholt (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nihhadk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.