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IDS Research Associate Richard Longhurst and the Director of Teaching and Alumni Relations, Robert Nurick hosted an alumni dinner in Brighton.

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Globalisation Team
Reshaping globalisation for the 21st century

Clusters in the Global Economy


The Interaction of Global and Local Governance: Implications for Industrial Upgrading

For over a decade, IDS has been a leader in research on clusters in developing countries. Initially, during the 1990s, this research was driven by the hypothesis that competitiveness depends on the quality of relationships in the clusters. The results of this work can be found on our Clusters and Industrial Development webpage.

More recent research has concentrated on the interaction of local and global relationships. This work is driven by the following question: what is the scope for local upgrading strategies where clusters are inserted in global value chains. For the results of this work see below.

While the debate on industrial clusters and local innovation systems is mainly concerned with local linkages, this project examines the global linkages and how they affect local relationships. Examining clusters through this new lens transforms the understanding of local upgrading strategies and options.

A key question of the project is who sets the parameters for local producers. These producers do not just export into an anonymous global market; often they feed into value chains which are governed by powerful global players. They set and/or enforce the parameters under which other enterprises in the chain operate. Other parameters are set from outside the chain, notably the new quality and labour standards. In this project we ask whether and how they affect different upgrading strategies.

Researchers

  • Hubert Schmitz
  • John Humphrey
  • Lizbeth Navas-Aleman
  • Dirk Messner, German Development Institute
  • Jörg Meyer-Stamer, mesopartners
  • Frank Waltring, ex INEF
  • Khalid Nadvi, Institute for Development Policy and Management
  • Luiza Bazan, Federation of Industries of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
  • Afonso Fleury, University of São Paulo, Brazil
  • Raquel Gomez, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Gerhard Halder, University of Stuttgart, Germany
  • Marcia de Paula Leite, University of Campinas, Brazil
  • Claudio Maggi, Fundacion Chile
  • Ruy Quadros, University of Campinas
  • Roberta Rabellotti, University of Piemonte Orientale, Novara, Italy
  • Silene Seibel, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (UDESC)

Partner Organisations

Selected Outputs