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Clusters, Local Districts, and Innovative Milieux

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Handbook of Regional Science

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Abstract

Over the last three decades, literature on industrial districts, innovative milieus, and industrial clusters has enriched our knowledge about endogenous factors and processes driving regional development and the role of the region as an important level of economic coordination. This class of stylized development concepts has emerged since the 1970s and attempts to account for successful regional adaptations to changes in the global economic environment. Each of these concepts grew out of specific inquiries into the causes of economic success to be found in the midst of general decline by building upon the early ideas of Alfred Marshall in several ways. Neo-Marshallian districts found in Italy highlight the importance of small firms supported by strong family and local ties, while the innovative milieu concept places great emphasis on the network structure of institutions to diffuse externally sourced innovations to the local economy. Clusters have become far more general in scope, fruitful in theoretical insights, and robust in application, informing the work of both academics and policy-makers around the world.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Regional Research, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Michaela Trippl

  2. Institute for Multi-Level Governance and Development, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Edward M. Bergman

Authors
  1. Michaela Trippl
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  2. Edward M. Bergman
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Correspondence to Michaela Trippl .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Manfred M. Fischer

  2. and Business Administration Department of Spatial Economics, Free University Faculty of Economics, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Peter Nijkamp

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Trippl, M., Bergman, E.M. (2019). Clusters, Local Districts, and Innovative Milieux. In: Fischer, M., Nijkamp, P. (eds) Handbook of Regional Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36203-3_26-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36203-3_26-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-36203-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-36203-3

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