Map of Local Industrial Production Systems in Catalonia Joan Miquel Hernández Gascón Jordi Fontrodona Francolí Alberto Pezzi
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Map of Local Industrial Production Systems in Catalonia Joan Miquel Hernández Gascón Jordi Fontrodona Francolí Alberto Pezzi Vall d'Aran Pallars Sobirà Alta Ribagorça Cerdanya Alt Empordà Ripollès Alt Urgell Garrotxa Pla de l'Estany Pallars Jussà Berguedà Gironès Baix Solsonès Osona Empordà Selva Noguera Bages Segarra Vallès Oriental Maresme Pla d'Urgell Urgell Anoia Vallès Occidental Segrià Barcelonès Conca Garrigues de Barberà Alt Penedès Baix Llobregat Alt Baix Camp Penedès Garraf Priorat Tarragonès Baix Ribera Camp d'Ebre Terra Alta Baix Ebre Montsià PAPERS D’ECONOMIA INDUSTRIAL Map of Local Industrial Production Systems in Catalonia BIBLIOTECA DE CATALUNYA. DADES CIP: Hernández Gascón, Joan Miquel Map of local industrial production systems in Catalonia. Bibliografia ISBN 84-393-6906-9 I. Fontrodona Francolí, Jordi II. Pezzi, Alberto III. Catalunya. Secretaria d’Indústria IV. Títol 1. Sistemes productius locals_Catalunya 2. Zones industrials_Catalunya 338.45(467.1) Published by: Ministry of Employment and Industry of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia Department of Industry First published: Barcelona, October 2005 Print run: 500 Publishing coordination: Neus Bassi Translation: TRADTEC, S.L. http.//www.gencat.net/treballiindustria/publicacions/sie/index.html Cover design and layout: Joaquim Trias i Associats Printed by: Grup 3, SL D. leg.: B30481-05 ISBN: 84-393-6906-9 The Ministry of Employment and Industry does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in this document. The opinions expressed the- rein remain the sole responsibility of the autors. Note: The maps of Catalan comarques (counties) in this publication are based on information provided by the Catalan Institute of Cartography. Map of Local Industrial Production Systems in Catalonia Joan Miquel Hernández Gascón Jordi Fontrodona Francolí Alberto Pezzi Índex Foreword by Maria Teresa Costa i Campí 6 Preface de Marco Bellandi 7 Acknowledgements 10 1. Introduction 13 1.1. About industrial districts 14 1.2. About clusters systems 16 1.3. Industrial districts, clusters and regional industrial policy 18 1.4. Goal and justification of the study 20 2. Local industrial production systems in Catalan industry 23 2.1. Identification methods 24 2.2. Local industrial production systems (LPS) in Catalan industry: 29 2.2.1. LPS in the food and drink industry 29 2.2.2. LPS in the textile, clothing and leather industry 44 2.2.3. LPS in the wood, furniture and cork industry 68 2.2.4. LPS in the paper, publishing and graphic-arts industry 82 2.2.5. LPS in the chemical industry 92 2.2.6. LPS in the plastics industry 104 2.2.7. LPS in the metallurgy and metal-products industry 114 2.2.8. LPS in the machinery and mechanical-equipment industry 123 2.2.9. LPS in the electrical-and electronic-equipment industry 145 2.2.10. LPS in the transportation-equipment industry 157 2.2.11. LPS in other manufacturing industries 174 3. Overview 183 4. Bibliography 193 Foreword For some time now, the work of renowned economists in the fields of industrial locali- zation, economic growth and analysis of external economies has shown the industrial district to be a valid unit of analysis. A theoretical framework has been developed based on this concept, defining a regional industrial policy that promotes external economies, takes manufacturing and its relationship with the corresponding territory into account, fosters intercompany relationships and common support services and coordinates public and private action to design objectives and tools. It was consequently decided to identify local production systems (industrial districts or clusters) in Catalonia and describe their most significant features, with the aim of provi- ding a clearer picture of the grounds on which their economic realities are based, while at the same time following the recommendations of the European Union with regard to the implementation of maps of local industrial production systems. Of no less importan- ce, however, was the desire to make an initial contribution towards defining industrial policies with a regional scope. The research carried out by economists Joan Miquel Hernández, Jordi Fontrodona and Alberto Pezzi responds to this task. The authors all work in the Catalan government's Secretariat for Industry and Energy and have devoted many years to studying Catalan industry and local production systems. The mission of this study, the Catalan version of which is included in the Papers d’Eco- nomia Industrial collection, is to contribute towards increasing people's awareness of the production sector in Catalonia and the factors that can help us understand the different behaviour observed. The map of local industrial production systems fits perfectly within this mission and is essential for the future of an economy such as that of Catalonia, a region with a long industrial tradition where business clusters have existed in certain areas for many years, some dating back as far as the Middle Ages. The externalities and knowledge transfer that take place within local industrial production systems are sources of competitive advantages that should be fully exploited for the wellbeing of society Maria Teresa Costa i Campí Secretary for Industry and Energy 6 Preface The current resurgence of the concept of the industrial district can be explained by the need to understand the original tracts of industrialization processes that acquired special significance in some Italian regions in the late 1960s. Development in Italy was concen- trated in specific areas, where groups of small and medium-sized companies were gro- wing in number and expanding their fields of specialization. Business processes were per- formed by an increasing number of internally connected local firms that gravitated around special manufacturing sectors specific to each location, where business owners, labour and pro-industry institutional action were firmly rooted. These facts caused some surprise when they were compared with the traditional vision of industrialization based on the central, determining role of a large company. The inability to apply a simplistic interpretation to the vitality of groups of companies going through such an industriali- zation process, solely as a result of strategies to decentralize production implemented by large companies as part of their own restructuring processes, marked the beginning of a new era of studies. These studies spanned not only the fields of economics and indus- trial policy, but also geography, sociology and history of industry. Studies carried out in Italy on industrial districts appeared at the same time as other lines of research in and outside Europe. Some of these lines in the past twenty years have included flexible spe- cialization and craft-like production, the competitive advantage of nations and clusters, new regional worlds of industry and the new economic geography, innovative milieux, proximity in industrial organizations, entrepreneurial networks, social capital and local development. One of the countries that embraced the notion of industrial districts was Spain, particu- larly Catalonia. It is of interest to note that Maria Teresa Costa and Joan Trullén have held intense intellectual exchanges with Giacomo Becattini since the 1980s. The extensive work done in Catalonia to apply a related concept (the cluster as proposed by Michael Porter) should also be taken into account. This research project, A Map of Local Indus- trial Production Systems in Catalonia, carried out by a team from the Catalan govern- ment's Ministry of Employment and Industry, fits perfectly into such general context. The work is presented as a census of the local drivers of Catalan industry. It does not attempt to address all of Catalan industry. Instead, it only focuses on the segment that includes local forces similar to districts that play an important and sometimes decisive role. Companies and local units, workers and turnover are not distributed simply by sta- tistical sector, but are divided into two large aggregates: local industrial production sys- tems open to foreign competition, and other industries, such as systems not open to foreign competition, isolated locations populated by large companies, groups of small companies working in different industries and with different organizational structures. The study focuses on the first kind of production systems and provides descriptive details 7 on them, with brief summaries of how they are currently organized and how they deve- loped over time, links in terms of competition and cooperation within the system and the local roots of the production system. As explained in the introduction to this work, the basic subject of the research project is what we refer to as a local (industrial) production system. I would like to mention an experience I had on this topic in the early 1990s when I formed part of a group made up of district specialists from Florence led by Giacomo Becattini and the group of district spe- cialists from Modena led by Sebastiano Brusco. The group was created to define some of the tools for understanding the mechanisms of change in industrial districts. After a num- ber of meetings, we realized there were ideas that each group understood differently when it came to defining the subject of the study, namely, the industrial district. When Becattini spoke of the industrial district, he understood one kind of place (i.e. a local sys- tem): a locality characterized in terms of the economic and social structure by the con- centration of specialized companies