This article focuses on the historical development of one ornamental horticulture district in the Netherlands and two in Italy. The aim is to underline the global division of labour among three districts driven by industrial district heterogeneity, uneven learning systems and a unique specialisation in production and retailing. The historical development of all the districts is very similar, but the application of science and the role of local institutions explain the evolution of the cluster in the Netherlands. Despite the lack of natural resources and unfavourable climate, high labour and energy costs, the Dutch district and the Netherlands-based horticulture industry hold a leading position. Although endowed with better natural resources, the Italian districts belong to a very weak national innovation system and are now strongly dependent on the Dutch system.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aiph/Union Fleurs (2001) International Statistics Flowers and Plants No. 49, ed. by F. Heinrichs, Institut für Gartenbauökonomie der Universität Hannover.
2.
Arndt, S. and Kierzkowski, H. (Eds) (2001) Fragmentation: New Production Patterns in the World Economy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
Asheim, B. (1996) Industrial districts as `learning regions': a condition for prosperity, European Planning Studies, 4, pp. 379-400.
4.
Bardelli, F. (1999) Storia del vivaismo a Pistoia. Pistoia: Etruria Editrice.
5.
Becattini, G. (2003) From the industrial district to the districtualisation of production activity: some considerations, in: F. Belussi, G. Gottardi and E. Rullani (Eds) The Technological Evolution of Industrial Districts, pp. 3-18. Boston, MA: Kluwer.
6.
Belussi, F. (2000) Tacchi a Spillo. Padua: Cleup.
7.
Belussi, F. (2006) In search of a theory of industrial districts and clusters, in: B. Asheim, P. Cooke and R. Martin (Eds) Clusters in Regional Development, pp. 50-68. London : Routledge.
8.
Belussi, F. and Gottardi, G. (2000) Evolutionary Patterns of Local Industrial Systems: Towards a Cognitive Approach to the Industrial District. Aldershot: Ashgate.
9.
Belussi, F. and Pilotti, L. (2002) The development of an explorative analytical model of knowledge creation, learning and innovation within the Italian industrial districts, Geografiska Annaler, 84, pp. 19-33.
10.
Braczyk, H. J., Cooke, P. and Heidenreich, M. (Eds) (1998) Regional Innovation Systems: The Role of Governance in a Globalized World. London: University College London Press.
11.
Chesbrough, H. (2003) Open Innovation: The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
12.
Coe, N. and Bunnell, T. (2003) Spatializing knowledge communities: towards a conceptualisation of transnational innovation networks, Global Networks, 3(4), pp. 437-456.
13.
Coe, N., Hess, M., Yeung, H. et al. (2004) Globalising regional development: a global production networks perspective, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 29, pp. 468-484.
14.
Cooke, P. and Huggins, R. (2003) High technology clustering in Cambridge, in: F. Sforzi (Ed.) The Institutions of Local Development, pp. 51-74. Aldershot: Ashgate.
15.
Dicken, P. (2003) Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy. London: Sage .
16.
Dicken, P. (2007) Global Shift: Reshaping the Global Economic Map . London: Sage.
17.
Dolan, C., Opondo, M. and Smith, S. (2002) Gender, rights and participation in the Kenya cut flowers industry. Report No. 2768, SSR Project No. R8077 2002-4, Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich.
18.
DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) (2001 ) Business clusters in the UK: a first assessment. DTI, London.
19.
ECP.NL (2005) EbXML for managers . Amsterdam.
20.
Elshof, P. (1998) The Dutch flower sector: structure, trends and employment. Working Paper SAP 2.68/WP.122, International Labour Office, Geneva.
21.
European Commission (2001) Methodology for regional and transnational technology clusters: learning with European best practices. Enterprise Directorate General, Brussels.
22.
Ferretti, R. (2004) L'andamento del florovivaismo in Europa nel 2004 , Linea Verde, October.
23.
Galaut, J. and Torre, A. (2005) Geographical proximity and circulation of knowledge through interfirm relationships, Scienze Regionali, 1, pp. 5-25.
24.
Gereffi, G. (1994) The organisation of buyer-driven global commodity chains: how US retailers shape overseas production networks, in: G. Gereffi and M. Korzeniewicz (Eds) Commodity Chains and Global Capitalism, pp. 95-102. London : Praeger.
25.
Gereffi, G. (1999) International trade and industrial upgrading in the apparel commodity chain, Journal of International Economics , 48, pp. 37-70.
26.
Gereffi, G. and Bair, J. (2001) Local clusters in global chains: the causes and consequences of export dynamism in Torreon's blue jeans industry, World Development, 29(11), pp. 1885-1903.
27.
Gereffi, G., Humprey, J. and Sturgeon, T. (2005) The governance of global value chain, Review of International Political Economy, 12(1), pp. 78-104.
28.
Harvard Business School (2002) Cluster mapping project. Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, Harvard Business School, Cambridge, MA.
29.
Hertog, P. den (2003) The role of cluster policies in economic growth and competitiveness. Paper presented at the European Seminar on Cluster Policy, Copenhagen, June.
30.
Hodgson, I. (2004) Italian plants with designer appeal, The Garden, 129(3), pp. 194-199.
31.
Hu, T., Lin, C. and Chang, S. (2005) Role of interaction between technological communities and industrial clustering in innovative activity: the case of the Hsinchu district, Taiwan, Urban Studies, 42(7), pp. 1139-1160.
32.
Hughes A. (2000) Retailers, knowledges and changing commodity networks: the case of the cut flower trade, Geoforum, 31, pp. 175-190.
33.
Humphrey, J. and Schmitz, H. (2002) How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters?, Regional Studies, 36(9), pp. 1017-1027.
Klink, A. van and Visser, E.J. (2004) Innovation in Dutch horticulture: fresh ideas in fresh logistics, Journal of Social and Economic Geography , 95(3), pp. 340-346.
36.
Lauwere, C. C. de (2005) The role of agricultural entrepreneurship in Dutch agriculture of today, Agricultural Economics, 33, pp. 229-238.
37.
Lundvall, B.-Å. (1992) National Systems of Innovation: Towards a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning. London: Pinter.
38.
Maijers, W., Vokurka, L., Uffelen, R. van and Ravensbergen, P. (2005) Open innovation: symbiotic network. Knowledge circulation and competencies for the benefit of innovation in the horticulture delta. Paper presented at the IAMA Conference, Chicago, IL, April.
39.
Manetti, B. and Pasqual, S. (Eds) (2006) Prima indagine regionale sulle aziende florovivaistiche della regione Toscana. Sistema Statistico Regionale, Regione Toscana - Settore, Firenze .
40.
Marshall, A. (1919) Industry and Trade. London : Macmillan .
41.
Marshall, A. (1920) Principles of Economics, 8th edn. London: Macmillan.
42.
Martin, R. and Sunley, P. (2003) Deconstructing clusters: chaotic concept or policy panacea?, Journal of Economic Geography, 1, pp. 5-35.
43.
Maskell, P. (2001) Towards a knowledge based theory of the geographical cluster, Industrial and Corporate Change, 10(4), pp. 921-943.
44.
Maskell, P. and Lorenzen, M. (2004) The cluster as market organisation, Urban Studies, 41(5/6), pp. 991-1009.
45.
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) (1999a) Boosting Innovation: The Cluster Approach . Paris: OECD.
46.
Oecd (1999b) Economic and Cultural Transitions Towards a Learning City: The Case of Jena . Paris: OECD.
47.
Oecd (2001a) World Congress on Local Clusters. Paris: OECD.
48.
Oecd (2001b) Innovative Clusters: Drivers of National Innovation Systems. Paris: OECD.
49.
Oecd (2001c) Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2001: Towards a Knowledge-based Economy. Paris: OECD.
50.
Paniccia, I. (2002) A critical review of the literature on industrial districts: in search of a theory, in: I. Paniccia (Ed.) Industrial Districts: Evolution and Competitiveness in Italian Firms, pp. 3-44. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
51.
Porter, M. (1998) On Competition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
52.
Richardson, G. (1972) The organization of industry, Economic Journal, 82, pp. 883-896.
53.
Sammarra, A. and Belussi, F. (2006) Evolution and relocation in fashion-led industrial districts: evidence from two case studies, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 18, pp. 543-562.
54.
Sarti, A. (2006) Pistoia: caput mundi del florovivaismo (www.pratoblog.it).
55.
Schneider, V. (1991) The comparison between Italian and Dutch floriculture technical and economical aspects, in: Acta Horticulturae Book , No. 295, pp. 107-112. International Society for Horticultural Science (http://www.actahort.org/books/295/295_13.htm).
56.
Sedita, S.R. (2005) Knowledge vs. technology: investigating the relationship between R&D and knowledge intensity in the Danish manufacturing industry . Paper presented at the 5th Triple Helix Conference , Turin, May.
