Clusters and Rivalry: Does Localization Really Matter?

Scandinavian Journal of Management, pp. 467-489, 2003

23 Pages Posted: 19 Sep 2007

See all articles by Cristina Boari

Cristina Boari

University of Bologna - Department of Economics

Vincenza Odorici

Department of Management - University of Bologna

Marco Zamarian

University of Trento; Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology & Social Sciences (CISEPS)

Abstract

This exploratory study addresses the link between rivalry—which we regard as a cognitive social dimension of competition— and localization. We adopt a visual-mapping technique to collect data on firms belonging to the packaging-machinery geographical cluster in Northern Italy. We can summarize our results as follows. Entrepreneurs identifying rivals within the cluster also tend to cite a larger number of rivals altogether. A firm's proximity to its rivals is a key to a deeper comparison with them. Geographical distance represents a tool for scanning the competitive environment; it is not used as a criterion by which to classify rivalry. From these results, we generate a few propositions that shed a new light on the relationship between rivalry and localization.

Keywords: Geographical cluster, Rivalry, Localization, Visual mapping

JEL Classification: M10, M20

Suggested Citation

Boari, Cristina and Odorici, Vincenza and Zamarian, Marco, Clusters and Rivalry: Does Localization Really Matter?. Scandinavian Journal of Management, pp. 467-489, 2003, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=958223

Cristina Boari (Contact Author)

University of Bologna - Department of Economics ( email )

Strada Maggiore 45
Bologna, 40125
Italy

Vincenza Odorici

Department of Management - University of Bologna ( email )

via Capo di Lucca, 34
Bologna, Bologna 40126
Italy

Marco Zamarian

University of Trento ( email )

Via Giuseppe Verdi 26
Trento, Trento 38152
Italy

Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca - Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Economics, Psychology & Social Sciences (CISEPS) ( email )

Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1
Milano, 20126
Italy

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