Marshallian Clusters: Evidence from the Defence industry

Abstract

Geographic agglomerations of firms have been widely studied in the literature and are often referred to as industrial clusters. There are several definitions and typologies by which clusters are categorised. In this paper, we use Markusen’s (1996) typology/distinction of four different types of industrial districts: the Marshallian/ Italianate type, the hub-and-spoke, the satellite industrial platforms, and the state-anchored clusters. As part of her findings, Markusen provides an in-depth analysis of her proposed typology, however for the purpose of this paper, only a summary of the aspects is described/ used, and they can be summarized as follows: 1.the number and size of companies participating in the cluster as well as their structure and configuration 2. the internal or external orientation or integration of the companies within the geographical / institutional entity of the cluster, as well as the intraregional and interregional linkages they have developed, 3. The management of innovation created by the cluster, 4. the existence (or not) of a public entity around which the cluster is “anchored”.To investigate our propositions, we follow the lead of numerous other studies on the dynamics of industrial clusters, and we proceed with the study of two cases: the Croatian Defence Industry Competitiveness Cluster and the Latvian Security and Defence Cluster.