Revisiting Marshall's Agglomeration Economies

Technological Relatedness and the Evolution of the Sheffield Metals Cluster

Bibliographic Data

ID10408335
AuthorsAntony Potter (0000-0001-7918-8576, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Booth Street West, Manchester M15 6PB, UK, corresponding author), H Doug Watts (University of Sheffield)
Year2012
Volume48
Issue4
Pages603-623
Publication date2012-05-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueRegional Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-3404 • E-ISSN: 1360-0591
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00343404.2012.667560
OpenAlexW2013621904
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited61

Potter A. and Watts H. D. Revisiting Marshall's agglomeration economies: technological relatedness and the evolution of the Sheffield metals cluster, Regional Studies. According to Alfred Marshall, firms receive increasing returns from a trinity of agglomeration economies: a local pool of skilled labour, local supplier linkages and local knowledge spillovers. This article re-examines the mechanisms underlying Marshall's agglomeration economies in the Sheffield metals cluster wherein Marshall discovered them. Despite the cluster's decline, empirical evidence is found that the mechanisms underlying Marshallian agglomeration economies continue to occur within the surviving metals industry. However, upon closer examination, Marshallian agglomeration economies have evolved to become more prevalent amongst plants that use related metals technology. The results highlight the importance of technological relatedness to cluster survival

Cluster (spacecraft · Economic geography · Economic growth · Economics · Economies of agglomeration · Economy · Empirical evidence · Regional development · Regional science · Regional studies · Sociology · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Economic Growth and Productivity · Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis

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