Macro-Innovation, and I-O II (No.3) Industry models

Just as a quick follow up to the last two entries, I caught this last paragraph in a paper published in just the last couple of weeks. This quote very nicely sums up the argument of the last 2 blogs.


Related variety may be defined in terms of membership of two-digit national industry statistical categories, such as “chemicals” and, in more modern classifications, “life sciences” (Boschma, 2005). However, from an evolutionary perspective, which is necessary to explain clusters and platforms, the "relatedness” may be visible only after the fact. An example today is the close interaction between agro-food and automotive research and business activity around biofuels. These interactions show their “relatedness” unpredictably and only ex post. (page 1423)

Nicely put Phil, industry models are not supply chains or even related variety. However, so long as we are willing to watch industry and forget certain cherished analytical approaches to industry analysis we can do ex-post and even some careful prospective analysis early on.

By the way, the quote comes from:


Philip Cooke (2012): 'From Clusters to Platform Policies in Regional Development', European Planning Studies, 20:8, 1415-1424.