Abstract
This paper deals with the location, origins, and early development of clusters and industrial districts in the agribusiness sector. It considers the case of the meat processing industry in the second half of the 19th century in Catalonia, a prosperous southern-European region in the period when this industry emerged. By constructing an index of potential locations at the municipal level, the paper discusses whether, and to what extent, deterministic factors explain the genesis of pigmeat processing clusters. The paper concludes that although these latter factors need primary consideration, contingency, particularly human agency, may also play a non-negligible role. As an illustration, this study pays particular attention to the cluster of Vic, which developed around this middle-sized town in central Catalonia. It became a leading meat cluster in early 20th-century Spain, even though it was not better suited to this industry than other Catalan localities where meat companies had also emerged.
Highlights
The historical analysis of clusters and industrial districts has attracted remarkable attention in the last two decades
By exploring the case of the pigmeat industry in Catalonia in the second half of the 19th century, this paper examines the factors that might explain the location of pigmeat processing firms across the space and, later on, the emergence and early development of pigmeat processing clusters
This research aimed to contribute to a better understanding of the genesis of agroindustrial clusters in Catalonia during the second half of the 19th century
Summary
The historical analysis of clusters and industrial districts has attracted remarkable attention in the last two decades (e.g., see the chapters in [1–3]). One fruitful avenue for overcoming these difficulties is to place the origins and early development of clusters in the framework of the determinants of the spatial distribution of economic activity This means considering that business agglomerations can be determined by a variety of factors, from deterministic to more contingent; it means applying concepts from evolutionary economics, such as the Window of Locational Opportunity (hereafter WLO). The remarkable role of the meat processing industry, which in Catalonia still operates in clusters integrating industry and rural husbandry, cannot be well-understood without considering the origins of the industry Aside from this introduction, the remainder of the present study is organised into five more sections. The fifth section discusses these results by considering the role of deterministic factors, contingency, and human agency in the spatial locations of the Catalan meat processing companies during the second half of the 19th century.
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