Fragmented and Diverging Strategies and Initiatives as the Pattern of Governance Outcomes in Brazilian Local Productive Arrangements

Abstract

Mainstream literature in the Global North has theorized and approached cluster governance as arrangements marked by cooperative and harmonious interactions, which in general foster collective strategies and initiatives to solve locally clustered firms’ shared environmental problems. However, governance interactions (the network of relationships through which informal and formal actors coordinate, organize, and manage common initiatives) in Brazilian local productive arrangements (LPAs) often do not conform to some of these key assumptions, despite Brazilian literature emphasizing that they do. This article argues that governance interactions, specifically regarding environmental issues, are more likely to result in diverging and fragmented strategies and initiatives than in cooperation and collective actions. To develop this argument, this study analyzes the main characteristics of several LPAs in Brazil, including their governance interactions, structure and configuration, and environmental perspective and performance. The pottery LPA of Porto Ferreira, São Paulo, Brazil, is empirically examined in detail. This article is based on qualitative methods, and draws from archival sources, published materials, and forty-five semi-structured interviews.