The Primordial Soup: Exploring the Emotional Microfoundations of Cluster Genesis

Abstract

Previous research on the genesis of industrial clusters has focused on macrolevel (e.g., agglomeration economies and institutions) or mesolevel explanatory factors (e.g., serial entrepreneurship, spin-offs). Less studied are the microfoundations of cluster genesis, intended as the individual- and group-level processes underlying such macrolevel outcomes. Yet, microfoundations are key to understanding the “primordial soup” of cluster genesis—that is, the processes unfolding in the early moments of cluster formation, before the first emergence of commercial activity. Through a historical case study of the British Motorsport Valley (1911–1970s), we trace back the primordial origins of this cluster to the casual leisure activities of groups of amateur motorsport enthusiasts who then prompted the professionalization of motorsport racing and its transformation into the business at the core of the industrial cluster. We theorize that clusters emerge through the layering of different domains (casual leisure, serious leisure, and business), each made of three elements (actors, activities, and artifacts), which interact via two microlevel mechanisms: (1) localizing passion, a shared emotional energy by which people become affectively attached to the spaces where they carry out activities that they enjoy; (2) domain repurposing, the shift of a configuration of actors, activities, and artifacts toward a new purpose, originating a new domain. Whereas domain repurposing induces the transformation of activities from leisure to business (thus originating the industry at the core of a cluster), localizing passion anchors the activities to the same geographical area (clustering the industry). Our key contribution is to explore the emotional microfoundations of cluster genesis.