Business Systems and Cluster Policies in the Basque Country and Catalonia (1990–2004)

Abstract

The governments of the Basque Country and Catalonia in Spain, the most industrialized regions in Spain and the most active in demanding political selfgovernment, were among the first to develop industrial cluster policies. The concrete application and further evolution of these policies have been rather different. The main reason for this has been the particular social structures and dynamics of their respective regional industrial-business systems, composed of distinctive socio-business communities, industrial groupings, and industry associative systems. In the Basque case, the main policy result has been the constitution of 11 cluster-associations of the whole Basque Autonomous Community as long-term and broad public–private cooperation arrangements at industry level. In the Catalan case, the policy has resulted mainly in short-term and specific collaborative processes at local cluster or district level. Despite these differences, both cases of cluster policies exemplify the construction of ‘government–industry’ collaboration at the subnational-state regional level, within the emerging decentralized socio-institutional system in the Spanish industrial economy.