Clusters and competitiveness - PRO INNO Europe

Other highly complete local production systems were the automotive industry, motorcycles
and railway materials in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, which were also made up of
nearly the entire value chain and had important associations, trade fairs, training centres
and technology centres.
With regard to their origins, some LPSs grew up close to the natural resources they needed
for their work (wine and cava in Penedès, mineral water in La Selva, cotton spinning and
weaving in Central Catalonia, wood in Osona and La Selva, cork in the Costa Brava, paper
and cardboard in the river basins of Anoia, Bitlles and Llobregat, etc.). Many others emerged
close to Barcelona to take advantage of the proximity of suppliers, clients and/or the port.
Others originated from investments made by large firms seeking to be near the port of
Tarragona (raw chemicals in Camp de Tarragona). Others started to emerge after the
investment made by SEAT (automotive industry, handling and elevating machinery, moulds
and dies, etc.) while some grew up around successive spin-offs based on an initial company
(household furniture in Montsià and Vallès Oriental, bodywork in La Selva, etc.).
The sector with the most local production systems was textiles-clothing and leather, with
nine, although the main sector in terms of employees and turnover was that of transport
materials.
Table 2. Local production systems in Catalonia by sector
Sectors
Number of
LPSs
% of total Establishments % of total Employees % of total Turnover (*) % of total
Food and beverages 4 9.5% 576 6.4% 12,288 5.2% 3,475 7.6%
Textiles-clothing and leather 9 21.4% 1,190 13.2% 22,564 9.6% 2,400 5.3%
Wood, furniture and cork 4 9.5% 441 4.9% 4,238 1.8% 525 1.2%
Paper, publishing and graphic arts 2 4.8% 1,056 11.7% 20,881 8.9% 2,650 5.8%
Chemical industries 3 7.1% 384 4.3% 25,470 10.9% 11,000 24.1%
Plastic materials 1 2.4% 803 8.9% 28,182 12.0% 3,800 8.3%
Metallurgy and metal products 1 2.4% 2,680 29.8% 39,018 16.7% 4,250 9.3%
Machinery and mechanical equipment 8 19.0% 798 8.9% 14,078 6.0% 2,155 4.7%
Electrical and electronic equipment 3 7.1% 383 4.3% 15,378 6.6% 3,250 7.1%
Transport materials 5 11.9% 449 5.0% 50,714 21.7% 11,975 26.2%
Various manufacturing industries 2 4.8% 247 2.7% 1,399 0.6% 160 0.4%
Total sectors 42 100% 9,007 100% 234,210 100% 45,640 100%
(*) In millions of euros.
Source: Hernández, J. M. et al. (2005): Map of Local Industrial Production Systems in Catalonia.
Finally, although, as previously mentioned, the local production systems as a whole
accounted for 36% of the employment and 39% of the turnover of Catalan industry, those
belonging to transport materials had 90% of the employees and 85% of the turnover of
their sector, making this branch the most heavily clustered in Catalan industry.
THE CATALAN GOVERNMENT’S CLUSTER POLICY
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