What makes it an industrial district? : a cognitive constructionist approach

Industrial districts have been a central topic in social sciences for a long time. The variety of perspectives and definitions about industrial districts illustrates the multi-voiced character of the field. A central issue among industrial districts' scholars concerns the understanding of whether a population of specialized firms and individuals spatially located in a geographical area is an industrial district. What makes it an industrial district? This dissertation proposes a cognitive constructionist approach to address this question. It argues that the sense of belonging of individuals to the district and their collective cognitions are core in enlightening the concept of industrial district. Hence, determinants of industrial districts may be found in individual and collective cognitions, through which individuals assign meaning to their belonging to the district and socially construct the district enacting it. This implies an analysis of individuals' cognitions, through which they interpret the cues from the environment, which, conversely, is the outcome of their own enactment. The literature on managerial and organizational cognition, which focuses on individual and collective cognitions, suits this task. Accordingly, the concept of †˜way-of-thinking', which consists of a number of thematic sets of values, assumptions, beliefs, ideas and thoughts about a specific domain (i.e., the industrial district), is applied. Individuals' ways-of-thinking are analyzed through cognitive mapping techniques, searching for the sense of belonging and collective cognitions of individuals, which are the major concerns of the present study. The empirical analysis is conducted on individuals (entrepreneurs, managers, senior public servants) located in the silk industrial district of Como.