Analysis of the Relationship between Support Institutions and Industrial Districts in Spain: A Regional Approach

One of the constituent elements of the industrial district is the existence of local and regional institutions which offer information and support services to the firms based in the district. These institutions, as has been shown in the literature on industrial districts, in addition to representing an important component of social capital, can play a key role in improving the joint operation of the companies in the district. The aim of this paper is, consequently, to analyze the food industry districts and the institutions which support this industry nationally. With that aim in mind, the analysis is undertaken from a regional perspective that allows us to assess, on the one hand, the degree of proximity between districts and institutions and, on the other hand, the role played by the latter as knowledge generators. The results obtained show that, in general, the support institutions tend to be located in the vicinity of the industrial districts specialized in the aforementioned sector. It likewise becomes clear that the training offer aimed at meeting the training needs of the industry is greater in these specialized environments than in others where this production model does not prevail. Such results confirm the importance of institutions in business agglomerations shaped as industrial districts.