INDUSTRY CLUSTERS AND THE LOCATION OF AGRICULTURE: ESTABLISHING A THEORETICAL BASE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE

Project Details

Description

For twenty-five years, industry cluster theory has been the dominant paradigm informing economic development practice outside of agriculture. However, production agriculture has largely been considered to be beyond the scope of cluster theory. As a result, key insights from the theory have not been sufficiently leveraged for agricultural and rural development practice.This project will provide proof of principle for clustering behavior in production agriculuture. Using our knowledge of the case study literature and detailed commodity data from the 2012 Census of Agriculture, we will test the hypothesis that certain known drivers of transactional clustering behavior are also active in agriculture: that they are correlated with observed geographic clustering, controlling for factors like climate requirements and industry size. Outputs of this project will include maps and a new typology of agricultual commodities based on clustering propensity, geographic behavior, and supply chain characteristics.The project will give practitioners - for example, extension agents working on rural development - a basic sense of the extent to which cluster-inspired development tools are appropriate for particular agricultural commodities. Cluster theory also provides a systematic framework for implementing development policies that come under such headings as 'value-added' and 'local foods.'In terms of A1661 objectives, this project will 'improve the understanding of factors and conditions that enhance economic opportunities' in agriculture and will 'encourage networks of regional assets or factors' supporting competitiveness.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date8/1/177/31/22

Funding

  • National Institute of Food and Agriculture: $15,500.00

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