Sozialkapital und die Kooperation unter lokalen Unternehmen. Erfahrungen aus industriellen Clustern in Brasilien

Abstract

Abstract

The 1990s have seen a surge of discussions around the potential of promoting the competitiveness of companies in industrial clusters through inter-enterprise collaboration. One of the concepts that are relevant in this context is social capital, i.e. the possibility to overcome the intrinsic distrust among local competitors, for instance by building on trust in the non-economic sphere. This article provides a case study of two clusters in Southern Brazil which illustrate the difficulties in mobilising and transferring social capital. It highlights the evolution of social capital as an industrial cluster grows and matures. It concludes that local upgrading strategies have to be carefully designed in a way that stimulates the generation of specific social capital in the business community.