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Sustainability Strategies in Clusters and the Role of Communication
Investigaciones Regionales - Journal of Regional Research, núm. 60, pp. 39-54, 2024
Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional

Articles

Licensee: Investigaciones Regionales – Journal of Regional Research - The Journal of AECR, Asociación Española de Ciencia Regional, Spain. This article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial (CC BY NC)

Recepción: 15 Diciembre 2023

Aprobación: 15 Febrero 2024

DOI: https://doi.org/10.38191/iirr-jorr.24.022

Abstract: Environmental sustainability impacts on industrial districts and their lifecycle evolutionary processes. Nevertheless, research in this direction is scant, suggesting on the one hand, the role of lead firms of global value chains and, on the other hand, potential contributions of suppliers. The paper explores how district firms have invested in sustainability by analyzing sustainable-oriented communication strategies (certification, web, exhibitions) of Italian leather and jewelry clusters. Results show that districts are evolving by including sustainability in their strategies. A variety of sustainability strategies emerge among district firms, with differences also between firms in B2B and B2C markets.

Keywords: Communication, sustainability, jewelry, leather, cluster, certifications.

Resumen: La sostenibilidad medioambiental repercute en los distritos industriales y en los procesos evolutivos. La investigación en este sentido es escasa, lo que sugiere, por un lado, el papel de las empresas líderes de las cadenas de valor mundiales y, por otro, las posibles contribuciones de los proveedores. El artículo explora cómo las empresas de distrito han invertido en sostenibilidad analizando las estrategias de comunicación (certificación, web, exposiciones). Los resultados muestran que los distritos están evolucionando mediante la inclusión de la sostenibilidad en sus estrategias. Surgen diversas estrategias, con diferencias también entre las empresas de los mercados B2B y B2C.

Palabras clave: Comunicación, sostenibilidad, joyería, cuero, cluster, certificaciones..

[Para la comprensión de este artículo es necesario consultar la versión en PDF por la inclusión de símbolos matemáticos en la explicación que no son reproducibles aquí.]

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Información adicional

JEL Classification: Q56; O30; M14.



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