On the Origins and Development of Pakistan’s Soccer-Ball Cluster
Sialkot, Pakistan, is the world center of hand-stitched soccer-ball manufacturing. The existence of the cluster is puzzling and seems to argue against the “home market effect”, since there is little local demand for soccer balls. This paper traces...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/237351565607037214/On-the-Origins-and-Development-of-Pakistan-s-Soccer-Ball-Cluster http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32229 |
| Summary: | Sialkot, Pakistan, is the world center
of hand-stitched soccer-ball manufacturing. The existence of
the cluster is puzzling and seems to argue against the “home
market effect”, since there is little local demand for
soccer balls. This paper traces the development of the
cluster from its origins in the late 1800s and shows that it
was rooted in an initial home market effect due to the
presence of British colonists. Subsequent expansion was
driven by agglomeration forces and effective industrial
policy. The case study underlines the importance of
longer-term historical dynamics and the role of industrial
policy for understanding a country’s contemporaneous pattern
of specialization in the world economy. |
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