2016, Volume 19, Paper 114
ISSN: 1442-6951

Industry Clusters and Food Value Chains: Can the Literature on Local Collective Failure be used as a Guide for Assessing and Overcoming Value Chain Failure?

Stuart Mounter – Senior Lecturer, UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, NSW.
Euan Fleming – Emeritus Professor, UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, NSW.
Garry Griffith – Professorial Research Fellow, UNE Business School, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, and Principal Fellow, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC.
Bligh Grant – Senior Lecturer, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW.

Abstract

In this paper the literature on industry clusters as a response to local collective failure is reviewed as a way of enhancing knowledge about how failure of food value chains to perform efficiently can be analysed and overcome. The conclusion is that there is much in the local collective failure literature that assists in an understanding of, and is consistent with, the concepts of value chain failure, value chain externalities and value chain goods. Four potential areas for enhancing the analysis of value chains by accessing this literature are noted: defining the boundary between chain failure and local collective failure; improving joint action among parties interested in overcoming chain failure; augmenting the processes of knowledge creation and application in value chains; and improving the governance of value chains. The key point is that the ability of local collective or value chain partners to produce chain goods and internalise positive chain externalities depends directly on the nature and intent of the joint action by the partners: will they cooperate or not, and, if they do cooperate, how and to what extent will they do so? These issues of coordination of economic activity and the nature of the relationships between partners go to the heart of governance within both local communities and value chains.

Download the full PDF version here.