How to make progress in theories of spatial clustering: a case study of Malmberg and Maskell’s emerging theory

Many social science disciplines suffer from a tradition of tolerating vaguely formulated theoretical claims. The authors report a case study of the explanatory claims made in an emerging knowledge-based theory of clusters proposed by the economic geographers Malmberg and Maskell. In doing so they reinterpret and reconstruct Malmberg and Maskells’s theory by applying what is called the ‘contrastive approach’ to explanation from contemporary philosophy of science literature. This approach is proposed as a means of enhancing explanatory clarity and thereby of fostering explanatory progress. The contrastive approach is useful in specifying the exact explanation-seeking questions, and answers to them. Specifying the explanatory claims of a theory also makes it easier to identify questions that are not posed and hence remain unanswered; those constitute a challenge for further theorizing. The case study supports the argument that the precise formulation of explanatory questions promotes explanatory progress.