Metodologia de identificação de arranjos produtivos locais potenciais: uma nota técnica [Methodology for the identification of potential local productive networks: a technical note]

One important question that has been discussed in the literature about regional economics is the relevance of local productive networks (clusters) for the regional development. It is possible to find a huge number of case studies that discuss many aspects of this kind of network: cooperation, specialization, governance, performance, etc. However, in most of these cases, the networks that have been chosen for the studies are those that are evident in their respective regions. To enrich this discussion, we propose a methodology to identify a potential local productive network based on secondary data, using principal component analyses. The aim is to provide an instrument that can be used to identify a potential local network at its initial stages of development. This methodology has been development at the Center for Regional Development and Planning (Brazil) over the last two years.