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THE PATH DEPENDENCE OF TORONTO'S MULTIMEDIA CLUSTER. John Britton University of Toronto. What is path dependence? Toronto's Multimedia cluster : Origins: initial conditions, corporate clients Talent pool Spatial concentration Reality shock: clustering incentives intensified
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THE PATH DEPENDENCE OF TORONTO'S MULTIMEDIA CLUSTER John Britton University of Toronto
What is path dependence? • Toronto's Multimedia cluster: • Origins: initial conditions, corporate clients • Talent pool • Spatial concentration • Reality shock: clustering incentives intensified • Conclusion
Path dependence? ·Technology view: qwerty and all that (David 1985) · Geographic view: "places produce path dependence" (Martin 1999) ·How is an industrial cluster a product of its local ‘ environment?' 1.learning : "trial, feedback and evaluation" 2.untraded interdependencies : circulation of tacit knowledge 3. Places evolve in terms of their institutional identity
Origins of Toronto's Multimedia Cluster Business segment: banks, advertising agencies Entertainment segment: cultural industries + policies film/television products antecedent firms and skills Talent pool Convergence of skills and technology Standardized platforms made learning-on-the job and imitation easier
Spatial concentration Downtown + growth labour churning flows of tacit knowledge Reality Shock Are clusters flexible? The ‘dot-com bust’ as a test case - 1997 profile - 2003 cluster characteristics: more collaboration, more subcontracting - Industry associations? Conclusions