On the Origins and Development of Pakistan's Soccer-Ball Cluster
Author(s)
Chaudhry, Azam; Chaudry, Shamyla; Khandelwal, Amit K.; Raza, Tariq; Verhoogen, Eric; Atkin, David G; ... Show more Show less
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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.
Date issued
2016-03Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of EconomicsJournal
The World Bank Economic Review
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Citation
Atkin, David et al. “On the Origins and Development of Pakistan’s Soccer-Ball Cluster.” The World Bank Economic Review 30 (March 2016): S34-S41 © 2016 The Author(s)
Version: Original manuscript
ISSN
0258-6770
1564-698X