https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4714-9879
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ABSTRACT
The history of industry in Portugal is tangled. In the early 1990s, the government was letting non-viable, uncompetitive companies collapse while targeting those bolstered by European funds for their “success stories.” One of the findings of a study on Portugal’s competitive advantages emphasised the importance of the country’s traditional industries for the development of new technologies and industrial sectors. This article is a historical account of community innovation in Portugal during the 1990s. It analyses two illustrative case studies: the Portuguese automobile cluster and the AutoEuropa development in Setúbal; and the Portuguese science and technology sector exemplified by the Taguspark – a science and technology park in Oeiras near Lisbon. It is argued that Portuguese industry had to develop strong links and establish viable R&D relationships with science and technology institutions in order to help strengthen the country’s competitive advantages in an increasingly globalised economy.
Acknowledgments
The author is thankful for a fellowship from the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) and a research assistantship from the Center for Economic Development (CED) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Declaration of Interest Statement
None
Notes
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7 Peter Wise, ‘Science and technology, new spirit of enterprise’, Financial Times October 28, 1994.
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19 Ibid, 147.
20 Doreen Massey, Paul Quintas, and David Wield, High-Tech Fantasies: Science parks in society, science (London: Routledge, 1991).
21 Manuel Castells and Peter Hall, Technopoles of the world: The making of 21st century industrial complexes (London: Routledge, 1994).
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24 Alda Carvalho, J. Brito, and M. Brandão, ‘O sistema produtivo, distributivo e as contas externas’ [The productive and distributive system and the external accounts], in Portugal Hoje [Portugal Today], (Maia: Instituto Nacional de Administração, 1995).
25 Syrett, ‘Local economic initiatives in Portugal.’
26 John Mullin, ‘Lisbon: City of diamonds, city of stone’, The New Hampshire International Seminar, University of New Hampshire, Durham, December 2, 1994.
27 Tom Gallagher, Salazar – The Dictator Who Refused to Die (London: Hurst & Company, 2020). John Mullin, ‘The implementation of regional industrial policies in the European Community: A case study of Setúbal, Portugal’, Portuguese Studies Review 1, no. 2 (1991/1992): 47–8.
28 William J. Carrington and J. F. Lima, ‘The impact of 1970s repatriates from Africa on the Portuguese labor market’, Industrial and Labor Relations Review 49, no. 2 (1996), 330–47.
29 Merril Stevenson, ‘Doing their own thing’, The Economist May 28 1988: 24.
30 Stephen Syrett, ‘Is small beautiful?’ Geographical Magazine 63 (1991): 4–8.
31 Syrett, ‘Local economic initiatives in Portugal.’
32 Carlos J. L. Balsas, ‘Study of Porto’s polycentric metropolitan development and governance at the turn of the millennium’, International Journal of Regional and Local History 15, no. 2 (2020): 131–45.
33 Stevenson, ‘Doing their own thing.’
34 Syrett, ‘Local economic initiatives in Portugal.’
35 Mullin, ‘The implementation of regional industrial policies in the European Community.’
36 João R. Santos, ‘Planning a metropolis from infrastructure: Lisbon from 1940 to 1966’, Journal of Planning History 12, no. 4 (2013): 312–33.
37 Jimmy Burns, ‘Santa Claus image slips’, Financial Times November 8, 1993.
38 Peter Wise, ‘Europe’s reluctant tiger’, Financial Times, October 28, 1994: ii.
39 Peter Wise, ‘European finance and investment: Portugal, a time for celebration and reflection’, Financial Times February 22, 1994.
40 Mullin, ‘The implementation of regional industrial policies in the European Community.’
41 Wise, ‘European finance and investment.’
42 Mira Amaral and Rogério Martins, ‘Política industrial em Portugal’ [Industrial policy in Portugal], Opúsculos do IESF – Edições ASA 1991, 35–6; Carlos Camponez, ‘Augusto Mateus no encerramento do Congresso da Indústria de Moldes contra os ‘cemitérios’, pelas ‘maternidades’’, [Augusto Mateus in the closing of the Industry and Models Congress against the ‘cemeteries’ and for the ‘maternities’], Público March 25, 1996.
43 Peter Wise, ‘The glitter starts to fade’, Financial Times, November 8, 1993; Virgílio Ferreira, ‘Governo incentiva investimento directo estrangeiro’ [Government incentives direct foreign investment], Vida Económica March 15, 1996.
44 Central Intelligence Agency, The World Fact Book 1995, (United States Government Printing Office, Washington D.C., 1995).
45 Caspar Weinberger, ‘Iberian investing’, Forbes 156 (1995): 33.
46 José A. Torres, ‘New urbanism, tourism and urban regeneration in Eastern Lisbon, Portugal’, Journal of Urban Regeneration & Renewal 9, no. 3 (2016): 283–94.
47 Ibid. Tom Burns, ‘Facelift for an anniversary’, Financial Times October 28, 1994. António Barreto, ‘Retrato da semana’, [Portrait of the week], Público March 24, 1996.
48 Wise, ‘The glitter starts to fade.’
49 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
50 Ibid.
51 Carlos Balsas and John Mullin, ‘Desenvolvimento Económico nos EUA e na União Europeia, uma contribuição para a política industrial Europeia’, [Economic Development in the U.S.A and the European Union, a contribution to the European industrial policy], Economia e Prospectiva 11 (2000): 91–111.
52 Ibid.
53 Stephen C. Smith, ‘Book review essay of Michael Porter, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, New York: Free Press, 1990’, Journal of Development Economics 40, no. 2 (1993): 399–405.
54 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
55 Smith, ‘Book review essay of Michael Porter.’
56 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
57 Ibid.
58 Ibid.
59 Ibid.
60 Ibid.
61 Ibid.
62 Mullin, ‘The implementation of regional industrial policies in the European Community.’
63 Audrey Chot and Carlta Vitzthum, ‘Iberian struggle, big auto plant sparks a debate in Portugal over how to develop’, The Wall Street Journal June 30, 1995: A1.
64 Diana T. Kurylko, ‘Ford–VW open Portugal minivan plant’, Automotive News 5602, May 1, 1995a: 4.
65 Chot and Vitzthum, ‘Iberian struggle.’
66 Ibid.
67 Wise, ‘The glitter starts to fade.’
68 Chot and Vitzthum, ‘‘Iberian struggle.’
69 Diana T. Kurylko, ‘Ford–VW goal: World-class minivan plant’, Automotive News 5603, May 8, 1995: 26.
70 Ibid, 26. Carlos Balsas, ‘Cities, Automobiles, and Sustainability’, Urban Affairs Review 36, no. 3 (2001): 429–32.
71 Kurylko, ‘Ford–VW goal’, 26.
72 A. J. Jacobs, Automotive FDI in Emerging Europe: Shifting locales in the motor vehicle industry. (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017).
73 Kurylko, ‘Ford–VW goal’, 26.
74 Fortune, ‘Portugal discovered the world, now the world discovers Portugal’, Fortune, 125 (1992): 177–85.
75 Chot and Vitzthum, ‘Iberian struggle.’
76 Catarina Selada and José Felizardo, ‘Da produção à concepção: meio século de história automóvel em Portugal’ [From production to design: half a century of automobile history in Portugal]. In Engenho e Obra – Uma Abordagem à história da engenharia em Portugal no século XX, eds. José Brito, Manuel Heitor, and Maria Rollo, 280–87 (Lisbon: Instituto Superior Técnico and Publicações Dom Quixote, 2002).
77 Anabela Reis, Manuel Heitor, Miguel Amaral, and Joana Mendonça, ‘Revisiting industrial policy: Lessons learned from the establishment of an automotive OEM in Portugal’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change 113 (2016): 195–205.
78 Mário Vale, ‘Innovation and knowledge driven by a focal corporation: the case of the Autoeuropa supply chain’, European Urban and Regional Studies 11, no. 2 (2004): 124–40.
79 Reis, ‘Revisiting industrial policy.’
80 José Mariano Gago, ‘O estado da ciência’ [The status of science], in Portugal Hoje [Portugal Today], 201–11 (Maia: Instituto Nacional de Administração, 1995).
81 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid.
84 Marco M. D’Ercole, ‘Portugal, developing human capital’, The OECD Observer 195 no. August/September (1995): 42–4; Eduardo Marçal Grilo, ‘Ensino formal e suas condições’ [Formal education and its conditions’], in Portugal Hoje [Portugal Today], (Maia: Instituto Nacional de Administração, 1995).
85 The Economist, ‘Portuguese business, family values’, The Economist June 3, 1995.
86 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
87 Ibid.
88 Ibid.
89 Ibid.
90 José Mariano Gago, ‘The future of general science education’, Impact of Science on Society 41, no. 4 (1991): 289–95.
91 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
92 Ibid.
93 Wise, ‘Science and technology.’
94 Ibid.
95 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
96 Taguspark, ‘Taguspark’, http:/www.taguspark.pt, Colaboração Telepac – Realização Tinta Invisível, accessed 10 July 1995.
97 Tiago Ratinho and Elsa Henriques, ‘The role of science parks and business incubators in converging countries: Evidence from Portugal’, Technovation 30, no. 4 (2010): 278–90.
98 Ibid, 283.
99 Ibid, 285.
100 José F. Ribeiro, ‘Portugal 2025 – Que funções no espaço europeu?’ [Portugal 2025 – What functions in the European space], Prospectiva e Planeamento 16, no. 1 (2009): 197–214.
101 Mullin, ‘The implementation of regional industrial policies in the European Community.’
102 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’ Peter Wise, ‘Industrial policy, action plan for business’, Financial Times October 28, 1994.
103 TCM, ‘Construir as Vantagens Competitivas de Portugal.’
104 Gonçalves, ‘Twenty years after the Porter Report for Portugal.’
105 Ibid, 552.
106 Mateus, Mateus, and Madruga (2013) cited in ibid.
107 Such as the Third Community Support Framework – CSF (2000–2006) and the National Strategic Reference Framework – QREN (2007–2013); see Costa, ‘Cinco décadas de políticas de desenvolvimento regional em Portugal.’
108 Base aerial photo: Google Earth pro (2021), adapted by the author.
109 Author’s archive (2016).
110 Author’s archive (2010).
111 Courtesy of Luis Felipe, ‘Autoeuropa announces investment of 103 million euros’, portugalinews January 18, 2020. https://portugalinews.eu/autoeuropa-announces-investment-of-103-million-euros/ (accessed May 9, 2021).
112 Courtesy of commons.wikimedia.org, curid=78162128 (May 9, 2021).
113 Gonçalves, ‘Twenty years after the Porter Report for Portugal’, 551.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Carlos J. L. Balsas
Carlos J. L. Balsas, Ph.D., AICP, is based in Albany, New York. His SSSP-GD and IP (Transportation category) award-winning book Walkable Cities – Revitalization, Vibrancy and Sustainable Consumption was published by SUNY Press (2019). He was an assistant professor at Arizona State University and at the University at Albany. His research interests include Urban Revitalization, Sustainable Transportation Planning, and Scholarship of Teaching.