The Case of Belgharia Hosiery Industry in West Bengal: Exhibiting Marshallian "Industrial District” Syndrome?

Abstract

The study attempts to focus upon the reasons for concentration of several informal localized industries to be spatially clustered in particular geographical spaces. To reveal this, the study is confined to a specific site of a particular industry in West Bengal, namely Belgharia hosiery industry. The site has been selected not on the basis of its significant position on the industry in West Bengal but due to its long-term existence in the map of the industry with cluster of small and medium enterprises. In this sense, the study objects to detect the factors that determine long-term existence of this particular location industry in this specific geographical space of Belgharia and its surrounding areas. The logical argumentation of the study is based on literature support specifically of the classical and new economic geography school, case studies conducted, and the primary survey results. The micro-level field surveys, sampling design and data analysis of the study conducted is based on the standard model approach.