Urban amenities and agglomeration economies? : the locational behaviour and economic success of Dutch fashion design entrepreneurs

The spatial clustering of industries is traditionally explained by agglomeration economies benefiting co-located firms. The focus on firms rather than people has been challenged by Florida arguing that urban amenities attract creative people to certain cities. On the basis of a questionnaire, an analysis is made of the extent to which these two mechanisms affect the locational behaviour of Dutch fashion design entrepreneurs. It is found that fashion design entrepreneurs consider urban amenities to be more important than agglomeration economies for their location decision. Designers located in the Amsterdam cluster do not profit from agglomeration economies as such, but rather from superior networking opportunities with peers both within and outside the cluster.