Networks of learning within the English wine industry

The literature on industrial districts suggests that spatial proximity supports interfirm learning and is therefore a source of competitive advantage. Although 'territorial' accounts have highlighted the informal means through which firms access knowledge, localised perspectives have received criticism from a number of quarters. This article adopts a 'relational' perspective centred on the firm and explores the role of both formal and informal networks of learning using empirical evidence from the English wine industry of southern England. The findings suggest that the development of formal interfirm arrangements and non-local knowledge links by leading firms is displacing the extant communitarian logic of learning within the industry. Implications for the literature on industrial districts are discussed.