Metamorphoses in Jaú’s women’s footwear product cluster: from dense to loose-knit network

Abstract This study analyzed the changes in the structure of the political network of the footwear Local Productive Cluster (LPC) of Jaú, São Paulo in the period from 1996 to 2016. Network theory was used as theoretical basis because it has gained space in organizational studies in the last decades, besides providing explanations for various phenomena, especially to the study of productive arrangements. The sample involved 90 actors divided into three periods: 1996-2001, 2002-2010 and 2011-2016. For construction of the networks, the software Ucinet and Gephi were used. In addition to a contextual analysis, the ARS metrics (centrality, density, geodesic distance and subgroups) made it possible to identify the interactions among the actors. The results identified structural changes in the network. The number of actors that increased from 29 in the first period to 70 actors in the second period (+141%) and reduced to 39 in the following period (-44%). As for density, it was identified a dense network in the period 1996/2001 and later a diffuse network and pulverized access of information and resources in the periods 2002/2010 and 2011/2016. The central actors were Sindicalçados, Sebrae and directors of the employers' union. The participation of Sebrae and other entities influenced the creation of bonds and provided economic gains to the companies of Jaú, especially in the period 2002/2009, since the entities and the partnerships signed, not only sought the articulation of the entrepreneurs, they often became the protagonists of the changes. However, the decrease in Sebrae's shares as of 2010, has potentiated the reduction of economic indicators such as the number of companies and jobs, when compared to other shoe producing regions in Brazil.