Tracing the Portland Athletic Shoe Industry. Innovation, Time & Space

Abstract: The athletic shoe industry in Portland, Oregon is examined in this paper. We argue that Portland’s athletic shoe industry is representative of an industry cluster, and go on to examine the roles of technology diffusion, innovation, local competition, local demand and local factor conditions in the growth of this industry in the Portland area. In addition, we consider the industry’s integration of global commodity chains as a key innovation. We describe historical changes in the control of commodity chain nodes for two main firms in the Portland region, Nike and Adidas. We argue that new technologies and innovations have shifted commodity chain relationships for these firms and suggest that current and future shifts might lead to a lessening importance of some local factors which have previously contributed to the clustering of athletic shoe firms in the region.