Cluster perpetuation: Maintenance of competitive advantages over time. The case of Chile's large north

Industrial clusters last if they can maintain over time the competitive advantages arisen from external economies and joint actions developed in the cluster itself. The trend towards relocation of activities outside the cluster, in other geographical areas, may be restrained by a number of inhibiting factors or barriers relating to the exit or abandonment of the cluster, such as the sense of belonging to the cluster, the density of the network of relationships established, the existence of shared norms and values, and the institutional framework of the cluster. Thus, the greater the presence of these factors is, the lower companies' trend to leave the cluster will be. This paper analyses the cluster perpetuation model, based on the calculation of the probability of activity relocation, applied to the Antofagasta (Chile) mining cluster, using a multiple binary logistic regression.