Sub-Saharan Africa’s congested micro-firm clusters face limited growth, diversification, and innovation. To provide new evidence on these dynamics, our research looks at Uganda’s shoemaking industry, using a detailed questionnaire to investigate the competitiveness of manufacturing clusters and the impact of market forces on innovation. The findings reveal a paradoxical dynamic: despite engaging in collusive practices, firms desire increased competition, associating it with increased innovation. The dataset, which will be used to inform a future randomised intervention and a model linking market structure to firm innovation and growth, reveals critical insights into the low-competition environment that is impeding entrepreneurial growth.
STEG Project Policy Brief
• Research Theme 0: Data, Measurement, and Conceptual Framing,
Research Theme 1: Firms, Frictions and Spillovers, and Industrial Policy,
Cross-Cutting Issue 1: Gender
Clustering at the Business Level: Competitive Forces and Micro-Firm Markets
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