Social Capital, Diversity and (Economic) DEvelopment: Evidence from Indian IT Industry, Bangalore

This paper addresses two sets of questions related to IT development and lessons to be drawn for other regions both in and outside India. Firstly, based on original fieldwork an additional argument to traditional location literature is deployed. Secondly, related research on the financial services industry conjectures an intersectoral upgrading of the software industry clustered in Bangalore. Hence, the question is whether other regions can duplicate the success factors of Bangalore for both innovative technological development and an eventual industrial diversification. The major empirical finding is that the open and cosmopolitan nature of Bangalore has contributed a large share to the existing diversity of the city which, ultimately, has led to an innovative and thriving (economic) development.