Path dependence and path plasticity: textile cities in the Netherlands

Concentrating on three Dutch cities that once had an important textile industry, this study discusses the reasons for the decline of the industry and the responses by firms and other relevant actors. Reasons and responses differed between cities. Therefore, general explanations of the decline of the Dutch textile industry must be supplemented with city-specific accounts. We do not deny that the industry had to deal with path dependence, and lock-in was looming large, but we argue that the demise of the textile industry was not inevitable. The notion of path plasticity helps to direct attention to options that could have been chosen.