The paper analyses the existing and expected competitiveness of three footwear local industrial arrangements in the State of Paraíba. The study is based on a 2002-2003 period sample of 211 footwear producers, complemented by information obtained from public and private institutions linked to footwear fabrication and many other informational sources. Competitiveness assessment was carried out for three different groups of firms: the big new companies installed in the Eighties, the group of good quality footwear producers and the small firms which manufacture low quality footwear. The competitiveness evaluation was made on internal, structural and systemic basis. The paper identifies the main competitiveness sources of each one of the three studied group and shows that, in despite of the share of source of competitiveness, the identified set of existing and expected competitiveness source differs among the three analyzed groups.
competitiveness; State of Paraiba; footwear industry
