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Abstract

This chapter juxtaposes governance of the furniture industry in Ostwestfalen–Lippe and southern Sweden to the characteristics of the German and Swedish ‘models’, respectively, in order to determine whether these regional sectors have been typical of their national cases; and, if not, whether any deviance from a model can be seen to have embodied a productive incoherence. It shows that the Swedish furniture industry is rather different from its counterpart in Germany, where incoherences appeared to be a disadvantage, while success included an ability to make use of the national institutional infrastructure. It might well be then, that the key to success for the German cluster, consists in shielding itself from erosion of aspects of the German model, which are taking place at the national level.