Development Of Industrial Districts Research Articles

Generating modern heritage through changing urban environments and identities: A case study from Prato's (Italy) industrial district, history, and multiculturalism in a polycentric urban setting

AbstractFollowing economic crises, the evolution of industrial districts (IDs) has frequently caused the crisis within entire urban systems. Being IDs based on individual will and competences, rather than on big industries, their failure can compromise the city's identity. The Italian manufacturing industry consistently relied on this process, and this paper analyzes the case study of Prato, a medieval core city in central Italy that, since the mid‐twentieth century, developed a world‐class textile district based on a polycentric production structure and widespread family entrepreneurialism. During the global economic crisis of the early 2000s, production almost stalled, leaving the city without the core of a collective identity, but with a legacy of empty spaces. Significant foreign migration, in particular from China, filled these spaces, consolidating the clothing sector. The study investigated the city's contemporary identities resulting from the rapid change in people, activities, and spaces.

Circular Economy and the evolution of industrial districts: a supply chain perspective

Circular Economy promises to achieve sustainability by decoupling economic growth from resource extraction and environmental losses. However, it requires a systemic change in the design of products, business models and supply chains. In this study the evolution of the supply chain structure and relationships is addressed in the specific context of industrial districts – i.e., agglomerations of small and medium-sized firms territorially concentrated and specialised in one or more phases of a production process – undergoing a transition to Circular Economy. Through the study of the textile industrial district in Prato (Italy), this study addresses two topics that have been limitedly investigated in the literature. First, the potential role of Circular Economy in revitalising an industrial district in a decline phase. Second, how supply chain structure and relationships should evolve in an industrial district transitioning to Circular Economy. This study outlines the causes triggering industrial districts decline and discusses the factors that can induce a Circular Economy based re-organisation of industrial districts. Consequently, we provide insight to managers on how to successfully couple Circular Economy and technological or business model innovations with supply chain management practices. We also provide indications to policymakers on how local and regional actors can support a Circular Economy driven reorganisation of industrial districts. Finally, this study links contributions concerned with the Circular Economy transition, supply chain structure and relationships and evolution trajectories of industrial districts, thus paving the way for a deeper understanding of the interplay among these phenomena.

Fashion City: Diasporic Connections and Garment Industrial Histories Between the US and Asia

This article explores how fashion is key to understanding the material legacies of urban development across East Asia, New York, and Los Angeles. Here, fashion is not just a material object, but a historical set of practices, relations, and migrant narratives. Fashion’s postcolonial legacies and diasporic connections have played a significant role in the development of industrial districts, special economic zones, and knowledge clusters across the Pacific. Likewise, fashion workers and designers continue to shape new urban geographies that stretch across and connect the US and Asia. Drawing upon ethnographic multi-sited fieldwork, and auto-ethnographic reflection, this article examines how the interplay between these industrial histories in garments, markets, labor and design, is shaped by both trans-Pacific and inter-Asian diasporic connections (across New York, LA, Seoul, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai): connections that are vital for understanding the urbanization of contemporary fashion economies across the US and Asia.

The 798 Art District: Multi-scalar drivers of land use succession and industrial restructuring in Beijing

Since the post-1980 economic reforms, Chinese cities, in particular large cites, have experienced far reaching industrial restructuring and spatial transformation. A decentralization of manufacturing industries from urban centres was accompanied by the rise of service and creative industry districts on previous industrial sites. This article explores the interconnections of global forces, state–market relationships, land use policies, art markets, the Chinese system of governance, and other trans-local factors in transforming Beijing from an industrial city to a service and creative industries-oriented global metropolis, by examining the rise and transformation of Beijing 798 Art District. The case study finds that decommissioned industrial sites had characteristics that made them attractive when central and local governments started to promote creative industries, but, with development of urban art districts, the impact of avant-garde artists on the direction of development was reduced, and developers, high profile galleries and multinational corporations had an increasing influence. The results of our study indicate that the literature on intra-metropolitan location and change, and the evolution of industrial districts should pay more attention to the reuse of the decommissioned industrial land and sites for industrial restructuring, and particularly to the role of multi-scalar factors in reshaping the geography of cities.

Innovation in industrial districts: evidence from Italy

PurposeThe recent transformations brought about by the globalisation of markets have increased the competitive pressure for firms operating in traditional sectors, and in particular for those in industrial districts. The authors' aim is to understand the extent to which firms responded to these new challenges. More particularly, they investigate the determinants of innovation at firm level focusing on the role of firm's outsourcing strategies.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on an original firm‐level dataset, the authors analyse the determinants of innovation in a typical Italian industrial district, i.e. the hosiery district of Castel Goffredo in the Third Italy. They apply econometric techniques, in particular OLS and Tobit models.FindingsThe authors' findings suggest that industrial districts are evolving towards a differentiated organisational structure in which innovation is driven by firms, which are focused on core competences and high valued added activities.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors' results should be interpreted with some caution, since the cross‐sectional design of their data does not allow them to fully control for potential reverse causation effects, which might be relevant for some of the explanatory variables. Their data do not allow them to include additional instrumental variables, thus they cannot control for endogeneity. Therefore, their interpretation is limited to comment the extent and regularity of the relation between dependent and explanatory variables.Practical implicationsThe evidence presented in this study corroborates some arguments highlighted in the current debate about the evolution of industrial districts. A network‐based organisation is the dominant organisational structure. The authors have some evidence on the importance of size as driver of innovation.Originality/valueThe authors find original evidence at firm level on the relation between organisational change, in the form of outsourcing, and innovation in the context of an industrial district. They also find empirical support to arguments debated in the recent policy debates on whether small firms can be regarded as engines of innovation in industrial districts.

Beyond Marshallian Agglomeration Economies: The Roles of Trade Associations in Meiji Japan

In both developed Western nations and developing countries, economic growth was based on the development of industrial districts, which were much more organized and institutionalized in modern Japan than economist Alfred Marshall had described. Local trade associations played an important role in enhancing Marshallian externalities, arising from the ease of imitating improved ideas and transacting unfinished products among clustered enterprises by facilitating joint actions in the supply of public goods, such as through the creation of local district brands and through the efficient provision of business information. These activities were clearly beyond the scope of agglomeration economies. This article examines the case of Kiryu, one of the best-known silk weaving districts in Japan.

Distretti industriali, nuove politiche territoriali e programmazione

The essay focuses on local development and governance. It examines the questions posed by the evolution of industrial districts and the new policy for local development, the so-called Instruments for Local Development. The analysis highlights a complex and contradictory relationship between the theory of local development, and in particular the notion of Marshallian Industrial District, and the new policy for local and regional development. Calling the new conceptual framework and legislation «negotiated development planning» engenders a fundamental ambiguity. It suggests a sort of continuity with the previous national policy of economic planning, but is instead defining a fundamentally different approach to government intervention in the economy.

The Role of Institutional Factors in Fostering the Development of Industrial Districts in Italy

This paper aims at analysing the role of institutional factors in fostering the agglomeration of SMEs in Italian industrial districts. The main findings are: the availability of strong family institutions and a social environment reducing individual opportunism have played a significant role in nurturing local development through industrial agglomeration. There is no clear evidence, apart from the case when a more restrictive definition of industrial district is adopted, of a positive influence of a larger endowment in relational capital. Local government intervention, as measured by the proxy utilised in the study, does not appear to have played an important role in fostering industrial districts development. Apart from providing some empirical support to the thesis of the relevance of social institutions in promoting industrial agglomeration in Italy, the spatial econometric analysis revealed positive and significant spillover effects across neighbouring areas, an evidence consistent with the existence of a contagion process.

Economic Governance and the Evolution of Industrial Districts Under Globalization: The Case of Two Mature European Industrial Districts

For many mature European industrial districts, the present decade has been one of trying (and often failing) to meet the difficult challenges posed by the rising tide of globalization. The future of these districts in the new global economy has become a key issue for regional and local development policy, and, in this respect, it has sparked a renewed interest in economic governance. Economic governance is important in that it underpins a region's long-term economic development path. This article is a contribution to the study of the economic governance of industrial districts and the related policy debate. The article does so by specifically exploring the economic governance issue by considering the experiences and challenges currently facing two mature European industrial districts in the global economy.

Life Cycle vs. Multiple Path Dependency in Industrial Districts

The aim of this article is to shed light on the evolutionary process of industrial districts (IDs), evaluating the role of path dependence in their growth trajectories. We intend here to identify the districts' life cycles and the factors that influence the origin, development and maturity stages. Following an evolutionary economics approach, we investigated the path-dependence mechanism behind the evolution of IDs. By adopting a qualitative meta-study approach, the paper shows how different IDs have changed over time and how their growth pattern is partially determined by initial conditions and by heterogeneous capabilities cultivated by district firms. The analysis is applied to 12 case studies of Italian IDs developed in the literature, following the model of qualitative meta-analysis for theory building. The results provided add new insights to the present literature on evolutionary geography by indicating some key triggering factors. Our contribution shows that instead of a standardized life cycle, Italian IDs follow a multiple growth pattern in their development.

Exit, voice and the evolution of industrial districts: the case of the post-World War II economic development of Prato

In this paper, the Hirschmanian exit‐voice approach is applied to the development of industrial districts. The analysis of the post-World War II evolution of the Prato district helps to make explicit how the industrial district competitive advantage can be reproduced over time during periods of regular development. In addition, the exit‐voice polarity helps in understanding also the specific difficulties that industrial districts face in responding to major changes in their external circumstances. In particular, the case examined sheds light on the role that conscious collective action has in permitting the successful adjustment of a local system.

Knowledge, Market Structure, and Economic Coordination: Dynamics of Industrial Districts

The industrial rise of the Third Italy has been characterized by the growth of dynamic networks of flexible small and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs) that are spatially concentrated in specialized industrial districts. This network type of coordination has been associated with horizontal, trust–based relations rather than vertical relations of power and dependency between local organizations. This would lower transaction costs (essential for local systems with an extreme division of labor), facilitate the transmission and exchange of (tacit) knowledge (and thus, learning and innovation), encourage cooperation mechanisms (such as the establishment of research centers), and stimulate political–institutional performance (e.g. through regulation of potential social conflicts).From an evolutionary perspective, the focus is on the dynamics of industrial districts drawing from current experiences in Italy. In this respect, this paper concentrates on two main features of industrial districts that have largely contributed to their economic success in the past, that is, their network organization and the collective learning process. The evolution of industrial districts is described in terms of organizational adjustments to structural change. The way in which the size distribution of firms has changed is discussed (in particular the role of large companies), how the (power) relationships between local organizations have evolved, what are the current sources and mechanisms of learning, and to what extent institutional lock–in has set in. Finally, a number of trajectories districts may go through in the near future are presented.

Resisting Organizational Inertia: The Evolution of Industrial Districts

Industrial district success in Italy is often explained as a function oftraditional, homogenous communities, where close social ties and communityinstitutions supposedly create the trust necessary for collaborativeinter-firm relationships among small firms. However, such a functionalistapproach fails to explain why some districts prosper over time bydeveloping new process and product innovations, while others stagnatebecause they fail to respond to rapidly changing markets. We argue thatgreater attention to firm networks – both those internal and external to the district – and the role of key firms represents a more usefulanalytical method for understanding the evolution and formation ofindustrial districts.

The Evolution of Industrial Districts and Regional Networks: The Case of the Biotechnology Region Munich/Martinsried

The Evolution of Industrial Districts and Regional Networks: The Case of the Biotechnology Region Munich/Martinsried

Learning-by-Doing and the Development of Industrial Districts

Marshallian districts are locales that accommodate a large number of small firms producing similar goods to be exported and benefit from the accumulation of know-how associated with workers residing there. We study the making of such districts by assuming that the cost function of a firm is a decreasing function of the total output produced in the past by the firms established in the locale. The dynamics is described by a sequence of temporary equilibria in which firms equalize profits between locales at each period. Hence changing the spatial distribution of firms affects the production history of each district. When new firms set up in a locale, they exacerbate competition on the corresponding labor market, thus leading to a wage rise that reduces the incentives for firms to locate in the most efficient district. The short-run equilibrium distribution of firms is studied as well as the long-run properties of the adjustment process.

Learning-by-Doing and the Development of Industrial Districts

Marshallian districts are locales that accommodate a large number of small firms producing similar goods to be exported and benefit from the accumulation of know-how associated with workers residing there. We study the making of such districts by assuming that the cost function of a firm is a decreasing function of the total output produced in the past by the firms established in the locale. The dynamic is described by a sequence of temporary equilibria in which firms equalize profits between locales at each period. Hence changing the spatial distribution of firms affects the production history of each district. When new firms set up in a locale, they exacerbate competition on the corresponding labor market, thus leading to a wage rise that reduces the incentives for firms to locate in the most efficient district. The short-run equilibrium distribution of firms are studied as well as the long-run properties of the adjustment process.

An Analysis of New-Tech Agglomeration in Beijing: A New Industrial District in the Making?

Industrial districts are usually referred to as spatially concentrated networks of small and medium-sized firms. These have been seen in Europe and North America, but, so far, have been almost undiscovered in developing countries. Based on the assumption of the strong embedding of the stable and ‘pure’ district model, in this paper we examine a new-tech agglomeration in Beijing, as a variant of such districts in the making, and explain it with the use of concepts adopted from the industrial districts school. The Beijing case represents an experiment in the conscious public creation of new industrial spaces founded on the spontaneous action of key individuals. Initially it progressed as an embryonic industrial district that, in its early development, appeared to contain all three elements of entrepreneurship: small firms, new firm formation, and innovativeness. However, it has eventually been stranded by a unique combination of weaknesses. These include strong hierarchical restraints from the state-owned institutions or firms on local networking, and direct global linkages with the multinationals, which expose local economies to volatile world competition. We pinpoint the necessity for a developing country to rest its development of industrial districts on self-sustained innovativeness, and highlights the difficulties encountered in such a process.

The Role of Large Producers in Industrial Districts: A Case Study of High Technology Systems Houses in Southern California

SCOTT A. J. (1992) The role of large producers in industrial districts: a case study of high technology systems houses in Southern California, Reg. Studies 26, 265–275. A generalized concept of industrial districts is proposed. The concept hinges on the intertwined notions of the social division of labour, external economies and locational agglomeration. It is argued that large production units often play an important part in sustaining the growth and development of industrial districts and that such districts need not be composed solely of small production units. The argument is illustrated by means of a case study of the role of large systems houses within the high technology industrial districts of Southern California. It is concluded that neither large establishments nor the internationalization of the economy necessarily threaten the continued viability of industrial districts. It is also suggested that industrial districts represent a very widely developed phenomenon in time and space. SCOTT A. J. (...