Embedded Enterprise and Social Capital International Perspectives

This title was first published in 2002. The concept of embeddedness refers to the social construction of inter-firm relationships and the enmeshing of economic relationships within broader social structures and relationships in particular places. Previous research has suggested embedding is the best way to generate local growth and social capital and has focused on SMEs in Europe and North America, although the existing model is being more widely adopted now. This volume is the first to examine the complex processes of embedding in this wider context. Bringing together a broad range of case studies from the developed and developing world which address the nature of embeddedness from various perspectives, it not only questions the universality of the current model and the policy initiatives it has spawned but also provides a much wider understanding of embeddedness . It does so by discussing the social dimensions more fully and by throwing light on the spatial and temporal ambiguity of the concept and its inadequate treatment of power.

Contents: Approaching embeddedness, Michael Taylor and Simon Leonard; Embeddedness and innovation, Ron Boschma, Jan Lambooy and Veronique Schutjens; Rethinking institutions and embeddedness in a third world context, Giles Mohan; Supply chains, embeddedness and the restructuring of Argentina’s tanning industry, Kjersti Wølneberg; Going places? Reflections on embedding and disembedding in agriculture and horticulture under neoliberalism: the example of Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand, David Hayward, Christina Stringer and Richard Le Heron; Weakening ties: the embeddedness of small UK electronics firms, Sara Openshaw and Michael Taylor; Enterprise embeddedness and industrial innovation in Spain: an overview, Montserrat Pallares-Barbera; Local embeddedness in global financial services: Australian evidence in ’the end of geography’, Pierre Agnes; Local embeddedness and service firms: evidence from Southern England, Paul Search and Michael Taylor; Embedded project-production in magazine publishing: a case of self-exploitation?, Carol Ekinsmyth; Local embeddedness, ’institutional thickness’ and the state regulation of local labour markets, Simon Leonard; Diasporic embeddedness and Asian women entrepreneurs in the UK, Irene Hardill, Parvati Raghuram and Adam Strange; Over- and Under-embeddedness: failures in developing mixed embeddedness among Israeli entrepreneurs, Michael Sofer and Izhak Schnell; Enterprise, embeddedness and exclusion: business relationships in a small island developing economy, Michael Taylor; The local embeddedness of firms in Turkish industrial districts: the changing roles of networks in local development, Ayda Eraydin; Understanding embeddedness, Michael Taylor and Simon Leonard; Index. Name Index.

Simon Leonard, Michael Taylor