Industrial Districts in History and the Developing World

This book sheds new light on the role of industrial districts in the industrial development of the past and present. Industrial districts, which refer to the geographical concentration of enterprises producing similar or closely related commodities in a small area, play a significant role in the development of manufacturing industries not only historically in Europe and Japan but also at present in emerging East Asian economies, such as China and Vietnam and low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The book identifies similarities in the development patterns of industrial districts in history and the present and analyzes the reasons for these similarities. More specifically, the book examines whether Marshallian agglomeration economies provide sufficient explanations and seeks to deepen understanding about the important factors that are missing.

Despite the common issues addressed by economic historians and development economists regarding the advantages of industrial districts for industrial development, discussion of these issues between the two groups of researchers has been largely absent, or at best weak. The purpose of this book is to integrate the results of case studies by economic historians interested in France, Spain, and Japan and those by development economists interested in the contemporary industries still developing in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Tanzania, and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Part I Introduction.- 1 Beyond Marshallian Agglomeration Economies.- 2 Toward a New Paradigm of the Long-Term Development of Industrial Districts.- Part II Pivotal Role of Technology Transfer.- 3 Technology Transfer and the Early Development of the Cotton Textile Industry in 19th Century Spain.- 4 Contrasting Development Paths of Silk-Weaving Districts in Modern Japan.- 5 Emergence and Subsequent Development of Garment Clusters in Bangladesh and Tanzania.- Part III Central Role of Producer Cooperatives.- 6 Trade Association and Economic Regulation in the Lyons Fabrique: From the 1860s to the 1920s.- 7 Development of High-Value Agricultural Districts: The Role of Producer Cooperatives in Japan and Developing Countries.- Part IV Supporting Role of Local Government.- 8 Industrial Districts in Europe: Policy Lessons for Developing Countries?.- 9 Promotion of the Weaving Districts in Modern Japan.- 10 Low-Quality Crisis and Quality Upgrading: The Case of Industrial Clusters in Zhejiang Province.

Editors

Tomoko Hashino is a professor of economic history at Kobe University. Her research interests are in the evolutionary process of the textile industry in Japan as well as the development history of weaving districts in modern Japan. Her recent articles have appeared in the Economic History Review, Business History Review, Australian Economic History Review, and Journal of the Japanese and International Economies. Professor Hashino received her Ph.D. in economics from Hitotsubashi University in 2003. She has been a visiting fellow at the University of New South Wales, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and George Washington University.

Keijiro Otsuka is a professor of development economics at the Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University. After receiving a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1979, he served as an associate professor and a professor of economics at Tokyo Metropolitan University until 2001, when he joined GRIPS, where he was professor until March 2014.