Forms of Proximity, Local Governance and the Dynamics of Local Economic Spaces: The Case of Industrial Conversion Processes (original) (raw)

The social construction of competences and the forms of transitions in industrial territories

2008

The purpose of this communication is to present some reflexions on the transformation and the evolution of three industrial regions located in three Mediterranean countries (France, Spain and Italy). We are particularly interested in highlighting some dimensions of the evolution and nature of industrial competences and the relationship of this evolution with forms of industrial cooperation. In every region, competences, skills and practical knowledge are built in a "territorial learning space" that takes place through forms of cooperation among the economic, social and political actors. With this general frame in mind, we want to show how the forms of cooperation, which are carried out within and between enterprises, are subject to a tension between a model of standard and high production volume ("mechanical type") and a model of diversified production ("organic type"). Moreover, these two patterns of social interaction and cooperation are associated with the informal nature of the social relationship, the nature of labor markets and the position of power in the global value chain. In a new international context open to the dynamic pressure of competitive force, "the richness of regions" is associated with their position in an ongoing "practical knowledge production". These questions draw on the litterature of "learning processes" in organizations, industrial districts and clusters. Most of the productive tisues analysed in this study are comparable to districts in process of clusterization. In a broad sense, the industrial district can be considered as an ideal type (Zeitlin, 2007) or, in other terms, both as an analytical instrument, a model of industrial policy (Brusco, 1992) or as a real form of production possesing certain ideal characteristics. Among the cases we studied, some are in fact districts (Biella), others have ceased to be districts but have kept certain of its aspects (the agribusiness system of Basse Vallée du Rhône, Grasse). Sometimes, the district is a stated goal, a model of reference for industrial policy that, although remaining vague, is socially legitimated (Canavese). As a matter of fact, numerous districts became increasingly open and "porous" to external activites and became, as a result, less autonomous, less integrated and less inclusive. It is thus often necessary to use the more generic idea of cluster or industrial network.

ENTERPRISES AND INSTITUTIONS AT THE FRONTIER OF TERRITORIAL RESTRUCTURING: A sceptical view of the prospects for local development in the Southern European periphery

Desenvolvimento industrial e território: Actas do …, 1998

Periodically, exceptional competitive pressures force all capitalist enterprises to the reexamine the precise way in which they produce. Typically, this not only involves reviewing quantitative and qualitative aspects of the labour process prevailing within the firm, but also the backward and forward linkages in which it customarily has been involved. For major industrial companies (not to mention parts of the public sector, too), the economic crisis of 1979-83 called for more than the physical relocation of all or part of production to a lowercost location. Many enterprises undertook a radical restructuring of their production system and commercial relations, to the point where one could almost see the walls of factories and offices moving inwards, with hitherto core activities being ‘bought in’ or ‘put out to tender’. To survive and subsequently recover from the crisis, not only did major industrial enterprises have to seek out new markets, but also had to concentrate on aspects of their business where productivity (and thus profit margins) could be maintained at a high level, which often meant externally sourcing a larger proportion of inputs, components and services than before. From the spatial perspective, global economic and territorial restructuring, overlaid with the specificities of European integration, has resulted in a complex and uneven shifting of industrial space. This process has affected both metropolitan localities whose recent experience had been that of de-industrialisation and secular economic decline, as well as rural localities hitherto relatively untouched by mainstream industrial diffusion, and whose patterns of consumption only recently have been more fully incorporated into national and global markets. Both types of locality now find themselves at the frontier of a newly defined industrial space and, as such, are exposed to pressures outside their experience, to which somehow they have to adapt. The present chapter attempts to explore the key issues relating to the above-mentioned processes.

Quaderno DEM 20 / 2014 November 2014 The institutional framework of Industrial policies

2014

This paper argues that the institutional framework of industrial policies derives from the analysis of industries as systems. Industries are embedded in specific institutional frameworks with which they co-evolve. However, industrial systems are primarily organised at local level: industries may be global but in the sense that they constitute global networks of local systems. The institutional framework of industrial policy derives from this result: industrial policy acts at different levels, primarily the local one with regional policies, but also national and supranational. The paper argues that regional industrial policies are key policies to favour industrial development, and performing regions are those that combine dynamic capabilities (pool of resources: raw materials, infrastructure, competencies and knowledge, human capital) and an institutional system characterised by governance and leadership. This is illustrated with the case of the Emilia Romagna region in Italy. Dynami...

Binding labour and capital: Moral obligation and forms of regulation in a regional economy

Etnográfica, 2006

The article is a critique of models of successful economic development in Europe based on the "economic region" idea. These models stress the usefulness of embedding economic relations in the social fabric ("social capital"). The ethnography reveals, however, a conflict-laden space where increased embeddedness produces increased tension within the family and the community. In this "modelic" regional economy in Southern Alicante (Spain), recent violent events have involved local actors in the shoe-wear industry, with resident Chinese entrepreneurs. I will show how this confrontation underlines the rise of local modalities of conflict that build upon the organic and culturally bounded elements of economic production that the model stresses: local homogeneity and common interest. The ethnographic evidence shows the complexity of a "regional economy" in a globalized context where appeals to the State to strengthen and enforce some regulations coexist with appeals to deregulate other areas of the economy. This article is based on an ethnography of the Vega Baja del Segura (Valencia, SE Spain) 1 and on recent events in the area -followed through the media and other secondary sources -that have developed as a consequence of the entrance of China in the WTO in 2001 and the opening of the European market to Chinese produced shoes. The area is one of small and medium family firms, some of which were among the more profitable in their sector (footwear) at the time of fieldwork. Following recent sociological and economic models, the area has been described by local experts as an industrial district -or a regional economy -, in reference to its dynamic and flexible economic structure and its entrepreneurial culture.

Towards a Regionalization of Industrial Relations*

International Journal of Urban and Regional …, 1993

In this paper 'industrial relations' are considered in a much wider sense than is usual among industrial relations scholars. Formal collective bargaining is just one aspect of the complex relationships among social actors which take place at national, regional and local levels. These include, among other things, the sharing of norms and practices regarding human resources training and management, labour market and economic development policies. These relationships often involve state agencies, public sector officers and various interorganizational networks which give different contexts and meanings to industrial relations.

Spatialising Industrial Relations

In this article, we argue for a deeper and more theoretically informed engagement between the fields of industrial relations and geography. We lay out a number of concepts developed more fully by geographers and show, through four vignettes, how such concepts can add to our understanding of industrial relations practices.