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This book examines steadily-growing increases in inequality within
Western capitalist democracies, examining with care the differences
between these democracies rooted in their culture and institutions.
It highlights the differences in growth and inequalities between
different countries, pointing to the role of endogenous
institutions that affect social inequalities as well as the
relationship between redistribution and economic growth. The book
presents extensive comparative research on institutional factors
such as industrial relations, welfare systems, training and
innovation policies. Paying attention to diverse types of
democracies and to the main features of left-wing parties, the book
highlights the importance of politics, and of different types of
democracies, in shaping social inequalities and diverse development
paths. It will appeal to students and scholars interested in
economic and labour sociology, welfare studies, comparative
political economy, comparative welfare, varieties of capitalism,
and comparative politics. The Open Access version of this book,
available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a
Creative Commons Attribution- Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0
license.
This book examines patterns of economic governance in three
specific, contrasting, contexts: machinery-producing districts;
declining steel cities; and clusters of high-technology activities.
Building on the work of their previous book (Local Production
Systems in Europe: Rise or Demise? OUP 2001), which charted the
recent development of local clusters of specialized manufacturing
among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France, Germany,
Italy, and the United Kingdom, the authors find patterns of
economic governance far more complex and dynamic than usually
described in a literature which insists on identifying simple
national approaches. The machinery industries were often identified
in the literature of the 1980s as prominent cases of industrial
district formation, which were then considerably weakened by the
crises of the mid-1990s. Did clustering help these industries and
their associated districts to respond to challenge, or only weaken
them further? The case studies focus on the Bologna and Modena area
of Emilia-Romagna, Stuttgart in Baden-Wurttemberg, Birmingham and
Coventry in the English west midlands, but generally in France
where there are very few local concentrations. Even while some
thought local production systems were in crisis, national
governments and the European Commission continued to recommend
their approach to areas experiencing economic decline. This was
particularly the case for cities that had been dependent on a small
number of large corporations in industries that would no longer be
major employers. Political and business leaders in these areas were
encouraged to diversify, in particular through SMEs. Could this be
done in response to external pressure, given that successful local
production systems depend on endogenous vitality? The authors ask
these questions of former steel-producing cities St. Etienne,
Duisburg, Piombino, and Sheffield. The idea that local production
systems had had their day was challenged by clear evidence of
clustering among SMEs in a number of flourishing high-tech
industries in parts of the USA and western Europe. Why do
scientists, other specialists and firms actively embedded in global
networks, bother with geographical proximity? This question is
addressed by examining the software firms at Grenoble, the mass
media cluster in Cologne, the information technology sector around
Pisa, and the Oxfordshire biotechnology region.
This is the first book to present a systematic analysis of the role of small manufacturing enterprises in the main European economies and to review different perspectives on industrial districts and clusters. Combining knowledge from case-study literature with original analyses of statistical data, enables the authors to present full accounts of the role of these clusters in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy, showing the considerable diversity of forms they take.
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