Embedded Enterprise and Social Capital: International Perspectives(Routledge Revivals)

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.

Table of Contents:
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.

Review :
’This edited volume presents a unique overview of theoretical and empirical contributions of some of the hotbeds of thinking in economic geography since the mid 1980s, particularly that related to the issue of the social embeddedness of economic action. Different views of this conception are discussed and a wealth of empirical studies presented which draw upon different sectoral, cultural and regional contexts. The selection of articles is especially constructive for it also allows the reader to examine various views of the embeddedness concept from different countries. This book is a valuable contribution to current thinking in economic geography and will help bridge the gap towards the applicability of embeddedness in empirical studies.’ Professor Harald Bathelt, Institute of Economic Geography, University of Frankfurt, Germany 'This volume includes valuable explorations of its social dimensions; economic geographers have largely neglected these. Case studies extending well beyond North America and Europe provide a sound basis for questioning current assumptions about the veracity of public policy initiatives based on a rather narrow understanding of embeddedness.' Professor P W Daniels, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham 'For anyone interested in embeddedness, this book is must reading. The book succeeds in drawing out the complexity of the concept and its rich empairical illustrations help to illustrate the conceptual arguments.' Journal of Rural Cooperation