DYNAMICS OF INDUSTRIAL LOCATION: THE FACTORY, THE FIRM AND THE PRODUCTION SYSTEM
Index of Comments
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Comments are provided on various topics which reinforce, compliment and correct
material in Dynamics of Industrial Location (also referred to as 'text'). Most
of the commentaries are brief and you might note that I use the this text in
my Geography 323 course (see Undergraduate Courses in Economic Geography).
1. Oops. This note offers a few corrections. Sorry. If you spot some more, let me know.
2. FFPS. This note adds a comment on the factory, firm production system triad which provides the basic structure of the book (see text, pp. 8-10). The note emphasizes the permeability of the boundaries among FFPSs and briefly comments on the idea of the focal factory and the virtual factory
3. Corporate Concentration. This note provides an introductory explanation of corporate concentration and the relevance of this concept to the flexible specialization debate.
4. In situ change. This note very briefly underscores the importance of changes that occur at existing factory sites, the relevance of the focal factory is again indicated.
5. Fordist and flexible templates. This note summarizes the key characteristics typically associated with fordist and more flexible production systems. Bear in mind that the latter is more difficult to summarize. After all, flexibility implies variability!
6. The flexible specialization debate. A major debate in contemporary economic geography is between the proponents of flexible specialization and the critics who argue that MNCs are fragmenting regions. This note makes explicit the various strands of this debate that run through the text.
7. Come By Chance is no longer mothballed.
8. More information on the Icelandic Aluminium Company ISAL.
9. Uddevalla Lives. Volvo restarts Uddevalla factory as a joint venture with British company.
10. An important recent study on the size distribution of firms is noted.
11. Mobile External Economies. A definition of immobile external economies of scale, a concept rarely mentioned in contemporary literature, is offered.
12. Backbone firms. Additional references are noted that make a link made to a 'triad' model of business segmentation.
13. Toyota Town. Additional references are noted that provide information on Toyota town itself.
14. Foreign Direct Investment. FDI is defined and Tables 11.2 and 11.3 are clarified.
15. A Kibbutz-based MNC. A case study of a novel backbone firm is outlined
More notes will be added