Schema della sezione

  • Location theory - Location of industrial activities

    Industrialization is an essential aspects of World Economic Growth
    I industrial revolution
    England (XVIII – start XIX Century ).
    Steam machine (James Watt, 1783).
    Coale; iron; textiles
    New organization of labour (it substitute the ‘makers’ model)
    Countryside – City movements and migrations
    II industrial revolution
    End XIX Century -  Beginining of XX century
    Coal -> Oil, hidroelectrig energy
    New industries, new locations, new markets, new products. Series production. Fordism
    III industrial revolution
    End of XX century – To-date
    Hi tech: electronics, robotics, telecommunication, bio-tech

    Spatial distribution and location of industries:
    Inserting a manufacturing firm in a given territory is important in terms of the spatial reorganization of:
    Demographic component; 
    Urban structure; 
    Other economic activities;
    Network of flows and traffic; 
    Political- social rules.
    Industrial geography: where and why industries in a given territory
    => location as a process of setting and industry. It is important to examine:
    Factors of industrial location;
    ‘geography’ of production factors;
    Location theory

    Industry clusters (Industrial districts)
    Industry clusters are geographic concentrations of competing, complementary, or interdependent firms and industries that do business with each other and/or have common needs for talent, technology, and  infrastructure. 
    The firms included in the cluster may be both competitive and cooperative. They may compete directly with some members of the cluster, purchase inputs from other cluster members, and rely on the services of other cluster firms in the operation of their business.
    Industry clusters are dynamic entities. They may change as the industries within them change or as external conditions change
    An important characteristic of clusters is that they are centered on firms that sell outside the local, state, or even national market
    Clusters may include government, nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and other infrastructure and service providers whose presence is key to the strength of the cluster.
    An industry cluster is an interconnected group of industries and firms. It differs from trade associations, which may have a narrower membership and focus. 
    A trade association, for example, may include the  members of a single industry and focus entirely on lobbying. By contrast clusters are agglomerations of  regional industries and interdependent firms that are key to the success of the industry in the state. 
    Organized industry clusters contribute broadly to the well-being of the region by addressing workforce recruitment and training issues, developing needed infrastructure, and establishing research and training  programs at universities and technical colleges, to name a few.

    Marshall (1920) identified the firm’s external economies, although internal to the district, the basic foundations' of the distrcts’ (or local labor systems)  competitiveness.. 
    The spatial aggregation of several firms, each one operating in full technical and organizational efficiency, related in terms of production and distribution processes, determines a particular efficency condition for the overall economic system. 
    Economical advantages:
    Reduction of production costs; 
    Reduction of transaction costs; 
    Innovative and incremental dynamics settings. 
    The environment allows an organization based on a non-hierarchical order. The spontaneous and self propelling  character in producing external economies seems to originate from evolutionary stability and by the convergence of a set of socio-economical, institutional and manufacturing.

    Weber’s Theory of industrial location 
    Space is characterized by:
    Uniform interest rate;
    Uniform production costs, wages, rents;
    Uniform and proportional to distance unitary transport costs;
    Resources consisting of:
    Localized materials (mine resources)
    Ubiquitous materials (water)
    Losing weight materials (raw material’s weight is only partially reflected into the final product)
    Net materials (raw material’s weight is totally reflected into the final product)
    The model is aimed at identifying the place where to locate a firm / plant minimizing costs related to places
    =>
    Raw material places
    Energy places
    Market / consumption places