The Leipzig fur industry as an industrial district : collective action, lead firms and world market transformation (1870-1939)

Abstract

While it has been commonly held that both industrialisation and the emergence of modern capitalism favoured the rise of big business, regionally entrenched and decentralised modes of production have nonetheless persisted. The concept of the industrial district, which describes the spatial concentration of small to medium-sized firms and highly specialised businesses in a single sector, is one of the most well-known examples of such an alternative to big business and corporate development. The robustness of districts has been traditionally explained by a number of advantages that were generated through the proximity of firms: a predisposition towards cooperation, inter-firm networks, and the sharing of innovations or technological modifications. These factors mitigate the costs of decentralisation. A large number of historical studies have used the concept of the industrial district in order to revive 'alternative' worlds of industrialisation, to nuance the spread of corporate development, and to modify teleological accounts of modern capitalism. Most importantly, the emphasis on geographically defined industrial districts has revealed regional dynamism and economic variety beneath the level of national statistics.