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Flexible production, electronic linkages, and large firms: evidence from the automobile industry

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  • Elsie L. Echeverri-Carroll

    (School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA)

Abstract

At the beginning of the 1980s, a reverse trend in local economic development began, supporting old urban industrial areas in which large firms represented the most competitive territorial and industrial systems. Using the case of the automobile industry as an example, this paper argues that contrary to what is anticipated by some researchers, the new flexible organization of the large firm will support neither an asymmetrical relationship of control between spatially decentralized firms nor a spatial reconcentration of activities toward industrialized countries. On the contrary, flexible production will support symmetrical networks that bind together spatially decentralized firms in a web of two-way partnership interactions. As space reflects changes in the organization of production, we anticipate greater coordination and interaction between spaces. This process would not be determined, but facilitated by electronic linkages through technologies such as international EDI systems and groupware designed to increase cooperative work and joint decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Elsie L. Echeverri-Carroll, 1996. "Flexible production, electronic linkages, and large firms: evidence from the automobile industry," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 30(1), pages 135-152.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:anresc:v:30:y:1996:i:1:p:135-152
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    Cited by:

    1. Jörn Block & Christian Fisch & Kenta Ikeuchi & Masatoshi Kato, 2022. "Trademarks as an indicator of regional innovation: evidence from Japanese prefectures," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(2), pages 190-209, February.
    2. Elsie Echeverri‐Carroll & Sofia G. Ayala, 2009. "Wage differentials and the spatial concentration of high‐technology industries," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(3), pages 623-641, August.
    3. Rafael Pardo & Ruth Rama, 2013. "Is the Pro-Network Bias Justified?," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(3), pages 21582440134, July.
    4. Adelheid Holl & Rafael Pardo & Ruth Rama, 2010. "Just-in-Time Manufacturing Systems, Subcontracting and Geographic Proximity," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(5), pages 519-533.

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