Masaki Nakabayashi () (Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University)
Abstract
We have seen many cases where the factory system emerges and realizes higher productivity in the process of industrialization. However, also seen in history is that other types of production organization have kept expanding and have reached at some high performance. For instance, the putting-out system rather than the factory system has sometimes been chosen in the fabric industry, where the flexibility of production and the variety of products are especially important to respond to the fashion. This type of production organization has prospered even during the industrialization since the 19th century, supported by the development of some modern technologies such as synthetic dyes. This study inquires a case of the silk fabric industry in Kiryu, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. In Kiryu, the traditional silk textile industry developed in the Tokugawa era, and the industry even grew more under the putting-out system during the industrialization in Japan since the late 19th century, because the putting-out system with synthetic dying was the optimal combination to realize the variety of products required in the mass consumption in the industrial society.
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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Osaka University, Graduate School of Economics and Osaka School of International Public Policy (OSIPP) in its series Discussion Papers in Economics and Business with number
06-10.
Find related papers by JEL classification: L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East
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