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Will industrial districts exploit B2B? A local experience and a general assessment

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  • Guido Fioretti

Abstract

When production is carried out by many geographically clustered small firms specialised in particular production phases that subcontract one another, what are the prospects of B2B electronic commerce? Prato, Italy, is home to thousands of textile firms as well as the locus of an early and innovative experiment of a local electronic network in the mid-1980s. This experience suggests that, since they fear to be imitated by their geographical proximates, geographically clustered firms may lag behind in the the exploitation of information and communication technologies. An analysis of the Web sites of Pratese firms confirms this intuition. A similar investigation is carried out on Web sites of fabrics producers worldwide. Contrary to Europe, in Asian countries geographically clustered firms exhibit little fear of information leakages. Differences in the organization of production may explain this puzzle. Copyright Springer 2004

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Fioretti, 2004. "Will industrial districts exploit B2B? A local experience and a general assessment," Netnomics, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 221-242, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:netnom:v:6:y:2004:i:3:p:221-242
    DOI: 10.1007/s11066-005-0443-9
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Kwoka, 2001. "Automobiles: The Old Economy Collides with the New," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 19(1), pages 55-69, August.
    2. Guido Fioretti, 2001. "Structure and behaviour of a textile industrial district," ICER Working Papers 02-2001, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    3. Srilata Zaheer & Shalini Manrakhan, 2001. "Concentration and Dispersion in Global Industries: Remote Electronic Access and the Location of Economic Activities," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 32(4), pages 667-686, December.
    4. David Lucking-Reiley & Daniel F. Spulber, 2001. "Business-to-Business Electronic Commerce," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(1), pages 55-68, Winter.
    5. Sebastiano Brusco & Tommaso Minerva & Irene Poli & Giovanni Solinas, 2002. "Un automa cellulare per lo studio del distretto industriale," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 2, pages 147-192.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ICT; e-commerce; B2B; textile industry; industrial clusters; industrial districts; Prato;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • F29 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Other
    • L67 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - Other Consumer Nondurables: Clothing, Textiles, Shoes, and Leather Goods; Household Goods; Sports Equipment
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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