Small firms and industrial districts, structural explanations of small firm viability in three countries

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Abstract
The paper compares three European textile communities, Como (Italy), Leicester (UK) and Lyons (France), chosen on the basis of the large numbers of small firms operating within them and using data collected by the authors via a postal questionnaire and one-to-one interviews. Discarding the more traditional approach to small firms which sees them as individual and autonomous units, the paper applies the industrial district model to the three areas. Firms are therefore studied in their relation both to each other and to the whole community. Each area is found to possess a quite distinct industrial organization but their performance varies greatly. Our approach throws into clear relief the strength of an industrial district such as Como as well as the difficulties faced by an industrial community (as opposed to a district) such as Leicester. Poor local inter-firm relations go some way towards explaining these difficulties, as does the positioning of the entire community of firms vis-a-vis external agents, especially the large retail chains.

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