A NEW PHOENIX - MODERN PUTTING-OUT IN THE MODENA KNITWEAR INDUSTRY

Drawing on data from the contemporary Italian knitwear industry, this paper examines putting-out, the domestic system of production, and cri ticisms of it in traditional theories of economic development as inher ently backward and organizationally inefficient compared with large-sc ale production. I describe the historical putting-out system and its c ontext and distinguish it from modern putting-out by contrasting the f eatures of each. The paper shows that a modernized form of putting-out , composed of interlinked microfirms, is compatible with high living s tandards and organizational efficiency. The success of the system rest s on technological and marketing factors, the presence of cohesive fam ily units, cooperative relationships between business and community ac tors, and an institutional environment supportive of small, family-run firms.'