R. Hayter et J. Patchell, DIFFERENT TRAJECTORIES IN THE SOCIAL DIVISIONS OF LABOR - THE CUTLERYINDUSTRY IN SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, AND TSUBAME, JAPAN, Urban studies, 30(8), 1993, pp. 1427-1445
To contribute to the growing debate on the social division of labour a
nd its implications for local development this paper comparatively ana
lyses recent trends in the industrial organisation of the cutlery indu
stry in Sheffield and Tsubame. Both industries evolved as flexibly spe
cialised, export-oriented production systems based on a highly interde
pendent network of small firms. In the past 20 years, however, the soc
ial division of labour underlying Sheffield's cutlery industry has bee
n much reduced in size and complexity while Tsubame has retained, and
used, its social division of labour to adjust towards more value-added
production. The different trajectories of the two systems reflect dif
ferent approaches to competitiveness: in Tsubame the emphasis is on in
novation; while in Sheffield the industry has been extremely conservat
ive, placing emphasis on minimising costs.