Failure of Coordination Based on Institutions of a Business Cooperative Association and the Spatial Reorganization of an Historical Industrial District: Case of Osaka’s Timber Industry, 1868–1926

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  • 同業者組織の制度・慣習に立脚した調整機能の不全と同業者町の空間的再編成──明治~大正期の大阪における材木業同業者町を事例に──
  • 同業者組織の制度・慣習に立脚した調整機能の不全と同業者町の空間的再編成 : 明治~大正期の大阪における材木業同業者町を事例に
  • ドウギョウシャ ソシキ ノ セイド ・ カンシュウ ニ リッキャク シタ チョウセイ キノウ ノ フゼン ト ドウギョウシャチョウ ノ クウカンテキ サイヘンセイ : メイジ~タイショウキ ノ オオサカ ニ オケル ザイモクギョウ ドウギョウシャチョウ オ ジレイ ニ

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Abstract

<p>This paper discusses the factors underpinning the failure of traditional institutions in an industrial district and their subsequent effect on the development and sustainability of an historical industrial district using the example of the timber industrial district in Osaka during the period 1868–1926. Recent economic geography literature advocates that under the influence of a cultural transition in the modern capitalist age, the economy should be embedded in the society with a focus on social institutions that have positively influenced economic performance in urban industrial districts. However, social institutions have also been known to influence industrial districts negatively. Thus, it is important to elucidate the factors preventing institutions from developing in an industrial district.</p><p>The findings of this study are summarized as follows. The timber industrial district in central Osaka had a multicore structure. In particular, Nishinagahori Street comprised traditional institutions that regulated the timber product trade in Osaka. From the 17th century to the late 19th century, Nishinagahori Street prospered as the center of the timber product trade. The institutions and their practices remained intact even after the Meiji Restoration of 1868. However, in the early 20th century, numerous timber traders set up new businesses in the waterfront area, drastically modifying the timber product distribution channel in Japan. Consequently, a conflict emerged between traditional institutions and the newly established trade association. For example, new traders and suppliers of timber products outside Osaka wanted improvements in traditional institutions, which were unfair to new entrants in Osaka’s timber market. This led to an adversarial relationship between the traditional and new traders, which Osaka’s timber trade association failed to resolve. Consequently, numerous timber traders moved from Nishinagahori Street to the waterfront area.</p><p>The findings highlight two factors that prevented the development of the industrial district. The first was a system design failure that led to conflicts between traditional institutions and the formal trade association, and the second was the high entry barriers in the traditional timber trade institutions. This study emphasizes the importance of the relationship between traditional communal institutions and formal institutional designs for the development of an historical industrial district.</p>

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