IISS Workshop on "The Frontier of Industry Accumulation Analysis: Historical Approach"
(Jointly supported by: RIEB Seminar and Rokko Forum)

Date&Time Friday, February 1, 2012, 13:00-
Place RIEB Meeting Room (Annex 2nd floor)
Intended Audience Faculty, Graduate Students, Undergraduates, and People with Equivalent Knowledge
Language Japanese
Note Copies of the paper will be available at Office of Promoting Research Collaboration.
Organizer The Kobe University Interfaculty Initiatives in Social Sciences

13:00-14:30　＜First Session＞

Topic Expanding Empire and Spatial Distribution of Economic Activities: The Case of Colonization of Korea by Japan in the Prewar Period
Speaker ＜13:00-14:00＞ Tetsuji OKAZAKI (Graduate School of Economics, University of Tokyo)
Discussant ＜14:00-14:30＞ Keijiro OTSUKA (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies)
Abstract Market proximity is known as one of the basic determinants of spatial distribution of economic activities in the spatial economics literature. However, in the empirical context, it is difficult to identify the effect of market proximity due to endogeneity inherent to the concept. Recently, Redding and Strum (2008) overcame the problem by exploiting the division of Germany just after World War II as a natural experiment. This paper is in the same vein, but focuses on economic integration instead of division. After colonializing Korea, the Japanese government implemented economic integration of the region removing tariff barriers in the 1920s. Exploiting this event as a natural experiment, we investigate its impact on the spatial distribution of population as well as trade flows.

14:40-16:10　＜Second Session＞

Topic Expansion and Transformation of Export-oriented Silk Weaving District: The Case of Fukui in Japan from 1890 to 1919
Speaker ＜14:40-15:40＞ Tomoko HASHINO (Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University)
Discussant ＜15:40-16:10＞ Takeshi ABE (Graguate School of Economics, Osaka University)
Abstract The Fukui silk weaving district developed at an astonishing pace. It became the largest industrial district of habutae, or plain silk, production, in Japan the decade after it started the production in the mid-1880s. The production of habutae initially spread from the capital city to other areas in the same prefecture. The district was the also first in Japan to use power looms for silk weavings, which were introduced in the mid-1910s. Production was initially dominated by family firms but later by factories. Interestingly, the product composition in Fukui changed from mostly habutae to a variety of more sophisticated products. This study attempts to explore the transformation of the Fukui silk weaving district and the causes of such a rapid expansion. We also investigate how the size, location, and structure of weaving firms and affected their labor productivity.

16:20-17:50　＜Third Session＞

Topic Agglomeration Economies for Industrial Development: The Case of the Ethiopian Cut Flower Industry
Speaker ＜16:20-17:20＞ Yukichi MANO (Department of Economics, Hitotsubashi University )
Discussant ＜17:20-17:50＞ Kentaro NAKAJIMA (Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University)
Abstract Ethiopia's cut flower industry is young and rapidly growing in the highly demand-driven international market. Agglomerated farms often share technological knowledge with neighboring farms to improve product quality and market information to select profitable varieties. Our empirical analysis suggests that farms located within the industrial cluster produce product with higher value than farms located outside do. Furthermore, the agglomerated farms achieve higher productivity and profitability, and the estimated agglomeration economies increase with the size of agglomeration. The rapid entry of new farms further reinforced the agglomeration economies, and resulted in the remarkable development of Ethiopia's cut flower industry.