Factors Sustaining the Local Agglomeration of the Leather Bag and Purse Industry in the Eastern Part of Tokyo: Analysis of Transaction Linkages and Interfirm Communications

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  • Kimiko ENDO
    Graduate Student, University of Tsukuba, JSPS Research Fellow

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Other Title
  • 東京城東地域におけるカバン・ハンドバッグ産業集積の存立基盤
  • 東京城東地域におけるカバン・ハンドバッグ産業集積の存立基盤 : 企業間の受発注連関とコミュニケーションの分析を通じて
  • トウキョウ ジョウトウ チイキ ニ オケル カバン ・ ハンドバッグ サンギョウ シュウセキ ノ ソンリツ キバン : キギョウカン ノ ジュハッチュウ レンカン ト コミュニケーション ノ ブンセキ オ ツウジテ
  • ——企業間の受発注連関とコミュニケーションの分析を通じて——

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Abstract

The leather bag and purse industry in the eastern part of Tokyo developed as a typical intrametropolitan form of commerce based on external economies in the inner-city area. Although many other consumer goods industries in Tokyo have faced severe competition from overseas operators during the era of globalization, this industry has not only expanded the scope of its production bases to other Asian countries but also maintained domestic production within the metropolitan agglomeration of its home country. This study aimed to elucidate the factors sustaining the local agglomeration of the industry in the eastern part of Tokyo through analysis of transaction linkages and interfirm communications under the social division of labor seen in the field. The analysis targeted manufacturers that took orders from wholesalers/apparel firms and controlled their production using outside contractors.<br>The results showed that manufacturers maintain strong ties through face-to-face contact with their customers and outside contractors, and that this tendency in interfirm communications is an important factor sustaining the intrametropolitan agglomeration of the industry. The study also showed that the degree of dependence on face-to-face contact varies with different business partners and production stages. First, there is a strong dependency on such contact between manufacturers and their customers because of the need to share mutual ideas, visions, and tacit knowledge. Second, there is also a strong dependency on this type of contact between manufacturers and material suppliers because materials such as leather are problematic in terms of standardization and coding and are nonhomogeneous. Third, in terms of linkages between manufacturers and outside contractors, cutters and leather compressors (who rely on nonstandardized skills) favor face-to-face contact with manufacturers both during preproduction and in the volume production stage. This dependency on direct contact is attributed not only to information characteristics and technological factors but also to the bustling nature of the industry.<br>Unstable demand and uncertainty in markets with tight production schedules can also be cited as other characteristics of the leather bag and purse industry. In this context, spatial proximity among related firms and the closeness of face-to-face contact play important roles in the continuing local agglomeration of the industry.

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