Abstract
With New Industrial Spaces written by A. J. Scott, spatial agglomeration has lately attracted considerable attention in the field of economic geography in Western countries. However, most studies of spatial agglomeration have left concepts of it ambiguous. This ambiguity, especially identification of advantages of agglomeration with external economies, causes some problems in studies about "spatial" agglomeration. One of the most fundamental problems is that there is no operational concept to use in empirical studies. The reason why there is ambiguity concerning concepts of agglomeration is that Marshall's study of industrial districts became the root of the theory of New Industrial Spaces, and future progress in this area has been based on it. His study is very suggestive, but he did not argue a meaning of spatial constraint that is the raison d'etre of economic geography. Therefore, the purpose of this study is the attempt to solve or attack problems in the theory of New Industrial Spaces through reconsidering Weberian classical agglomeration theories which were originally formulated by A. Weber and developed by T. Aoki and M. Yanai. These theories have very strict concepts of spatial agglomeration. Aoki's concept of the advantages of contact is known as an especial idea about advantages of agglomerated small operations in Japan. This study helps to solve or attack problems in the theory of New Industrial Spaces by re-classifying the concepts of spatial agglomeration, particulary focusing on the forms and advantages of agglomeration. The results are summarized as follows : 1. By means of translating "the advantages of contact" into "advantages of coordination," the advantages of agglomeration were re-classified. "Advantages of coordination," acquired through spatial concentration of independent operations, give these operations an increase in flexibility to deal with uncertainty in production processes and markets. If we take inter-firm linkages into consideration, these advantages can be classified into two sub-categories : advantages of coordination on fixed linkages and advantages of coordination on variable linkages. The latter are the very advantages which have not yet been positioned in a theoretical sense (Table 1). Moreover, the recognition of this overseen advantage clearly shows the differences between a large operation and agglomerated small operations. 2. Through recognizing relationship between the re-classified advantages of agglomeration and the forms of agglomeration (Table 2), an analytical framework was created that is capable of studying actual agglomerated regions. Now, it is possible to recognize the forms of agglomeration in a region through investigation about advantages of agglomeration there on the one hand. And it makes us possible to recognize the advantages of agglomeration in a region through investigation of the forms of their agglomeration, vice virsa. 3. It was found through the reference to the nature of innovation associated with spatial agglomeration that "the advantage of coordination on variable linkages" are one of the most important advantages of agglomeration for regional deveropment. Variable linkages mean that we can link one firm to another even if one of the firms is a new-comer to the industrial sector. Then a region which achieves this advantage would be one of the most important ones in regional development
