The Role of Manufacturers in Urban Networks

Abstract

In order for multinational corporations to maintain sustainable operations in the 21st century, they must cooperate with a wide variety of stakeholders in the global arena. The global financial crisis of 2008-2009 clearly shrank the scale of innovative industries and the consumption in the global network of economies as well as in major global cities throughout the world. Although manufacturers are expected to restore the global economy, a regional network effect may develop throughout industries. This paper explains the network effect based on the stakeholder theory founded by the author (2004), and proposes an index method to analyze the network effect by illustrating the economic and social performance of urban areas in the Tokyo Metropolitan area.