This book examines patterns of economic governance in three specific, contrasting, contexts: machinery-producing districts; declining steel cities; and clusters of high-technology activities. Building on the work of their previous book (Local Production Systems in Europe: Rise or Demise? OUP 2001), which charted the recent development of local clusters of specialized manufacturing among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, the authors find patterns of economic governance far more complex and dynamic that usually described in a literature...

This book systematically reconstructs the origins and new advances in economic sociology. By presenting both classical and contemporary theory and research, the volume identifies and describes the continuity between past and present, and the move from economics to economic sociology.

• Most comprehensive and up-to-date overview available by an internationally renowned, award-winning economic sociologist
• Systematically reconstructs the origins and new advances in economic sociology
• Organizes the perspectives and methods of economic sociologists of the classical and...