Industrial reorganization and interfirm networking: In search of environmental co-location economies

Industrial development has been a fundamental component of modern economic growth strategies. Over the last three decades, awareness of the unsustainability of industrial strategies has been on the rise and increasingly, environmental considerations are implicit in the commitment to 'sustainable' economic growth.; Mitigating the negative impacts of industrial activity is costly. In this dissertation, I examine whether and how industrial co-location and inter-firm networking can lead to economies in environmental management. I focus on small- and medium-sized firms in resource-poor regions. Mediterranean coastal regions serve as the geographic focus of this study and highlight the interdependencies underlying economic and ecological systems.; My investigation suggests that co-location and inter-firm networking may enhance collective capabilities and allow both firms and the public sector to realize environmental savings. Such savings manifest themselves in the form of: enhanced and less-expensive provision of environmental-management infrastructure and services; accelerated and less-expensive information flows; decreased incidence and intensity of land-use conflicts; and an enhanced ability on the part of the public sector to enforce environmental regulations. The extent of these savings depends on firm, labor-force, and management characteristics, the type and strength of inter-firm networks, and existing environmental and industrial policies. Economic benefits appear to be the primary force behind the firms' willingness to engage in environmental management--either individually or cooperatively.; I focus on the clean-production and industrial-ecology literatures and link them with regional economic theory and environmental policy. It is at the intersection of these literatures that I hope to contribute with this dissertation--by introducing the environmental-management dimension of co-location and networking into the environmental- and industrial-policy discourse. As the industrial sectors in resource-poor regions reorganize to better respond to global market pressures, policy intervention can channel such restructuring towards ecological sustainability. Arguably, technological innovation and improved productivity, competitiveness, and environmental quality are goals that can be simultaneously pursued, and met, through the integration of industrial and environmental policies.