Globalizing Regional Development in East Asia : Production Networks, Clusters and Entrepreneurship

In Chapter 10, Josh Lepawsky concentrates on the formation of the Multi-Media Super Corridor (MSC) in Malaysia to examine the political role of clusters. The author also points to the interplay through strategic-coupling to global production networks alongside the fine-grained activities in clusters mediated through buzz and face to face knowledge interactions. A mixed methodology is used to examine published economic-industry data and conducts interviews with individuals in MSC firms. Findings point to development policy being used to mediate race and social struggles. Finally the author argues that the development policy is portrayed as purely economic, which effectively decouples the political-debate and renders the policy 'non-ideological' (p.165). In the final chapter Yuko Aoyama, examines information technology entrepreneurship in two differing regions. The first Kyoto a cultural capital and tourist destination is home to the largest numbers of old established-family businesses in Japan. The second region Hamamatsu is in contrast, a 'Technopoliis', a manufacturing centre recognized for its continuous evolution through entrepreneurship and the redeployment of indigenous skills, for example, from shipbuilding, looms and musical instruments to automotive and electronics (p.173-174). Interviews were used to examine the entrepreneurship experiences of firms'. Kyoto was found to be inward-looking and secretive with elites from the old industries still in dominant social positions and local university students attracted away by outside corporations. Hamamatsu in contrast was found to have had an open-social-structure dating back hundreds of years, with an accepting and open new ideas approach augmented by large numbers of outsiders. These differences show that the two regions have been shaped by their history and cultural norms; indeed 'history matters' (David 1985). Overall this is an interesting book; one improvement could be to make the images clearer. A possible solution could be to include links to the images on the companion website enabling readers to access full-colour enlargeable versions. This would have the dual benefit of helping readers engage with the research as well as find out about forthcoming works