Comparative Study on the Historical Interrelationship between Regional Industrialization and the Formation of Modern National Economy

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Regional perspective has become increasingly adopted in the historical study of industrialization both in Japan and abroad. In the research project we have considered various aspects of the process of industrialization from this perspective. "Region " as used here is a historically operational concept : in some cases we mean by it administrative uint (district, county, prefecture, state, or some form of group fo them), inter-state industrial regions (such as German-Belgian border district) in other. Not only industrialization process itself, but some factors which deeply concerned it have been thoroughly investigated-pre-conditions and early conditions of industrialization, agrarian system, population movement, urbanization, state of the social division of labor, and so on.The research subject of each investigator differs, covering a wide field and area, but mainly western and central Europe and Japan in the period of industrialization (including some of pre-industrial period.) Under common method of regional perspective, each study explored the relationship of proto-industrialization and industrialization, regional specialization which emerged through different industrial developments, and analyzed the factors which affected industrialization/de-industrialization. We are now convinced that we could make some contributions to prove that the Industrial Revolution as itself is a product of such regional process of industrial development, though some influential factors remain unclarified.