Dissertation Research: Flexible Specialization and Specialty Wood Products Clusters in the Rural Northwest

SBR-9506542 William B.拜尔斯哈罗德湖华盛顿福瑟姆大学学位论文改进研究：西北农村地区的灵活专业化和特种木材产品 该项目确定了几组特种木材产品生产商在四个州的西北地区，并检查集群内和集群之间的公司行为。 这项研究将发展重要的经验知识的形状灵活的专业化在这个突出的农村产业，并导致理论的发展，在西北木制品行业的条件。 最近关于灵活专业化的研究主要集中在城市大规模生产行业的变化上。 这项建议审查了农村企业集群如何产生集体效率。 其目标是在这个工业灵活的时代，对理解这个边缘和基本上非工业化区域的工业多样化的性质作出重大贡献。

SBR-9506542 William B. Beyers Harold L. Fossum University of Washington Dissertation Improvement Research: Flexible Specialization and Specialty Wood Products in the Rural Northwest This project identifies several groups of specialty wood products producers in a four-state Northwest region and examines firm behavior within and between clusters. The study will develop important empirical knowledge about the shape of flexible specialization in this prominent rural industry and lead to the development of theory relevant to the conditions found in the Northwest wood products industry. Most recent research on flexible specialization has concentrated on change in urban mass production industries. This proposal examines how clusters of rural firms may be generating collective efficiencies. The goal is to make a significant contribution to understanding the nature of industrial diversification in this peripheral and largely non-industrialized region in this age of industrial flexibility.