This book attempts to provide an effective strategy for industrial development based on the KAIZEN management training experiments conducted in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Tanzania. We focus on micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in industrial clusters, because clusters consisting of MSEs are ubiquitous and have high potential to grow.

The Egyptian government has prioritized the idea of cluster-based development-that is, the geographic concentration of specialized firms, such as in this case, those producing similar or related products. The establishment of such clusters, however, presents significant challenges, bottlenecks, and obstacles. Based on primary field work, this paper focuses on two case studies of the impacts of shocks on business clusters. The first study involved the relocation of an established leather cluster from Cairo to a newly created industrial park, Robbiki Leather City, which was promoted by Egypt’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. Although the relocation partly solved the existing issues of water contamination, new challenges emerged relating to increased production and transportation costs, and unforeseen impacts on the community. The second study assessed the short-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on a business cluster producing medicinal and aromatic plants. Overall the MAPs sector was resilient to the outbreak and there are opportunities to offset any negative impacts of the pandemic by taking advantage of new markets for Egyptian MAPs stemming from supply disruptions in other countries; increased global demand for MAPs due to their pharmacological and health properties; and increased international demand for organically grown MAPs. Findings indicate that it is essential for governments to develop policy responses to the challenges-and especially barriers-to the development of business clusters, while simultaneously supporting and creating incentives for the cooperation, entrepreneurship, and collective action needed for business clusters to thrive and grow. As anticipated, challenges and obstacles-whether overarching or in response to shocks-are unique to specific sectors, contexts, and times, and hence need to be dealt with as an ongoing facilitation process.

It is a daunting task to build institution and infrastructure over a short time period in developing countries. But in the absence of sound institutions and adequate infrastructure, it is difficult for economic transformation to take place. An alternative is to facilitate existing industrial clusters or build industrial parks by creating an enabling environment in a limited place. This paper reviews the commonly used strategies to build effective clusters and industrial parks. Clusters and industrial parks are location specific. Because they have an informational advantage, local governments are in a better position than the central government to identify and solve the bottlenecks that affect clusters and industrial parks. As clusters and industrial parks evolve, new bottlenecks emerge, thereby requiring new solutions. This in turns calls for continuous tinkering by local governments. It is important to place local governments and business communities in the driver’s seat of local economic growth so that they can watch out for and adjust to the bumps in the road ahead.

This book provides a systematic examination of the relationship between industrial clusters and poverty, which is analyzed using a multidimensional framework. It examines the often-neglected concept of social protection as a means of mitigating the risks and vulnerabilities faced by workers and citizens in poor countries. By analyzing the case of the Otigba Information and Communications Technology cluster in Lagos, Nigeria, the author shows under which conditions firms in productive clusters can pass on benefits to workers in ways that improve their living standards in the wider socio-economic and spatial context of the region. The results presented provide substantial evidence of opportunities for economic development, helping planners to explore different avenues for integrating firm-driven social protection into social policy.

This book investigates key developments in China’s manufacturing industry from the perspectives of general evaluation, regional analysis, industrial analysis and enterprise analysis. Based on data for 1978 to 2013, it details the characteristics of the different stages, typical development patterns, and the international status of China’s manufacturing sector. It also provides an in-depth portrait of China’s new-type manufacturing sector based on four main aspects, namely, economic creativity, technological innovation capability, energy conservation capability, and environmental protection capability, and subsequently assesses the status quo of this sector, analyzes the regional development characteristics, and ranks China’s top 10 provinces and top 10 cities in terms of manufacturing. The book outlines the industrial characteristics of China’s manufacturing sector and analyzes the factors influencing its development and lastly, it examines China’s listed manufacturing enterprises, ranking and providing brief snapshots of the top 50 most respected enterprises. This book is intended for all those interested in the development of China’s manufacturing sector, especially university instructors and students, governmental officials and managerial personnel in the manufacturing sector and related enterprises.

Issues in Regional Economics / 2013 Edition is a ScholarlyEditions™ book that delivers timely, authoritative, and comprehensive information about Japanese Economy. The editors have built Issues in Regional Economics: 2013 Edition on the vast information databases of ScholarlyNews.™ You can expect the information about Japanese Economy in this book to be deeper than what you can access anywhere else, as well as consistently reliable, authoritative, informed, and relevant. The content of Issues in Regional Economics: 2013 Edition has been produced by the world’s leading scientists, engineers, analysts, research institutions, and companies. All of the content is from peer-reviewed sources, and all of it is written, assembled, and edited by the editors at ScholarlyEditions™ and available exclusively from us. You now have a source you can cite with authority, confidence, and credibility. More information is available at http://www.ScholarlyEditions.com/.

Biotechnology can be defined as the manipulation of biological process, systems, and organisms in the production of various products. With applications in a number of fields such as biomedical, chemical, mechanical, and civil engineering, research on the development of biologically inspired materials is essential to further advancement. Biotechnology: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source for the latest research findings on the application of biotechnology in medicine, engineering, agriculture, food production, and other areas. It also examines the economic impacts of biotechnology use. Highlighting a range of topics such as pharmacogenomics, biomedical engineering, and bioinformatics, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for engineers, pharmacists, medical professionals, practitioners, academicians, and researchers interested in the applications of biotechnology.

Development and Modern Industrial Policy in Practice provides an up-to-date analysis of industrial policy. Modern industrial policy refers to the set of actions and strategies used to favor the more dynamic sectors of the economy. A key aspect of moder