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The Sociospatial Dynamics of Creativity and Production in Tanzanian Industry

Urban Furniture Manufacturers in a Liberalizing Economy

Bibliographic Data

ID4139632
AuthorsJames T Murphy (0000-0002-0502-5771, Clark University, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume38
Issue10
Pages1863-1882
Publication date2006-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning A Economy and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0308-518X • E-ISSN: 1472-3409
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/a37383
OpenAlexW2020798188
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited47

The author examines the design, production, and marketing activities of furniture makers in Mwanza, Tanzania and assesses the degree to which innovative and creative competencies and capabilities are emerging within this industry. A conceptual framework from evolutionary economics is applied, and emphasis is placed on situating the social and spatial characteristics of production, innovation, and knowledge creation within the selection environment or context created by Tanzania's economic liberalization process. Specifically, the cognitive, innovative, and organizational competencies and capabilities of furniture makers are detailed and their emergence is explained in relation to the markets, institutions, and spatial structures concomitant with neoliberal reform. The findings demonstrate how liberalization has, in effect, selected for less creative, smaller scale, and largely informal manufacturers while discouraging the development of more innovative, larger scale, and/or formal firms. In a broad sense, the results of the study raise questions about whether or not structural adjustment policies are contributing to the development of viable, globally oriented, and indigenously owned manufacturing firms in African cities like Mwanza

Business · Context (archaeology) · Creativity · Economic geography · Economic system · Economics · Entrepreneurship · Industrial organization · Liberalization · Market economy · Political science · Production (economics) · Scale (ratio) · Tanzania · Cultural Industries and Urban Development

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Unique citing works13
Citations per year0,68
Citation span2007 - 2022 (16)
Citation velocityhistorical
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 13
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