IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jafrec/v16y2007i4p564-595.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Tailors to Mini-Manufacturers: The Role of Traders in the Performance of Garment Enterprises in Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • John E. Akoten
  • Keijiro Otsuka

Abstract

Industrial clusters are believed to play a significant role in the promotion and development of small enterprises. One channel through which industrial clusters enhance enterprise performance is by reducing transaction costs in marketing through traders. Using survey data on clustered micro and small garment producers in Nairobi, this article demonstrates, through a series of regression analyses that take into account endogeneity problem, that tailors, who are family-based shop operators in three industrial clusters in Nairobi, are less likely to use outside workshops to produce standardized garment products and have a lower employment growth rate than mini-manufacturers, who operate factory-like workshops outside the cluster. It is also shown that the well educated and highly socially networked tailors who are capable of producing a certain product quality standard are likely to link up with traders to become mini-manufacturers over time. This suggests that transactions with traders enable mini-manufacturers to outperform tailors, thereby contributing to the transformation of the mode of industrial production in developing economies. Copyright 2007 The author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • John E. Akoten & Keijiro Otsuka, 2007. "From Tailors to Mini-Manufacturers: The Role of Traders in the Performance of Garment Enterprises in Kenya," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 16(4), pages 564-595, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:16:y:2007:i:4:p:564-595
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jae/ejl047
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. T. Sonobe & D. Hu & K. Otsuka, 2002. "Process of Cluster Formation in China: A Case Study of a Garment Town," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 118-139.
    2. Eiji Yamamura & Tetsushi Sonobe & Keijiro Otsuka, 2003. "Human capital, cluster formation, and international relocation: the case of the garment industry in Japan, 1968--98," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 37-56, January.
    3. Schmitz, Hubert, 1999. "Global Competition and Local Cooperation: Success and Failure in the Sinos Valley, Brazil," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1627-1650, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sichilima, Timothy & Mapemba, Lawrence & Tembo, Gelson, 2016. "Drivers of Dry Common Beans Trade in Lusaka, Zambia: A Trader’s Perspective," Sustainable Agriculture Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 5(2).
    2. Keijiro Otsuka, 2006. "Cluster‐Based Industrial Development: A View From East Asia," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 361-376, September.
    3. Kenichi Kashiwagi & Erina Iwasaki, 2020. "Effect of agglomeration on technical efficiency of small and medium‐sized garment firms in Egypt," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(1), pages 14-26, March.
    4. Tetsushi Sonobe & John Akoten & Keijiro Otsuka, 2011. "The growth process of informal enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case study of a metalworking cluster in Nairobi," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 323-335, April.
    5. Mano, Yukichi & Iddrisu, Alhassan & Yoshino, Yutaka & Sonobe, Tetsushi, 2012. "How Can Micro and Small Enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa Become More Productive? The Impacts of Experimental Basic Managerial Training," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 458-468.
    6. KUEPIE Mathias & TENIKUE Michel & WALTHER Olivier, 2014. "Small businesses performance in West African border regions: Do social networks pay off?," LISER Working Paper Series 2014-06, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    7. Babur Wasim Arif, 2013. "Education, Experience and Enterprise Development," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 8(3), pages 273-299, December.
    8. Sanjay Banerji & Rajesh S. N. Raj & Kunal Sen, 2016. "Monitoring Costs, Credit Constraints and Entrepreneurship," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(5), pages 573-599, September.
    9. Keijiro Otsuka, 2020. "Strategy for Cluster-Based Industrial Development in Developing Countries," Discussion Papers 2019, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University.
    10. Hoang Nam, Vu & Sonobe, Tetsushi & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2009. "An inquiry into the transformation process of village-based industrial clusters: The case of an iron and steel cluster in northern Vietnam," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 568-581, December.
    11. Fahd Rehman, 2012. "Human Capital and MultifacetedInnovation: Evidence from the Lahore Knitwear Cluster in Pakistan," Lahore Journal of Economics, Department of Economics, The Lahore School of Economics, vol. 17(2), pages 63-86, July-Dec.
    12. Olivier Walther, 2015. "Social Network Analysis and informal trade," Working Papers 4, University of Southern Denmark, Centre for Border Region Studies.
    13. Vu, Hoang Nam & Doan, Quang Hung, 2015. "Innovation and Performance of Enterprises: The Case of SMEs in Vietnam," MPRA Paper 70589, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Kenichi Kashiwagi & Erina Iwasaki, 2024. "Industrial linkage, vertical integration and firm performance: evidence from textile and garment industry in Egypt," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 803-828, February.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Babur Wasim Arif & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2012. "Virtual Incubation in Industrial Clusters: A Case Study in Pakistan," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(3), pages 377-392, March.
    2. Huang, Zuhui & Zhang, Xiaobo & Zhu, Yunwei, 2006. "The Formation of Wenzhou Footwear Clusters: How Were the Entry Barriers Overcome?," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25371, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    3. Ruan, Jianqing & Wei, Longbao & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2006. "Clustering as a Way to Lower Capital Barriers: The Case of the Cashmere Sweater Cluster in Zhejiang," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25280, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Sonobe, Tetsushi & Hu, Dinghuan & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2006. "Industrial development in the inland region of China: A case study of the motorcycle industry," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 818-838, December.
    5. Tsuchiya, Ryuichiro & 土屋, 隆一郎, 2006. "The Role of the Manager's Education in Firm Growth: An Empirical Analysis in the Taiwanese Manufacturing Sector," Discussion Papers 2006-18, Graduate School of Economics, Hitotsubashi University.
    6. Fleisher, Belton & Hu, Dinghuan & McGuire, William & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2010. "The evolution of an industrial cluster in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 456-469, September.
    7. H.M. Nihal Padmasiri, 2012. "The role of human and social capital on the development of wooden furniture clusters in Sri Lanka," International Journal of Development Issues, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 19-36, April.
    8. Keijiro Otsuka, 2006. "Cluster‐Based Industrial Development: A View From East Asia," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 361-376, September.
    9. Sonobe, Tetsushi & Hu, Dinghuan & Otsuka, Keijiro, 2004. "From inferior to superior products: an inquiry into the Wenzhou model of industrial development in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 542-563, September.
    10. Jianqing Ruan & Xiaobo Zhang, 2009. "Finance and Cluster-Based Industrial Development in China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(1), pages 143-164, October.
    11. Babur Wasim Arif & Sana Ullah, 2021. "From subcontractors to company owners: modeling firm-type choices in industrial clusters," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 11(1), pages 153-161, December.
    12. Babur Wasim Arif, 2013. "Education, Experience and Enterprise Development," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 8(3), pages 273-299, December.
    13. Tetsushi Sonobe & Keijiro Otsuka, 2006. "The Division of Labor and the Formation of Industrial Clusters in Taiwan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 71-86, February.
    14. Jan Fagerberg & Bengt-Åke Lundvall & Martin Srholec, 2018. "Global Value Chains, National Innovation Systems and Economic Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 30(3), pages 533-556, July.
    15. Girum Abebe & Tetsushi Sonobe, 2012. "Management Practices, Self-Selection into Management Training Participation, and Training Effects in the Garment Industry in Ethiopia," GRIPS Discussion Papers 11-23, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.
    16. Brache, Jose & Felzensztein, Christian, 2019. "Exporting firm’s engagement with trade associations: Insights from Chile," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 25-35.
    17. Innan Sasaki & Niina Nummela & Davide Ravasi, 2021. "Managing cultural specificity and cultural embeddedness when internationalizing: Cultural strategies of Japanese craft firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 245-281, March.
    18. Xiwei Zhu & Ye Liu & Ming He & Deming Luo & Yiyun Wu, 2019. "Entrepreneurship and industrial clusters: evidence from China industrial census," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 595-616, March.
    19. Long, Cheryl & Zhang, Xiaobo, 2012. "Patterns of China's industrialization: Concentration, specialization, and clustering," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 593-612.
    20. Reeg, Caroline, 2015. "Micro and small enterprises as drivers for job creation and decent work," IDOS Discussion Papers 10/2015, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:jafrec:v:16:y:2007:i:4:p:564-595. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/csaoxuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.