Hostname: page-component-7bb8b95d7b-l4ctd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-09-18T07:44:51.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Pyramids of Trust: Social Embeddedness and Political Culture in Two Italian Gold Jewelry Districts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2015

Dario Gaggio
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article demonstrates the usefulness of the notion of embeddedness to the historical study of Italian industrial districts of small firms and of local economic change more generally. The development of gold jewelry production in two Italian towns, Valenza Po and Arezzo, shows that vertical disintegration was enabled by the creation of networks of heterogeneous social relations. In both towns, social and political ties led to the creation of institutions of collective governance, which in turn produced a workable level of trust between economic actors. The production of trust, however, never ceased to be a contentious process, endowed with multiple and often contradictory meanings embedded in specific networks and contexts, ranging from collective projects of modernization in Valenza Po to the cementing of a secretive informal economy in Arezzo. The embeddedness approach to economic action is superior both to the communitarian arguments of much of the literature on the Italian industrial districts and to transaction-cost theories, which tend to view institutions in instrumental and functionalist ways.

Type
Articles
Information
Enterprise & Society , Volume 7 , Issue 1 , March 2006 , pp. 19 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2006. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Business History Conference. All rights reserved.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bibliography of Works Cited

Books

Bagnasco, Arnaldo. Tre Italie. La Problematica Territoriale dello Sviluppo Italiano. Bologna, 1977.Google Scholar
Becattini, Giacomo, ed. Mercato e Forze Locali. Il Distretto Industriale. Bologna, 1987.Google Scholar
Blim, Michael. Made in Italy: Small-Scale Industrialization and Its Consequences. New York, 1990.Google Scholar
Cantamessa, Franco. AOV. 30 Anni di Vita Associativa. Villanova Monferrato, Italy, 1976.Google Scholar
Cantelli, Paolo. L’Economia Sommersa. Rome, 1980.Google Scholar
Cattaneo, Carla, Edoardo Sabbadin, and Roberta Virtuani. Il Settore Orafo. Strategie di Prodotto, di Marketing e di Area. Milan, 1993.Google Scholar
CENSIS. L’Economia Aretina Oltre il Riaggiustamento. Milan, 1986.Google Scholar
Chandler, Alfred D., Jr. The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business. Cambridge, Mass., 1977.Google Scholar
Fabbriciani, Lucio. Partecipazione Umana e Competitività Aziendale. Milan, 1995.Google Scholar
Fukuyama, Francis. Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity. New York, 1995.Google Scholar
Gambetta, Diego, ed. Trust: Making and Breaking Cooperative Relations. Oxford, U.K., 1990.Google Scholar
Goodman, Edward, and Julia Bamford, eds. Small Firms and Industrial Districts in Italy. London, 1989.Google Scholar
Guidotti, Mario. Viaggio nel Pianeta dell’Arte Orafa. Milan, 1966.Google Scholar
Herrigel, Gary. Industrial Constructions: The Sources of German Industrial Power. New York, 1996.Google Scholar
Leoni, R., T. Bensi, and B. Boschetto, eds. Guida Statistica alla Realtà Socioeconomica Aretina. Milan, 1976.Google Scholar
Piore, Michael, and Charles Sabel. The Second Industrial Divide. New York, 1984.Google Scholar
Provincia, di Arezzo. Il Lavoro a Domicilio. Arezzo, Italy, 1976.Google Scholar
Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy. Princeton, N.J., 1993.Google Scholar
Pyke, Frank, Giacomo Becattini, and Werner Sengenberger, eds. Industrial Districts and Inter-Firm Cooperation in Italy. Geneva, 1990.Google Scholar
Sabel, Charles, and Jonathan Zeitlin, eds. Worlds of Possibilities: Flexibility and Mass Production in Western Industrialization. Cambridge, U.K., 1997.Google Scholar
Savini, Alfio, Guido Occhini, and Carlo Salvicchi. Ricordi, Immagini, Documenti. Pezzi di Storia Sindacale dell’Aretino 1944–1989. Cortona, Italy, 1989.Google Scholar
Scranton, Philip. Endless Novelty: Specialty Production and American Industrialization, 1865–1925. Princeton, N.J., 1997.Google Scholar
Trigilia, Carlo. Grandi Partiti e Piccole Imprese. Bologna, 1986.Google Scholar
Uslaner, Eric. The Moral Foundations of Trust. Cambridge, Mass., 2002.Google Scholar
Warren, Mark, ed. Democracy and Trust. Cambridge, U.K., 1999.Google Scholar
Williamson, Oliver. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism: Firms, Markets, Relational Contracting. New York, 1985.Google Scholar
Williamson, Oliver. Markets and Hierarchies: Analysis and Antitrust Implications. New York, 1975.Google Scholar

Articles and Essays

Barber, Bernard. “All Economies Are Embedded: The Career of a Concept and Beyond.” Social Research 62 (Summer 1995): 387–98.Google Scholar
Baron, James, and Michael Hannan. “The Impact of Economics on Contemporary Sociology.” Journal of Economic Literature 32 (Sept. 1994): 1111–46.Google Scholar
Beckert, Jens. “Economic Sociology and Embeddedness: How Shall We Conceptualize Economic Action?” Journal of Economic Issues 37 (Sept. 2003): 769–87.Google Scholar
Bosio, Rodolfo. “Non Teme Concorrenti la Valenza dei Gioielli.” In Gioielli Bambole Coltelli. Viaggio de “Il Sole 24 Ore” nei Distretti Produttivi Italiani, ed. Marco Moussant and Luca Paolazzi. Milan, 1992, pp. 279–85.Google Scholar
Bove, Francesco. “Diffondere il Veleno. Giusto Calvi e gli Inizi del Socialismo a Valenza.” Quaderno 15 dell’Istituto per la Storia della Resistenza in Provincia di Alessandria e Asti 8 (Spring 1985): 17–48.Google Scholar
Brusco, Sebastiano, and Sergio Paba. “Per una Storia dei Distretti Industriali Italiani dal Secondo Dopoguerra agli Anni Novanta.” In Storia del Capitalismo Italiano dal Dopoguerra a Oggi, ed. Franco Amatori et al. Rome, 1997, pp. 265–333.Google Scholar
Carnevali, Francesca. “‘Crooks, Thieves, and Receivers’: Transaction Costs in Nineteenth-Century Birmingham.” Economic History Review 47 (Aug. 2004): 533–50.Google Scholar
Dequech, David. “Cognitive and Cultural Embeddedness: Combining Institutional Economics and Economic Sociology.” Journal of Economic Issues 37 (June 2003): 461–70.Google Scholar
DiMaggio, Paul. “Cultural Aspects of Economic Action and Organization.” In Beyond the Marketplace: Rethinking Economy and Society, ed. Roger Friedland and A. F. Robertson. New York, 1990, pp. 113–36.Google Scholar
Falzoni, Anna Maria. “Il Distretto di Arezzo.” In I Distretti Industriali. Crisi o Evoluzione? ed. Fabrizio Onida, Gianfranco Viesti, and Anna Maria Falzoni. Milan, 1992, pp. 373–85.Google Scholar
Falzoni, Anna Maria. “Il Distretto Orafo di Valenza Po.” In I Distretti Industriali. Crisi o Evoluzione? ed. Fabrizio Onida, Gianfranco Viesti, and Anna Maria Falzoni. Milan, 1992, pp. pp. 357–72.Google Scholar
Gaggio, Dario. “Negotiating the Gold Standard: The Geographical and Political Construction of Gold Fineness in Twentieth-Century Italy.” Technology and Culture 43 (April 2002): 291–314.Google Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. “Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness.” American Journal of Sociology 91 (Nov. 1985): 481–510.Google Scholar
Granovetter, Mark. “The Strength of Weak Ties.” American Journal of Sociology 78 (May 1973): 1360–80.Google Scholar
Greif, Avner. “Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders.” Journal of Economic History 49 (Dec. 1989): 857–82.Google Scholar
Lamoreaux, Naomi, Daniel Raff, and Peter Temin. “Beyond Markets and Hierarchies: Toward a New Synthesis of American Business History.” American Historical Review 108 (April 2003): 404–33.Google Scholar
Ouchi, William. “Markets, Bureaucracies, and Clans.” Administrative Science Quarterly 25 (March 1980): 124–41.Google Scholar
Ratti, Luigi. “Origini ed Evoluzione Storica di Valenza Orafa.” Rassegna Economica della Provincia di Alessandria 22 (July–Aug. 1969): 3–22.Google Scholar
Sabel, Charles. “Studied Trust: Building New Forms of Cooperation in a Volatile Economy.” In Industrial Districts and Local Economic Regeneration, ed. Frank Pyke and Werner Sengenberger. Geneva, 1992, pp. 215–50.Google Scholar
Sabel, Charles. and Jonathan Zeitlin. “Historical Alternatives to Mass Production: Politics, Markets, and Technology in Nineteenth-Century Industrialization.” Past and Present 108 (Aug. 1985): 133–76.Google Scholar
Swedberg, Richard. “New Economic Sociology: What Has Been Accomplished, What Is Ahead?” Acta Sociologica 40 (June 1997): 161–82.Google Scholar
Velo, Dario, and Carla Cattaneo. “L’area orafa valenzana.” In L’Economia Alessandrina dal Secondo Dopoguerra a Oggi. Alessandria, Italy, 1993, pp. 59–70.Google Scholar
Zukin, Sharon, and Paul DiMaggio. “Introduction.” In Structures of Capital: The Social Organization of the Economy, ed. Sharon Zukin and Paul DiMaggio. Cambridge, U.K., 1990, pp. 1–36.Google Scholar

Magazines and Newspapers

Arezzo ComuneGoogle Scholar
Avanti Google Scholar
Business Week Google Scholar
Il Mondo Google Scholar
La Nazione Google Scholar
L’Orafo Valenzano Google Scholar
La Scure Google Scholar
L’Unità Google Scholar
U.S. News and World Report Google Scholar

Oral Histories

Ceccherini, Oscar, interview with author, 17 Jan. 1997.Google Scholar
Frascarolo, Franco, interview with author, 17 Oct. 1996.Google Scholar

Online Sources

International Narcotics Control Strategy Report—2001: Money Laundering and Financial Crimes. URL: http://www.state.gov/p/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2001/rpt/8487.htm (accessed 12 Dec. 2005).Google Scholar
“L’associazione, Orafa Valenzana E La Mostra ‘Valenza Gioielli.’ Alcune Date.” URL: http://www.gruppoitalia.it/aov/aov_press98/autunno/storia.htm (accessed 5 Dec. 2005).Google Scholar
Milluzzi, Andrea. “Arezzo, Uno A Erre licenzia, si aggrava la crisi dell’oro.” URL: http://www.liberazione.it/giornale/050527/LB12D69A.asp (accessed 5 Dec. 2005).Google Scholar
Servizio, di Analisi e Garanzia dell’Oreficeria. URL: http://www.sagoritalia.it/Eng/chisiamo_eng.htm (accessed 5 Dec. 2005).Google Scholar

Archives and Unpublished Sources

Archivio del Comune di Valenza [Archive of the City Government of Valenza Po], Italy.Google Scholar
Archivio dell’Associazione Orafa Valenzana [Archive of the Jewelers’ Association of Valenza Po], Italy.Google Scholar
Archivio della Camera di Commercio di Arezzo [Archive of the Chamber of Commerce of Arezzo], Italy.Google Scholar
Archivio di Stato di Alessandria [State Archive of Alessandria], Italy.Google Scholar
Archivio di Stato di Arezzo [State Archive of Arezzo], Italy.Google Scholar
Archivio Storico della Città de Valenza [Historical Archive of the City of Valenza Po], Italy.Google Scholar
Barbano, Pier Giorgio. “L’Associazionismo Imprenditoriale nel Settore Orafo: Il Caso di Valenza Po.” Laurea thesis, University of Pavia, Italy, 1985.Google Scholar
Debenedetti, Donato. “L’Oreficeria nella Città di Valenza Po.” Laurea thesis, Università Luigi Bocconi, Milan, 1926.Google Scholar
Provincia, di Arezzo. “Quattordici Tesi per un Dibattito sui Problemi e sulle Prospettive dell’Industria delle Confezioni in Serie.” Aug. 1976. Typewritten memo, Arezzo Public Library.Google Scholar