This book adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of local liabilities drawing on
close analysis of the case of Chinese migrants in the Italian industrial district of Prato in
order to elucidate the problems or liabilities that derive from the separation between
natives and immigrants in local systems of people and firms. Insights are offered from a
variety of disciplines including business and industrial economics anthropology and
sociology thereby providing a framework through which to view the problems and also
identifying potential pathways for their evolution and resolution. The focus on local
liabilities affords an original perspective on the nature of globalization and highlights
salient aspects of native and immigrant entrepreneurship. Globalization not only creates
bridges between distant places but also changes the face of businesses and socioeconomic
systems at the local level where local liabilities may emerge when two or more separate
communities(of persons and firms) exist. The greater the separation between the communities
the greater the local liabilities. In offering diverse perspectives on this relatively
neglected aspect of globalization the book will be of interest to a wide readership. This book
adopts a multidisciplinary approach to the issue of local liabilities drawing on close
analysis of the case of Chinese migrants and the Italian industrial district of Prato in order
to elucidate the problems or liabilities that derive from the separation between natives and
immigrants in local systems of people and firms. Insights are offered from a variety of
disciplines including business and industrial economics anthropology and sociology thereby
providing a framework through which to view the problems and also identifying potential
pathways for their evolution and resolution. The focus on local liabilities affords an original
perspective on the nature of globalization and highlights salient aspects of native and
immigrant entrepreneurship. Globalization not only creates bridges between distant places but
also changes the face of businesses and socioeconomic systems at the local level where local
liabilities may emerge when two or more separate communities (of persons and firms) exist. The
greater the separation between the communities the greater the local liabilities. In offering
diverse perspectives on this relatively neglected aspect of globalization the book will be of
interest to a wide readership.
