The Social Structure of Entrepreneurial Activity: Geographic Concentration of Footwear Production in the United States, 1940–19891

Nearly all industries exhibit geographic concentration. Most theories of the location of industry explain the persistence of these production centers as the result of economic efficiency. This article argues instead that heterogeneity in entrepreneurial opportunities, rather than differential performance, maintains geographic concentration. Entrepreneurs need exposure to existing organizations in the industry to acquire tacit knowledge, obtain important social ties, and build self‐confidence. Thus, the current geographic distribution of production places important constraints on entrepreneurial activity. Due to these constraints, new foundings tend to reify the existing geographic distribution of production. Empirical evidence from the shoe industry supports this thesis.

• Publication year

  2000

• Venue

  American Journal of Sociology

• Publication date

  2000-09-01

• Fields of study

  Geography, Business, Economics, Sociology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1086/316962
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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