POLITICI PUBLICE, DEZVOLTARE ȘI REALITĂȚI SOCIO-ECONOMICE, pages: 255 - 270, 2026

Comparative Analysis of Industrial Agglomerations in the Chūbu Region during the Meiji Period. A Quantitative Examination through Network and Statistical Analyses

Doi: https://doi.org/10.58603/ZAQX9632

Rezumat: This study seeks to elucidate the developmental disparities between Hamamatsu City and Yokkaichi City—both regional industrial centres and clusters that prospered during the Meiji period—by comparing the structural and statistical characteristics of their entrepreneurial networks.
The significance of this research lies in its comparative examination of the divergent developmental trajectories of individual cities within Japan’s industrial clusters, employing historical data and network analysis methodologies. As Robinson (2014) highlights, a central challenge in inter-city comparative studies is the effective “tracking and visualising of the diverse connections between cities,” and this study seeks to address this challenge directly. Specifically, by focusing on Japanese industrial cities that evolved organically, rather than planned industrial districts as examined in Lewis’s (2004) study of Chicago, this research aims to elucidate the heterogeneous patterns of urban industrial development.