Spatial patterns of adoption of just-in-time manufacturing

In this paper we study the spatial pattern of Just-in-Time (JIT) adoption for a sample of medium-sized and large Spanish manufacturing firms. The recent literature has shown that location plays a significant role in the adoption of advanced technologies. We argue that the particular role location characteristics play for technology adoption depends on the type of technology. JIT differs from other advanced manufacturing technologies because it relates directly to the spatial coordination of a firms’ internal production organisation with its external productive environment and depends on the quality of the transport system. Our results confirm the distinctive role of location for JIT adoption even after controlling for industry and plant-specific differences. We find that JIT adoption is greater in smaller cities but with higher accessibility indicating that urban congestion in larger urban areas likely reduces the benefits that firms may obtain from JIT implementation.Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación [ECO2010-17485], CSIC [200910I105] and Fundación BBVA is gratefully acknowledged.Peer reviewe

Spatial patterns of adoption of just-in-time manufacturing

[EN] We study the spatial pattern of just-in-time (JIT) adoption for a sample of medium-sized and large Spanish manufacturing firms. JIT differs from other advanced manufacturing technologies because it relates directly to the spatial co-ordination of firms’ internal production organisation with the external productive environment and depends on the quality of the transport system. Our results confirm the distinctive role of location for JIT adoption even after controlling for industry and plant-specific differences. We find that JIT adoption is greater in smaller cities but with higher transport accessibility indicating that urban congestion in larger urban areas likely reduces the benefits that firms may obtain from JIT implementation.[ES] En este artículo estudiamos el patrón espacial de la adopción del método Justo aTiempo (JAT) por parte de una muestra de empresas manufactureras españolas de tamañomediano y grande. El método JAT es diferente de otras tecnologías avanzadas de fabricación,debido a que relaciona directamente la coordinación espacial de la organización de produccióninterna de las empresas con el entorno productivo externo y depende de la calidad del sistemade transporte. Nuestros resultados confirman el papel singular que tiene la localización en laadopción de JAT incluso después de controlar por tipo industria y por diferencias específicas dela planta. Encontramos que la adopción de JAT es mayor en las ciudades más pequeñas pero conuna mayor accesibilidad del transporte, lo que indica que es probable que la congestión urbanade las grandes ciudades y áreas metropolitanas reduciría los beneficios que las empresas puedenobtener con la implantación de JAT.Financial support from Fundación BBVA is gratefully acknowledgedPeer reviewe