산업지구에서의 사회적 자본 형성

The Formation of the Social Capital in the Industrial District

1970년대를 맞이하게 되면서 포드주의(Fordism)의 위기, 그리고 애프터 포드주의(after Fordism)의 등장이 가시화되었다. 이러한 와중에 포드주의의 위기 해결책을 유연성에 찾는 ‘유연전문화(flexible specialization)’가 수많은 사회과학자들에 의해 연구되었고, 이러한 유연전문화가 가장 확연하게 조명되는 지역인 ‘산업지구(industrial district)’로써 지역경제를 규명하려는 시도가 행해지기 시작하였다. 여기에서 기존의 전통적인 자본만으로는 해명할 수 없고, 지역정책의 방향성을 설정함에 있어 간과 되어서는 안 되며, 산업지구 내에서의 경쟁과 협력을 존립하게 하는 ‘사회적 자본(social capital)’이 그 곳에 내재되어 있었다. 산업지구도 여러 형태로서 나타나듯이 사회적 자본 또한 단일하지 않고 다양성(varitety)을 띠고 있다. 다시 말해, 산업지구에서 사회적 자본은 다양한 형태 및 방식으로 형성되고 있는 것이다. 예컨대, 제3이탈리아(the Third Italy)에서는 비공식적 형태(informal form)의 사회적 자본, 즉 두터운 신뢰(thick trust), 포괄적 호혜성(generalized reciprocity), 그리고 시민적 참여의 네트워크(network of civic engagement) 등이 상대적으로 많이 관찰되고 있고, 이는 심오한 역사성(history)을 토대로 형성된 공동체(community)에 기반하고 있다. 즉, ‘경로의존성(path-dependency)’에 근거하고 있었다. 따라서 제3이탈리아에서 사회적 자본의 형성 연원은 공동체의 역사에서 도출할 수 있다.

Since the 1970s, Fordism fell in a crisis, the Slump, and After-Fordism has been introduced as its alternative. In terms of this phase, many social scientists and economists have examined the concept, ‘flexible specialization’ to search for the solutions to the flexibility problems. The Flexible specialization is most distinguished in regional economies based on ‘industrial district’. In this discussion, ‘social capital’ has appeared remarkably. First, we can not understand regional economic success by the traditional concept of capital. Second, we can not recognize regional policies without the new concept of the social capital. Finally, now we know that it makes economic actors in the industrial district compete and cooperate each other. As the industrial district varies in forms, the social capital also has affluent variety; the Italian form versus the U.S. form For example, in the Third Italy, the informal forms of the social capital - thick trust, generalized reciprocity and network of civic engagement - are observed relatively frequently and are based on communities which have been formed in the long history. In other words, ‘path-dependency’ is the origin of those forms of the social capital. Therefore, the root of the formation of the social capital in the Third Italy can be generated from the history of the communities. On the contrary, in the Silicon Valley there is no long history like the Third Italy. Furthermore, complex familial ties and structured-communities are hardly seen. The formal forms of the social capital which are connections between industries and universities, venture capital and flexible labour market, etc. can be rather observed obviously. The social capital in the Silicon Valley has been formed by the basis of ‘path-formation’ in which economic actors form their own paths for the enhancement of short-term viability. On the centre of the formation of the social capital in the Silicon Valley is a collaborative network between regional, economic, institutional actors who pursue permanent innovation, competition and commercialisation on the foundation of the path-formation.