Eugenio Antonio Climent López

LA INDUSTRIA Y LA CUALIFICACION PROFESIONAL DE LOS TRABAJADORES

La produccion industrial se organiza segun el modelo de especializacion flexible, que se manifiesta en el mercado laboral como flexibilidad numerica y funcional; esta ultima requiere una elevada cualificacion profesional de los trabajadores, siendo un factor clave de localizacion industrial. En este articulo se estudian las actitudes y estrategias de las empresas industriales espanolas respecto a la cualificacion y la formacion profesionales.

ALcAnce Y LÍMiTeS de LA deSindUSTRiALiZAciÓn MeTROPOLiTAnA: eL cASO de ZARAGOZA (eSPAÑA)

According to recent literature, the locational pattern of industries within an urban system is explained by a dilemma between agglomeration economies and production costs: large cities are advantageous for companies that seek agglomeration economies whilst small and medium-sized cities are mostly attractive for companies that are looking for land and labour economies. But what happens when a big city offers, at one and the same time, both kinds of economies? This is the question addressed in this article on the Spanish city of Zaragoza (650 000 inhabitants) and its metropolitan area, including an analysis of industrial movements registered between 1992 and 2005. We show that big cities and even their central areas can be highly attractive to companies looking for low labour costs and cheap industrial land. Interestingly the spatial range of the industrial deconcentration is very limited: only sometimes does it surpass a distance threshold of 35 minutes. Our analysis allows us to contend that the locational pattern and dynamic of industries within the urban system cannot only be explained as the result of a dilemma between the previously mentioned location factors (agglomeration economies and production costs) but as an aggregate of them both.