Papers in Evolutionary
Economic Geography
The working
paper series Papers
in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) is an initiative of the Section of Economic Geography at Utrecht
University. The goal of the series is to promote the use of evolutionary
economics in the field of economic geography. We welcome submissions of both
theoretical and empirical papers. Each paper will be reviewed by Ron Boschma and Koen Frenken on the basis
of the following three criteria: (i) Meaningful combination of evolutionary
economics and economic geography (see also PEEG #05.01), (ii) Quality of the paper, (iii) Originality of
the paper. Please send your submission to: r.boschma@geo.uu.nl
or k.frenken@geo.uu.nl.
PEEG is listed
in the RePEc archive, click
here
2007 |
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2008 |
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#08.20 |
Frank Neffke, Martin Svensson Henning
and Ron Boschma |
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Surviving in Agglomerations: Plant
Evolution and the Changing Benefits of the Local Environment |
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#08.19 |
Frank Neffke and Martin Svensson
Henning |
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#08.18 |
Frank Neffke |
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Time-Varying Agglomeration
Externalities in UK Counties between 1841 and 1971 |
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#08.17 |
Ron Boschma and
Koen Frenken |
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Some
Notes on Institutions in Evolutionary Economic Geography |
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#08.16 |
Max-Peter Menzel |
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Dynamic Proximities – Changing Relations
by Creating and Bridging Distances |
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#08.15 |
Jérôme Vicente,
Pierre-Alexandre Balland and Olivier Brossard |
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#08.14 |
Dirk-Jan Koch
and Ruerd Ruben |
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Spatial Clustering Of NGOs: An Evolutionary
Economic Geography Approach |
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#08.13 |
Niels Bosma,
Erik Stam and Veronique Schutjens |
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#08.12 |
Thomas Brenner and Dirk Fornahl |
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#08.11 |
Tom Broekel
& Andreas Meder |
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The Bright and Dark Side of Cooperation for Regional
Innovation Performance |
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#08.10 |
Anne ter Wal |
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#08.09 |
Ron Boschma,
Rikard Eriksson, Urban Lindgren |
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Labour mobility, related variety and the
performance of plants: |
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#08.08 |
Frank Neffke,
Martin Svensson Henning, Ron Boschma, Karl-Johan Lundquist, Lars-Olof Olander |
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Who Needs Agglomeration? Varying
Agglomeration Externalities and the Industry Life Cycle |
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#08.07 |
Erik Stam |
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#08.06 |
Lucia Cusmano,
Maria Luisa Mancasi, Andrea Morrison |
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2007 |
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#08.05 |
Renato Aristides
Orozco Pereira |
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#08.04 |
Tom Broekel |
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#08.03 |
Rik Wenting,
Oedzge Atzema, Koen Frenken |
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#08.02 |
Ron Boschma, Simona Iammarino |
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2007 |
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#08.01 |
Rik Wenting,
Koen Frenken |
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2007 |
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#07.09 |
Bjørn Asheim, Ron Boschma, Philip
Cooke |
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#07.08 |
Alexander Cole |
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#07.07 |
Anne ter Wal,
Ron Boschma |
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#07.06 |
Otto Raspe,
Frank van Oort |
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#07.05 |
Evert-Jan
Visser, Oedzge Atzema |
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Beyond
clusters: Fostering innovation through a differentiated and combined network
approach |
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#07.04 |
Johannes
Gluckner |
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#07.03 |
Ron Martin,
Peter Sunley |
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#07.02 |
Jürgen Essletzbichler, David L. Rigby |
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#07.01 |
Koen Frenken,
Ron Boschma |
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A
theoretical framework for Evolutionary Economic Geography: |
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2006 |
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2006 |
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#06.11 |
Leo van Grunsven |
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#06.10 |
Kerstin Press |
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Divide
to conquer? The Silicon Valley - Boston 128 case revisited |
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#06.09 |
Lee Fleming,
Koen Frenken |
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The
evolution of inventor networks in the Silicon Valley and Boston regions |
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#06.08 |
Koen Frenken,
Gerben van der Steege |
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The
evolution of the Dutch dairy industry and the rise of cooperatives: |
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#06.07 |
Otto Raspe,
Frank van Oort |
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#06.06 |
Ron Martin,
Peter Sunley |
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#06.05 |
Veronique
Schutjens, Erik Stam |
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Starting anew: Entrepreneurial
intentions and realizations subsequent to business closure |
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#06.04 |
Erik Stam |
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A process model of locational
change in entrepreneurial firms: |
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#06.03 |
Ron A. Boschma,
Jesse W. J. Weltevreden |
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An evolutionary perspective on Internet
adoption by retailers in the Netherlands |
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#06.02 |
Elisa Giuliani |
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#06.01 |
Ron A. Boschma,
Anne L.J. ter Wal |
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2005 |
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2005 |
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#05.13 |
Jürgen Essletzbichler |
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Diversity,
stability and regional growth in the U.S. (1975-2002) |
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#05.12 |
Luca Bertolini |
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#05.11 |
Olav Sorenson, Jan W. Rivkin, Lee
Fleming |
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Informational
Complexity and the Flow of Knowledge across social boundaries |
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#05.10 |
Jesse W.J.
Weltevreden, Oedzge A.L.C. Atzema, Koen Frenken, Karlijn de Kruijf, Frank G.
van Oort |
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#05.09 |
Ron A. Boschma,
Markku Sotarauta |
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Economic policy
from an evolutionary perspective: the case of Finland |
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#05.08 |
Frank G. van
Oort, Erik Stam |
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#05.07 |
Leo van
Grunsven, Floor Smakman |
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#05.06 |
Ron A. Boschma,
Anet B.R. Weterings |
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The effect of regional
differences on the performance of software firms in the Netherlands |
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#05.05 |
Claes Andersson,
Koen Frenken, Alexander Hellervik |
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#05.04 |
Ron A. Boschma, Rik Wenting |
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#05.03 |
Ron A. Boschma,
Jesse W.J. Weltevreden |
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B2c e-commerce adoption
in inner cities: An evolutionary perspective |
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#05.02 |
Koen Frenken,
Frank G. van Oort, Thijs Verburg, Ron A. Boschma |
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#05.01 |
Ron A. Boschma,
Koen Frenken |
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Why is economic
geography not an evolutionary science? Towards an evolutionary economic
geography |
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#05.01 (PDF: 285 kb)
The paper
explains the commonalities and differences between neoclassical, institutional
and evolutionary approaches that have been influential in economic geography
during the last couple of decades. For all three approaches, we argue that they
are in agreement in some respects and in conflict in other respects. While
explaining to what extent and in what ways the Evolutionary Economic Geography
approach differs from the New Economic Geography and the Institutional Economic
Geography, we can specify the value-added of economic geography as an
evolutionary science. <Back to top>
#05.02 (PDF: 1,093 kb)
Koen
Frenken, Frank G. van Oort, Thijs
Verburg, Ron A. Boschma
In economic
theory, one can distinguish between variety as a source of regional knowledge
spillovers, called Jacobs externalities, and variety as a portfolio protecting
a region from external shocks. We argue that Jacobs externalities are best
measured by related variety (within sectors), while the portfolio argument is
better captured by unrelated variety (between sectors). We introduce a
methodology based on entropy measures to compute related variety and unrelated
variety. Using data at the COROP level for the period 1996-2002, we find that
Jacobs externalities enhance employment growth, while unrelated variety dampens
unemployment growth. Productivity growth, by contrast, can be explained by
traditional determinants including investments and R&D expenditures.
Implications for regional policy in The Netherlands follow. <Back
to top>
#05.03 (PDF: 292 kb)
Ron A.
Boschma, Jesse
W.J. Weltevreden
Internet makes
it possible for consumers to shop without visiting a physical store. As online
shopping is becoming more popular, this could have significant impact on
in-store shopping. The extent to which consumers, producers and retailers make
use of the Internet as a complementary channel or as a substitute for in-store
shopping is fundamental for the way traditional retailing will be affected. It
is only recently that geographers are becoming interested in the spatial
consequences of this new form of commerce. From a traditional geographical
perspective, one could expect that business-to-consumer (b2c) e-commerce could
make physical shopping redundant, leading to a ‘death of distance’. There are,
however, several factors that may limit this new form of commerce, such as logistical
constraints (e.g., personal delivery of goods may be quite expensive), habits
of people, and the need for social contact. The main goal of the paper is to
draw some expectations concerning the relationship between b2c e-commerce and
inner city retailing. Using new insights based on evolutionary economics,
hypotheses will be developed concerning the impact of b2c e-commerce on
consumers’ shopping behaviour, retailers’ store strategy, and the inner city
retailing environment as a whole. We claim that habits may act as a constraint
to change consumers’ shopping behaviour. In addition, routines can explain why
retailers may be rather reluctant in exploiting this new channel of commerce,
and why they are most likely to adopt rather conservative e-commerce strategies.
We also explain how and why inner cities, as important retailing and
consumption places, may affect the way actors deal with this new form of
commerce. One may expect that especially in these localities, both stimulating
and limiting factors of b2c e-commerce adoption are predominant, depending on
the quality or the attractiveness of the inner cities, among other things. <Back
to top>
#05.04 (PDF: 335 kb)
This paper aims to describe and
explain the spatial evolution of the automobile sector in Great Britain from an
evolutionary perspective. This analysis is based on a unique database of all
entries and exits in this sector during the period 1895-1968, collected by the
authors. Cox regressions show that spinoff dynamics, localization economies and
time of entry have had a significant effect on the survival rate of automobile
firms during the period 1895-1968. <Back to top>
#05.05 (PDF: 438 kb)
Claes Andersson, Koen Frenken, Alexander
Hellervik
The economic
geography can be viewed as a large and growing network of interacting
activities. This fundamental network structure and the large size of such
systems makes complex networks an attractive model for its analysis. In this
paper we propose the use of complex networks for geographical modeling and
demonstrate how such an application can be combined with a cellular model to
produce output that is consistent with large scale regularities such as power
laws and fractality. Complex networks can provide a stringent framework for
growth dynamic modeling where concepts from e.g. spatial interaction models and
multiplicative growth models can be combined with the flexible representation
of land and behavior found in cellular automata and agent-based models. In
addition, there exists a large body of theory for the analysis of complex
networks that have direct applications for urban geographic problems. The
intended use of such models is twofold: i) to address the problem of how the
empirically observed hierarchical structure of settlements can be explained as
a stationary property of a stochastic evolutionary process rather than as
equilibrium points in a dynamics, and, ii) to improve the prediction quality of
applied urban modeling. <Back to top>
#05.06 (PDF: 341 kb)
Ron
A. Boschma, Anet B.R. Weterings
The effect of regional differences on the performance of software firms
in the Netherlands
This paper aims
to explore the effect of regional differences on the performance of software
firms in the Netherlands. Inspired by evolutionary economics, we account for
the impact of (1) co-location and sharing a local knowledge base; (2) pre-entry
experience in the same or related industries; (3) being connected; and, (4)
having organisational capabilities to cope with change. The outcomes of the
regression analyses on data gathered among 265 software firms suggest that
firms located in regions specialised in ICT have a higher innovative
productivity. Spin-offs and firms with organisational capabilities also perform
better, while network relationships do not affect the performance of software
firms. <Back to top>
#05.07 (PDF: 284 kb)
Leo van Grunsven, Floor Smakman
Industrial restructuring and early
industry pathways in the Asian 1st generation NICs: The Singapore garment
industry
This article aims to contribute to
an understanding of the industrial dynamics/evolution of mature export
production complexes in the first generation Asian NICs, employing an
evolutionary economic perspective. Over the past decade and longer the first
generation Asian NICs, Singapore included, have been confronted with
imperatives necessitating deep restructuring. We observe that industrial
decline, associated with failed restructuring caused by lock-in, does not fit
these countries, its industrial regions and early industries. Yet research has
hardly begun to look at adjustment and address deeper evolution from tenets in
the framework of evolutionary economics although such an approach is made not
less but rather more relevant by continued resilience. We analyse the pathway(s)
of one early industry, i.c. the apparel industry, in Singapore, through the
1980s and 1990s. The withering away in the Singapore context of an industry
such as apparel is not inevitable. From a juxtaposition of the line of thinking
in evolutionary economics emphasizing hindrance and decline due to path
dependency and lock-ins with an alternative line emphasizing the possibility to
adjust through renewal and the limited operation of lock-ins, we argue why the
latter rather than the former has been the case. <Back to top>
#05.08 (PDF: 363 kb)
Although
there is growing evidence on the role of agglomeration economies in the
formation and growth of firms, both the concepts of agglomeration economies and
entrepreneurship tend to be ambiguously defined and measured in the literature.
In this study, we aim to improve the conceptualisations and measures of
agglomeration economies and entrepreneurship. Indicators of agglomeration
economies are analysed in clearly defined urban regimes on three spatial scales
in the Netherlands – national zoning, labour market connectedness, and
urban size. This is done in order to uncover their effect on two
entrepreneurial phases in the firm life cycle - new firm formation and the
growth of incumbent firms in the relatively new ICT industry in the
Netherlands. In comparison with new firm formation, the growth of incumbent
firms is not so much related to spatial clustering of the ICT industry and
other localized sources of knowledge economies associated with urban density.
Instead, knowledge as an input for growth of incumbent firms is associated with
more endogenous (firm internal) learning aspects, reflected by a significant
correlate with R&D-investments. Also the effect of local ICT firm
competition differs between the two types of firms: a positive effect on new
firm formation, but a negative effect on incumbent firm growth. In general,
agglomeration economies have stronger effects on the formation of ICT firms than
on the growth of ICT firms. <Back
to top>
#05.09 (PDF: 451kb)
Ron A. Boschma,
Markku Sotarauta
In the last
decade, the Finnish economy has shown an unprecedented recovery, after being
hit by a deep crisis in the early 1990s. The paper views and interprets this
successful transformation process based on ICT from an evolutionary
perspective. Although the rapid pace of the restructuring of the Finnish
economy suggests a break with the past, this remarkable recovery was firmly
rooted in its economic history. In addition, Finnish public policy played its
role in turning Finland into a knowledge economy. Although a master plan for
the Finnish economy was lacking, many policies worked out quite well together
over an extended period. Building on education, research and technology policy
initiatives taken in the 1970s and 1980s, the deep economic crisis in the early
1990s paved the way for new policy directions, with a focus on
network-facilitating innovation policies. <Back to top>
#05.10 (PDF:
487kb)
Jesse W.J. Weltevreden, Oedzge A.L.C. Atzema, Koen Frenken, Karlijn de Kruijf, Frank G. van Oort
Up
till now, the literature on Internet adoption by retailers paid little
attention to spatial variables. Using data on 27,000 retail outlets in the
Netherlands, we investigate the geographical diffusion of Internet adoption by
Dutch retailers. More precise, we examine to what extent retail Internet
adoption differs between shopping centers, cities, and regions, while controlling
for product and organizational variables. Results of the linear and multinomial
logistic regressions suggest that shops at city centers are more likely to
adopt the Internet than shops located at shopping centers at the bottom of the
retail hierarchy. Furthermore, shops in large cities have a higher probability
to adopt the Internet than shops in small cities. On the regional level, the
likelihood of Internet adoption is higher for shops in core regions than for
retail outlets in the periphery. In conclusion, geography seems to matter for
retail Internet adoption. <Back to top>
#05.11 (PDF: 225kb)
Olav Sorenson, Jan W. Rivkin, Lee Fleming
Informational Complexity and the Flow of Knowledge across social
boundaries
Scholars from a
variety of backgrounds – economists, sociologists, strategists, and
students of technology management – have sought a better understanding of
why some knowledge disperses widely while other knowledge does not. In this
quest, some researchers have focused on the characteristics of the knowledge
itself (e.g., Polanyi, 1966; Reed and DeFillippi, 1990; Zander and Kogut, 1995)
while others have emphasized the social networks that constrain and enable the
flow of knowledge (e.g., Coleman et al., 1957; Davis and Greve, 1997). This
chapter examines the interplay between these two factors. Specifically, we
consider how the complexity of knowledge and the density of social relations
jointly influence the movement of knowledge. Imagine a social network composed
of patches of dense connections with sparse interstices between them. The dense
patches might reflect firms, for instance, or geographic regions or technical
communities. When does knowledge diffuse within these dense patches
circumscribed by social boundaries but not beyond them? Synthesizing social
network theory with a view of knowledge transfer as a search process, we argue that
knowledge
inequality across social boundaries should reach its peak when the underlying
knowledge is of moderate complexity. To test this hypothesis, we analyze
patent data and compare citation rates across three types of social boundaries:
within versus outside the firm, geographically near to versus far from the
inventor, and internal versus external to the technological class. In all three
cases, the disparity in knowledge diffusion across these borders is greatest
for knowledge of an intermediate level of complexity. <Back
to top>
#05.12 (PDF: 350kb)
Luca Bertolini
For urban
transportation planners these are challenging times. Mounting practical
concerns are mirrored by more fundamental critiques. The latter come together
in the observation that conventional approaches do not adequately account for
the irreducible uncertainty of future developments. The central aim of this
paper is to explore if and how an evolutionary approach can help overcome this
limit. Two core-hypotheses are formulated. The first is that the urban
transportation system behaves in an evolutionary fashion. The second hypothesis
is that because of this, urban transportation planning needs also to focus on
enhancing the resilience and adaptability of the system. Changes in transport
and land use development patterns and policies and in the broader context in
the post-war period in the Amsterdam region are analysed in order to illustrate
the two core-hypotheses. In the conclusions more general implications are
drawn. <Back to top>
#05.13 (PDF: 414kb)
Jürgen Essletzbichler
This paper summarizes the theoretical arguments from evolutionary
theory and ecological economics to put the trade-off between regional economic
diversity and regional economic growth on stronger theoretical foundations.
Hypotheses are tested using an empirical model that links regional economic
diversity to stability and growth using data on 177 BEA areas of the
continental United States during the period (1975-2002). <Back
to top>
#06.01 (PDF: 246kb)
Ron A. Boschma, Anne L.J. ter Wal
The traditional
district literature tends to assume that: (1) the competitiveness of firms
depends on external sources of knowledge; (2) all firms in a district benefit
from knowledge externalities; (3) relying on external knowledge relationships
necessarily means these are confined to the district area. Our case study of
the Barletta footwear district in the South of Italy suggests otherwise. Based
on social network analysis, we demonstrate that the local knowledge network is
quite weak and unevenly distributed among the local firms. A strong local
network position of a firm tended to increase their innovative performance, and
so did their connectivity to extra-local firms. So, it mattered being connected
either locally or non-locally: being co-located was surely not enough. Having a
high absorptive capacity seemed to raise only indirectly, through non-local
relationships, the innovative performance of firms. <Back
to top>
#06.02 (PDF: 283kb)
Elisa Giuliani
This paper
explores the relationship existing among the heterogeneous nature of firms in
industrial clusters, their structural position in knowledge networks and their
performance. Following the rising interest for spatially agglomerated
industrial firms and their learning and innovative potential the paper shows
empirically that the performance of firms in clusters is related with
firm-level knowledge endowments and their position in the knowledge network
using firm-level data on three wine clusters. <Back to top>
#06.03 (PDF: 115kb)
Ron
A. Boschma, Jesse W.J. Weltevreden
The paper
analyses from an evolutionary perspective how retailers respond and adapt to
b2c e-commerce. As such, the paper explores the diversity of behavior of
retailers with respect to the adoption of e-commerce. More in particular, it
examines empirically the extent to which the adoption of Internet strategies is
affected by firm-specific features (e.g., habits of the entrepreneur, routines
of firms), network relationships, and geographical proximity. Logistic
regression analyses of 643 independent retailers in the Netherlands suggest
that geography matters, controlling for other factors. That is, the probability
of having an Internet strategy increases significantly when (a) the more
knowledge spillovers are locally available; (b) the more demanding local
customers are; and (c), the less rivalry is present locally. <Back
to top>
#06.04 (PDF: 122kb)
How do changes
in the spatial organization of entrepreneurial firms come about? This paper
provides a conceptualisation of the process of locational change. A process
model of locational change is constructed on the basis of an empirical study of
109 locational events during the life course of 25 young firms in knowledge intensive
sectors (knowledge services and biomedicals). This process model of locational
change maps both internal and external variation and selection processes. This
model contributes to the development of a causal process theory of the spatial
development of (new) firms. <Back to top>
#06.05 (PDF: 158kb)
Veronique Schutjens, Erik Stam
We know that
most businesses fail. But what is not known is to what extent failed
ex-entrepreneurs set up in business again. The objective of this article is to
explore potential and realized serial entrepreneurship. Based on three
disciplines – psychology, labour economics, and the sociology of careers
– we formulated propositions to explain (potential) serial
entrepreneurship. We tested these propositions empirically with a longitudinal
database of 79 businesses that had closed within 5 years after start-up. A
large majority of the ex-entrepreneurs maintained entrepreneurial intentions
subsequent to business closure, while almost one in four business closures were
followed by a new business (serial entrepreneurship). Our results show that the
determinants of restart intention (potential serial entrepreneurship) and
actual restart realization (realized serial entrepreneurship) are different.
Ex-entrepreneurs who are young, who worked full-time in their prior business,
and who recall their business management experience positively are likely to
harbour restart intentions. Only ‘being located in an urban region’ transpired
to have a significant effect on the start of a new business. Although
entrepreneurial intentions are a necessary condition for the start of a new
business, this study shows that the explanation of entrepreneurial intentions
is distinct from the explanation of new business formation subsequent to
business closure.
#06.06 (PDF: 344kb)
In recent
years, economic geographers have seized on the concepts of ‘path dependence’
and ‘lock-in’ as key ingredients in constructing an evolutionary approach to
their subject. However, they have tended in to invoke these notions without a
proper examination of the ongoing discussion and debate devoted to them within
evolutionary economics and elsewhere. Our aim in this paper, therefore, is,
first, to highlight some of the unresolved issues surround these concepts, and,
second, to explore their usefulness for understanding the regional economic
evolution. We argue that in many important aspects, path dependence and lock-in
are place-dependent processes, and as such require geographical explanation. At
the same time, there has been little discussion of regional path creation: the
assumption has been that new technological-economic paths emerge at random or
spontaneously across space, an assumption that we find too simplistic. This
leads on to the key question as to why some regional economies become locked
into development paths that lose dynamism, whilst other regional economies seem
able to avoid this danger and in effect are able ‘reinvent’ themselves through
successive new paths or phases of development. We conclude that whilst path
dependence is an important feature of the economic landscape, the concept
requires further elaboration if it is to function as a core concept in an
evolutionary economic geography. <Back to top>
#06.07 (PDF: 576kb)
In this paper
we contribute to the longstanding discussion on the role of knowledge to
economic growth in a spatial context. We observe that in adopting the European
policy strategy towards a competitive knowledge economy, The Netherlands is
– as most European countries - mainly oriented towards industrial,
technological factors. The policy focus is on R&D specialized regions in
their spatial economic strategies. We place the knowledge economy in a broader
perspective. Based on the knowledge economy literature, we value complementary
indicators: the successful introduction of new products and services to the
market (‘innovation’) and indicators of skills of employees (‘knowledge
workers’). Using econometric analysis, we relate the three factors ‘R&D’,
‘innovation’ and ‘knowledge workers’ to regional economic growth. We conclude
that the factors ‘innovation’ and ‘knowledge workers’ are more profoundly
related to urban employment and productivity growth than the R&D-factor.
Preferably, urban research and policymakers should therefore take all three
knowledge factors into account when determining economic potentials of cities. <Back to top>
#06.08 (PDF: 130kb)
Koen Frenken, Gerben van der Steege
The thesis
advanced in this paper holds that any transaction cost explanation of the
diffusion of a particular organizational form requires an evolutionary analysis
of differential performance of competing organizational forms over time. Using
data on 1141 dairy factories in The Netherlands, we find evidence that
cooperative factories performed significantly better than private factories,
which can be explained by cooperatives’ lower transaction costs. However,
superior performance is observed only in the Northern part, while cooperatives
were more dominant in the Southern part. This suggests that entry conditions
for cooperative factories in the South were more favourable than in the North. <Back
to top>
#06.09 (PDF: 198kb)
While networks
are widely thought to enhance regional innovative capability, there exist few
longitudinal studies of their formation and evolution over time. Based on an
analysis of all patenting inventors in the U.S. from 1975 to 2002, we observe
dramatic aggregation of the regional inventor network in Silicon Valley around
1989. Based on network statistics, we argue that the sudden rise of giant
networks in Silicon Valley can be understood as a phase transition during which
small isolated networks form one giant component. By contrast, such a
transition in Boston occurred much later and much less dramatically. We do not
find convincing evidence that this marked difference between the two regions is
due to regional differences in the propensity to collaborate or the involvement
of universities in patenting. Interviews with key network players suggest that
contingent labor mobility between established firms in Silicon Valley, in particular
resulting from IBM’s policy as a central player in patenting activity, promoted
inter-organizational networking, leading to larger inventor networks. <Back
to top>
#06.10 (PDF: 187kb)
The present
paper investigates the role of decentralisation for the adaptability of production
networks in clusters. It develops a simulation model able to test to what
extent decentralised, networked clusters with many small firms (Silicon Valley)
can be more adjustable than those composed of fewer, large companies (Boston
128). The model finds that for limited degrees of product complexity,
decentralisation increases cluster adaptability at the expense of greater
instability. This increases the risk of firm failure. Moreover, it is shown
that agent numbers matter greatly for the competitiveness of decentralised
clusters. Only if they host more firms than integrated cluster types is their
lead in performance maintained. As a result, an additional condition had to be
met to allow the Silicon Valley type to outperform the Boston 128 one: Greater
firm numbers and strong startup dynamics. <Back to top>
#06.11 (PDF: 317kb)
#07.01 (PDF: 109kb)
We propose a
framework that specifies the process of economic development as an evolutionary
branching process of product innovations. Each product innovation provides a
growth opportunity for an existing firm or a new firm, and for an existing city
or a new city. One can then obtain both firm size and city size distributions
as two aggregates resulting from a single evolutionary process. Gains from
variety at the firm level (economies of scope) and the urban level (Jacobs
externalities) provide the central feedback mechanism in economic development
generating strong path dependencies in the spatial concentration of industries
and the specialisation of cities. Gains from size are also expected, yet these
are ultimately bounded by increasing wages. The contribution of our framework
lies in providing a micro-foundation of economic geography in terms of the
interplay between industrial dynamics and urban growth. The framework is
sufficiently general to investigate systematically a number of stylised facts
in economic geography, while at the same time it is sufficiently flexible to be
extended such as to become applicable in more specific micro-contexts. A number
of extensions related to the concepts of knowledge spillover and lock-in, are
also discussed. <Back to top>
#07.02 (PDF: 342kb)
Jürgen
Essletzbichler, David L. Rigby
Evolutionary
approaches in economics have gathered increasing support over the last 25
years. Despite an impressive body of literature, economists are still far from
formulating a coherent research paradigm. The multitude of approaches in
evolutionary economics poses problems for the development of an evolutionary
economic geography. For the most part, evolutionary economic geography imports
selective concepts from evolutionary biology and economics and applies those
concepts to specific problems within economic geography. We discuss a number of
problems with this approach and suggest that a more powerful and appealing
alternative requires the development of theoretically consistent models of
evolutionary processes. This paper outlines the contours of an evolutionary
model of economic dynamics where economic agents are located in different
geographical spaces. We seek to show how competition between those agents,
based on the core evolutionary principles of variety, selection and retention,
may produce distinct economic regions sharing properties that differentiate
them from competitors elsewhere. These arguments are extended to illustrate how
the emergent properties of economic agents and places co-evolve and lead to
different trajectories of economic development over space. <Back
to top>
#07.03 (PDF: 276kb)
We propose a
framework that specifies the process of economic development as an evolutionary
branching process of product innovations. Each product innovation provides a
growth opportunity for an existing firm or a new firm, and for an existing city
or a new city. One can then obtain both firm size and city size distributions
as two aggregates resulting from a single evolutionary process. Gains from
variety at the firm level (economies of scope) and the urban level (Jacobs
externalities) provide the central feedback mechanism in economic development
generating strong path dependencies in the spatial concentration of industries
and the specialisation of cities. Gains from size are also expected, yet these
are ultimately bounded by increasing wages. The contribution of our framework
lies in providing a micro-foundation of economic geography in terms of the
interplay between industrial dynamics and urban growth. The framework is
sufficiently general to investigate systematically a number of stylised facts
in economic geography, while at the same time it is sufficiently flexible to be
extended such as to become applicable in more specific micro-contexts. A number
of extensions related to the concepts of knowledge spillover and lock-in, are
also discussed. <Back to top>
#07.04 (PDF: 986kb)
An evolutionary
perspective on economic geography requires a dynamic understanding of change in
networks. This paper explores theories of network evolution for their use in
geography and develops the conceptual framework of geographical network
trajectories. It specifically assesses how tie selection constitutes the
evolutionary process of retention and variation in network structure and how
geography affects these mechanisms. Finally, a typology of regional network
formations is used to discuss opportunities for innovation in and across
regions. <Back to top>
#07.05 (PDF: 129kb)
Evert-Jan Visser, Oedzge Atzema
Over the past
decades, economic and innovation policy across Europe moved in the direction of
creating regional clusters of related firms and institutions. Creating clusters
through public policy is risky, complex and costly, however. Moreover, it is
not necessary to rely on clusters to stimulate innovation. A differentiated and
combined network approach to enhancing innovation and stimulating economic
growth may be more efficient and effective, especially though not exclusively
in regions lacking clusters. The challenge of such a policy is to mitigate the
bottlenecks associated with ‘global pipeline’, ‘local buzz’ and ‘stand alone’
strategies used by innovative firms (cf. Bathelt et al. 2004; Atzema &
Visser 2005b), and to combine these strategies with a view to their
complementarity in terms of knowledge effects. Private and semi-public brokers
will be key in the evolving policy, as timely organizational change is crucial
for continued innovation, while brokers also need to mitigate governance
problems. This requires region-specific knowledge in terms of sectors, life
cycles, institutional and socio-cultural factors, and yields spatially
differentiated and differentiating adjustment strategies. The role of public
policy is to assist in recruiting, provide start-up funding and monitor brokers.
With this, policy moves towards a decentralized, process-based,
region-specific, spatially diverging and multi-level system of innovation that
is geared towards the evolving innovation strategies of firms. <Back
to top>
#07.06 (PDF: 393kb)
This paper
contributes to the debate on localized knowledge externalities as potential
source for firm productivity gains. We apply multilevel analysis to link firm
productivity (and growth) to knowledge intensive spatial contexts in the
Netherlands. If localized knowledge externalities are important, then firms are
hypothesised to co-locate in order to capitalize on each other's knowledge
stocks. We conceptualise the regional knowledge base by three dimensions: local
'research and development' intensity, local 'innovativeness', and the
characterization of locations by a ‘knowledge workers’ dimension (based on ICT
use, educational level, communicative and creative skills). Controlling for
firm's heterogeneity, we find a relatively small spatial effect: regional
characteristics contribute for only a few percents to firm productivity. The
regional intensity of 'innovation' most significantly contributes to this
effect. We do not find a contextual spatial effect for productivity growth.
These results suggest that the territorial dimension of knowledge externalities
should not be exaggerated. <Back to top>
#07.07 (PDF: 128kb)
Anne L.J. ter Wal, Ron A. Boschma
The cluster
literature suffers from a number of shortcomings: (1) by and large, cluster
studies do not take into account that firms in a cluster are heterogeneous in
terms of capabilities; (2) cluster studies tend to overemphasize the importance
of place and geographical proximity and underestimate the role of networks
which are, by definition, a-spatial entities; (3) most, if not all cluster
studies have a static nature, and do not address questions like the origins and
evolution of clusters. Our aim is to overcome these shortcomings and propose a
theoretical framework on the evolution of clusters. Bringing together bodies of
literature on clusters, industrial dynamics, the evolutionary theory of the
firm and network theory, we describe how clusters co-evolve with: (1) the
industry they adhere to; (2) the (dynamic) capabilities of the firms they
contain; and (3) the industry-wide knowledge network they are part of. Based on
this framework, we believe the analysis of cluster evolution provides a
promising research agenda in evolutionary economic geography for the years to
come. <Back to top>
#07.08 (PDF: 204kb)
The
knowledge-based theory of the geographic cluster represents a major attempt to
re-conceptualize clusters, in essence arguing that the localization of firms in
similar and related industries stimulates learning and innovation, giving a
competitive advantage to clustered firms. This paper critically examines the
knowledge-based theory the cluster, arguing that it has greatly overstated the
advantages of co-location to firms and misidentified the mechanisms through
which learning occurs in clusters. In particular, the theory is criticized on
three points: the flexible, under-specified way that it defines its object of
study; the focus on firms as an explanatory variable instead of more fundamental
processes of resource accumulation; and the functionalist mode of theory that
employs as an explanation. Ways to address of each of these issues are
discussed. In a final section I suggest that the rather static notions of
learning put forward in the knowledge-based theory of the cluster be replaced
by a developmental theory of regional dynamics that focuses on both learning
and structural transformation. <Back to top>
#07.09 (PDF: 136kb)
Bjørn
Asheim, Ron A. Boschma, Philip
Cooke
The article
presents a regional innovation policy model, based on the idea of constructing
regional advantage. This policy model brings together concepts like related
variety, knowledge bases and policy platforms. Related variety attaches great
importance to knowledge spillovers across complementary sectors, possibly in a
region. Then, the paper categorises knowledge into ‘analytical’ (science
based), ‘synthetic’ (engineering based) and ‘symbolic’ (artistic based) in
nature, with different ‘virtual’ and real proximity mixes. Finally, the
implications of this are traced for evolving ‘platform policies’ that
facilitate economic development within and between regions in action lines
appropriate to related variety and differentiated knowledge bases. <Back
to top>
#08.01 (PDF: 163kb)
Few industries
are more concentrated than the global fashion industry. We analyse the
geography and evolution of the ready-to-wear fashion design industry by looking
at the yearly entry rates following an organizational ecology approach. In
contrast to earlier studies on manufacturing industries, we find that
legitimation effects are local and competition effects are global. This result
points to the rapid turnover of ideas in fashion on the one hand and the global
demand for fashion apparel on the other hand. We attribute the decline of Paris
in the post-war period to 'institutional lock-in', which prevented a
ready-to-wear cluster to emerge as vested interested of haute couture designers
were threatened. An extended organizational ecology model provides empirical
support for this claim.<Back to top>
#08.02 (PDF: 145kb)
Ron A. Boschma, Simona Iammarino
This paper
makes an attempt to estimate the impact of regional variety and trade linkages
on regional economic growth by means of export and import data by Italian
province (NUTS 3) and sector (3-digit) for the period 1995-2003. Our results
show strong evidence of related variety contributing to regional economic
growth, no matter how growth is defined. Thus, Italian regions well endowed
with sectors that are complementary in terms of competences (i.e. having
related variety) perform better. The paper also assesses the effects of the
breadth and relatedness of international trade linkages on regional growth, as
it may bring new and related variety in the region. Our analysis demonstrates
that regional growth is not affected by being well connected to the outside
world per se, or having a high variety of knowledge flowing into the region.
When the extra-regional knowledge originated from sectors the region is already
specialised in, it did not positively impact on regional economic growth
either. We found, however, some evidence of related extra-regional knowledge
sparking off inter-sectoral learning across regions. With respect to employment
growth, we could demonstrate that a region benefits from extra-regional
knowledge when it originates from sectors that are related, but not similar to
the sectors present in the region. Apparently, when the cognitive proximity
between the extra-regional knowledge and the knowledge base of the region is
neither too small nor too large, real learning opportunities are present, and
the external knowledge contributes to regional employment growth. <Back
to top>
#08.03 (PDF: 187kb)
Rik Wenting, Oedzge Atzema, Koen Frenken
Urban economic
growth and industrial clustering is traditionally explained by Marshallian
agglomeration economies benefiting co-located firms. The focus on firms rather
than people has been challenged by Florida arguing that urban amenities and a
tolerant climate attract creative people, and the firms they work for, to
certain cities. We analyse to what extent these two mechanisms affect the
locational behaviour of Dutch fashion designers. On the basis of a
questionnaire, we find that urban amenities are considered more important than
agglomeration economies in entrepreneurs’ location decision. Designers located
in the Amsterdam cluster do not profit from agglomeration economies as such,
but rather from superior networking opportunities with peers both within and
outside the cluster. <Back to top>
#08.04 (PDF: 1,6MB)
Although a rich
literature has emerged analyzing the impact of localization, urbanization, and
Jacobs externalities on regional innovativeness, the findings are still
contradictory. Traditional studies differ mainly in the employed data but rely
on similar empirical approaches. This paper argues in favor of using in this
context production frontier approaches instead of the commonly employed
production function approaches. In addition, a nonparametric frontier approach
is used to empirically examine the influence of the externalities on regions’
innovativeness. For four different industries positive effect of localization
and urbanization externalities are found. In contrast, with the exception of
the transport equipment industry, Jacobs externalities seem to be of minor
importance.
#08.05 (PDF: 149kb)
Renato
Aristides Orozco Pereira
The term
“globalization” has long been vented indiscriminately everywhere with few being
capable to either define or measure it. Cities are said to be at the forefront
of the “works of globalization” by becoming coordinating centers for the
transnational activities of multinational corporations. Ultimately, they become
tied up to each other, as those activities require information inputs from
different regions of the world. The article uses the advanced corporate service
firms’ location patterns to measure the linkages between cities. As social, economical,
cultural and political information about the cities flow through the firms’
network of branch offices, a highly connected city provides better corporate
servicing to businessman wanting to do business elsewhere. By calculating the
total connectivity of each city to the rest of the world, as well as total
presence of global service firms within these cities, in the years 2000 and
2004, we produce a measure of the connectivity growth in the period. In a
second moment, we use a linear regression model to test hypothesis concerning
the determinants of connectivity growth in those cities. Results show us that
connectivity growth in a city, in case of firm’s network expansion, display a
“rich-get-rich” behavior on which well connected cities became even more
connected. Furthermore, connectivity growth is responsive to competition,
agglomeration economies, infrastructure, trade openness, human capital and the
overall economic level of the country. Some of the variables behave differently
according to the service firms’ sector being analyzed. In particular, we
scrutinize the role of human capital as a determinant of connectivity growth in
the management and banking sector, and interpret the results as a function of
whether the sector is skilled-labor intensive (management) or capital intensive
(banking)..
#08.06 (PDF: 133kb)
Lucia Cusmano,
Maria Luisa Mancasi & Andrea
Morrison
The paper
investigates the diversified patterns of outsourcing in the Lombardy region and
relates them to the probability of introducing product and process innovation.
Based on a large firm-level survey, we show that outsourcing processes are
strongly regionally embedded and that offshoring is still a limited phenomenon.
Outsourcing strategies are shown to have a positive impact on firms’
innovation. In particular, the outsourcing of service activities contributes
the most to innovation, thus suggesting that firms successfully pursue core
strengthening strategies. Our econometric estimates show that both geographical
and organizational proximity matter. Indeed, the positive association of
services with innovation is strongly related to their regional dimension, which
points toward the importance of local user-producer relationships. When outsourcing
crosses national borders, keeping the outsourced activities at least loosely
connected to the firm appears critical, as offshoring to non affiliated firms
has a clear negative impact on innovation.
#08.07 (PDF: 287kb)
What is meant
by entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth is often not clear or very
idiosyncratic. This paper starts with a discussion of the nature of
entrepreneurship and its relation to innovation. The second section provides an
overview of theory and empirical research on the relation between
entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth. The paper continues with a
study on entrepreneurship and innovation in the Netherlands in an international
and historical perspective. After these conceptual, theoretical and empirical
investigations, we turn to policy issues.
#08.08 (PDF: 722kb)
Frank Neffke, Martin Svensson Henning,
Ron A. Boschma, Karl-Johan Lundquist
& Lars-Olof Olander
In this paper,
the changing roles of agglomeration externalities during different stages of
the industry life cycle are investigated. A central argument is that agglomeration
externalities vary with mode of competition, innovation intensity, and
characteristics of learning opportunities in industries. Following the Industry
Life Cycle perspective, we distinguish between young and mature industries, and
investigate how these benefit from MAR, Jacobs’ and Urbanization externalities.
The empirical analysis builds on a Swedish plant level dataset that covers the
period of 1974-2004.The outcomes of panel data regression models show that the
benefits industries derive from their local environment are strongly associated
with their stage in the industry life cycle. Whereas MAR externalities increase
with the maturity of industries, Jacobs’ externalities decline when industries
are more mature. This is in line with the hypothesis that young industries
operate in an environment dominated by rapid product innovation and low levels
of standardization. Hence, it pays off when knowledge can be sourced locally
from many different sources, but there is still little scope for specialization
benefits. Mature industries, in contrast, are associated with lower innovation
intensities and a focus on cost saving process innovations. Therefore, there
are major benefits to be derived from specialization, whereas knowledge
spillovers from different industries are less relevant. The distinction between
the product competition in young industries and price competition in mature
industries is reflected in our finding that high regional factor costs are
detrimental to mature industries, but not to young industries. This can also be
related to the finding that high quality living environments, attractive for
highly paid employees, are important to young industries. Overall, the outcomes
stress that industrial life cycles have to be taken into account in the
analysis of agglomeration externalities.
#08.09 (PDF: 134kb)
Ron A. Boschma, Rikard Eriksson & Urban Lindgren
This paper
analyses the impact of skill portfolios and labour mobility on plant
performance by means of a unique database that connects attributes of individuals
to features of plants for the whole Swedish economy. We found that a portfolio
of related competences at the plant level increases significantly productivity
growth of plants, in contrast to plant portfolios consisting of either similar
or unrelated competences. Based on the analysis of 101,093 job moves, we found
that inflows of skills that are related to the existing knowledge base of the
plant had a positive effect on plant performance, while the inflow of new
employees with skills that are already present in the plant had a negative
impact. Our analyses show that inflows of unrelated skills only contribute
positively to plant performance when these are recruited in the same region.
Labour mobility across regions only has a positive effect on productivity
growth of plants when this concerns new employees with related skills.
#08.10 (PDF: 300kb)
A widely held
view in cluster research is that clusters are characterized by the presence of
networks of local collective learning. However, with a growing number of
studies indicating this is not necessarily the case, the question arises under
which conditions clusters exhibit dense networks of local collective learning. Taking
a longitudinal view at the high-tech cluster of Sophia-Antipolis this paper
investigates whether and how networks of collective learning among inventors
emerged throughout the growth of the cluster from the late 1970s onwards. On
the basis of EPO and USPTO patent data we reconstructed co-inventorship
networks for the cluster’s two main industries. Detecting a network of local
collective learning only in Information Technology, in which growth has been
increasingly based on spin-offs and start-ups, and not in Life Sciences, we
suggest that the extent and nature of the local concentration of firms over
time strongly affect the evolution of local collective learning networks.
#08.11 (PDF: 1154kb)
Tom Broekel, Andreas
Meder
Studies
analyzing the importance of intra- and inter-regional cooperation for regional
innovation performance are mainly of qualitative nature and focus strongly on
the positive effects that high levels of cooperation can yield. For the case of
the German labor market regions and the Electrics & Electronics industry
the paper provides a quantitative-empirical analysis taking into account the
possibility of negative effects related to regional lock-in, lock-out, and
cooperation overload situations. Using conditional nonparametric frontier
techniques and cooperation behavior measures we find positive as well as
substantial negative effects of cooperation with the latter being induced by
excessive and unbalanced cooperation behavior.
#08.12 (PDF: 180kb)
Thomas Brenner, Dirk
Fornahl
This paper
studies the impact of an existing industrial structure in a region on the
number of start-ups in this region. The aim is to detect path-dependencies in
the regional industry structure. To this end we study empirically the regional
factors that influence start-up rates. The approach deviates from the huge
literature on start-up rates by studying each 2-digit industry separately,
including the employment in other industries into the analysis and
distinguishing between factors that provide founders and factors that influence
their likelihood to start a firm.
#08.13 (PDF: 318kb)
Niels Bosma, Erik Stam, Veronique Schutjens
Do processes of
firm entry and exit improve the competitiveness of regions? If so, is this a
universal mechanism or is it contingent on the type of industry or region in
which creative destruction takes place? This paper analyses the effect of firm
entry and exit on the competitiveness of regions, measured by Total Factor
Productivity (TFP) growth. Based on a study across 40 regions in the
Netherlands over the period 1988-2002, we find that firm entry is related to
productivity growth in services, but not in manufacturing. The positive impact
found in services does not necessarily imply that new firms are more efficient
than incumbent firms; high degrees of creative destruction may also improve the
efficiency of incumbent firms. We also find that the impact of firm dynamics on
regional productivity in services is higher in regions exhibiting diverse but
related economic activities.
#08.14 (PDF: 239kb)
Dirk-Jan Koch, Ruerd Ruben
Strong patterns
of concentration characterize the location decisions of development NGOs. Since
current theories on non-profit location choice tend to neglect such tendencies,
this article develops an evolutionary economic geography approach to non-profit
organizations. It focuses on increasing returns to scale, labor mobility and
path dependence and contextualizes those factors. A survey involving visual
ranking methods of OECD-based development NGOs and structured field-level
interviews with local NGOs in the Central African Republic and Tanzania provide
original empirical data. Statistical methods are used to contrast the divergent
experiences in the two countries. The article concludes that the increased
interest of international NGOs in Tanzania and their continued lack of interest
in the Central African Republic are self-perpetuating processes that explain
the concentration of NGOs. This concentration may lead to increased efficiency,
but reduces the equitable distribution of NGO aid and therefore has
implications for the attainment of global poverty goals.
#08.15 (PDF: 379kb)
Jérôme Vicente,
Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Olivier Brossard
This paper aims
to contribute to the empirical identification of clusters by proposing
methodological issues based on network analysis. We start with the detection of
a composite knowledge process rather than a territorial one stricto sensu. Such
a consideration allows us to avoid the overestimation of the role played by
geographical proximity between agents, and grasp its ambivalence in knowledge
relations. Networks and clusters correspond to the complex aggregation process
of bi or n-lateral relations in which agents can play heterogeneous structural
roles. Their empirical reconstitution requires thus to gather located
relational data, whereas their structural properties analysis requires to
compute a set of indexes developed in the field of the social network analysis.
Our theoretical considerations are tested in the technological field of GNSS
(Global Satellite Navigation Systems). We propose a sample of knowledge
relations based on collaborative R&D projects and discuss how this sample
is shaped and why we can assume its representativeness. The network we obtain
allows us to show how the composite knowledge process gives rise to a structure
with a peculiar combination of local and distant relations. Descriptive
statistics and structural properties show the influence or the centrality of
certain agents in the aggregate structure, and permit to discuss the
complementarities between their heterogeneous knowledge profiles. Quantitative
results are completed and confirmed by an interpretative discussion based on a run
of semi-structured interviews. Concluding remarks provide theoretical
feedbacks.
#08.16 (PDF: 164kb)
Max-Peter
Menzel
The analysis of
qualitative regional change requires an approach that is able to cope with
these changes from a relational perspective. While the proximity concept explains
the spatiality of relations at a particular point in time and describes them in
terms of proximity and distance, a dynamic proximity concept must explain how
these distances are both bridged and created. Three different dynamics are
elaborated: a cognitive dynamic that changes through learning, a network
dynamic that changes when connections are made and a spatial dynamic that
changes whenever actors move in space. Proximity dimensions are constructed
using these three dynamics. It is argued that bridging distances is the crucial
process in changing relations and that bridging distance in one dimension
requires proximities in other dimensions. Implications for regional development
are derived.
#08.17 (PDF: 71kb)
Within the
evolutionary economic geography framework the role of institutions deserves
more explicit attention. We argue that territorial institutions are to be
viewed as orthogonal to organisational routines in that each territory is
characterised by a variety of routines, and in that a single firm can apply its
routines in different territorial contexts. It is therefore meaningful to
distinguish between institutional economic geography and evolutionary economic
geography as their explanans is different. Yet, the two approaches can be
combined in a dynamic framework in which institutions co-evolve with
organisational routines, particularly in emerging industries. Furthermore,
integrating the evolutionary and institutional approach allows one to analyse
the spatial diffusion of organisational routines that mediate conflicts between
social groups, in particular, those between capitalists and labourers. An
evolutionary economic geography advocates an empirical research program, both
qualitative and quantitative, in which the relative importance of
organisational routines and territorial institutions for regional development
can be addressed.
#08.18 (PDF: 324kb)
Using dynamic
panel data methods on UK counties (1841-1971), we investigate long-term employment
dynamics in seven distinct local industries. We study how industries benefit
from specialised environments (MAR), diverse local economies (Jacobs’) and
large local markets (urbanization), and, in contrast to most other authors,
test if the strength of MAR, Jacobs’ and urbanization externalities changes
over time. We find declining MAR and rising Jacobs’ externalities since the
mid-nineteenth century, questioning the adequacy of a static framework when
studying agglomeration externalities.
#08.19 (PDF: 391kb)
Frank Neffke, Martin Svensson Henning
In this paper
we measure technological relatedness between industries using a dataset on
product portfolios of plants. For this purpose we first develop a general
methodology to extract data on co-occurrences of classes (e.g. industries) in a
single entity (e.g. a plant) to construct estimates of the relatedness between
the classes. The core assumption, in line with the concept of economies of
scope, is that if two products are produced in the same plant, this is an
indication of relatedness between the industries the two products are a part
of. Unlike earlier methods, we arrive at a Revealed Relatedness (RR) index that
can be interpreted on a ratio scale, allows for the use of indirect (i.e. not
directly observed) information on industry relatedness, and conceptualizes
relatedness as being asymmetric or directed. Direction of relatedness provides
information on, for example, the most likely direction of spillovers between
two classes. We also graph the RR matrices using methods borrowed from social
network analysis. The result is a visualization of the “industry space” and how
that changes over time with structural transformation of the economy. In order
to test the validity of the framework, the industry space is used to plot
structural transformation paths of regions. It is shown that the RR matrix
indeed has significant explanatory power for the composition and change of a
regions portfolio of manufacturing industries, in spite of the fact that regional
information played no role in its derivation. This confirms the quality of our
RR estimates.
#08.20 (PDF: 409kb)
Frank Neffke, Martin Svensson Henning,
Ron A. Boschma
Cities vary
with regard to the characteristics of their economic life. A formal model by
Duranton and Puga (2001) suggests a division of labour between diversified and
specialized cities. Diversified cities (the “nursery cities”) provide a fertile
environment for search and innovation. Specialized cities, by contrast, are
better equipped to facilitate mass-production. In essence, this spurs firms to
re-locate as they mature from the exploratory set-up stage to mass-production.
In this article, we empirically test the assumptions behind this model by means
of survival analysis using Swedish plant level data of over 11 000 plants. More
specifically, we investigate the effects of local specialization and local
diversity on plant survival at different ages of a plant and for different size
categories of plants. Not all types of local diversity will be of value to a
plant. Rather, we expect plants to benefit especially from local diversity in
related industries. In a similar vein, cities with a large concentration of a
broad range of activities in related trades may confer larger benefits than cities
with a narrow specialization in the plant’s own industry. To quantify the
degree of relatedness between industries, we use a new measure, Revealed
Relatedness. This serves to identify technological relatedness by measuring
economies of scope as implied by the structure of production portfolios of
plants. The findings suggest that regional characteristics strongly influence
the chances of a plant to survive. In general, the hypothesized specialization
effects are only found when we look at related specialization. Large plants at
high stages of maturity form the only exception to this. However, diversity
effects are only visible when we take all local diversity into account, not
just diversity in related industries. Moreover, it is only young firms that benefit
from regional diversity. This indicates that the “nursery city” metaphor holds
as much for small, prototype plants as for large mass-production plants.
#09.01 (PDF: 171kb)
The paper tries
to construct the historical methodology for evolutionary economic geography. I
elevate history to the methodological foundation of evolutionary economic
geography, on which concrete research methods should be based. I explore how to
evolution in economic geography by placing history in historical time and
historical contexts. Accordingly, the concepts of path creation and path
dependence should be used together in historical study. More important, the
concept of path interdependence, which stresses the importance of the
circumstances under which different processes and events are likely to occur,
opens a new window on the temporal aspects of the world.
#09.02 (PDF: 210kb)
This paper
analyzes the effects of the evolution of knowledge base in the manufacturing sectors
on regional productivity growth. Knowledge is viewed as a heterogeneous asset,
and an evolutionary perspective is adopted. The results of the empirical
estimations corroborate the hypothesis that beyond the traditional measure of
knowledge stock, knowledge coherence and variety matter in shaping productivity
dynamics. The check for spatial dependence suggests that cross-regional
externalities exert additional triggering effects on productivity growth,
without debasing the effects of knowledge. Important policy implications stem
from the analysis, in that regional innovation strategies should be carefully
coordinated so as to reach a higher degree of internal coherence and exert
positive effects on productivity.
#09.03 (PDF: 2.4mb)
Roderik Ponds and Frank van Oort and Koen Frenken
This paper
analyses the effect of knowledge spillovers from academic research on regional
innovation. Spillovers are localized to the extent that the underlying
mechanisms are geographically bounded. However, university-industry
collaboration - as one of the carriers of knowledge spillovers - is not limited
to the regional scale. Consequently, we expect spillovers to take place over
longer distances. The effect of university-industry collaboration networks on
knowledge spillovers is modelled using an extended knowledge production
function framework applied to regions in the Netherlands. We find that the
impact of academic research on regional innovation is mediated not only by
geographical proximity but also by social networks stemming from collaboration
networks.
#09.04 (PDF: 536kb)
Thomas
Brenner and Tom
Broekel
Measuring the
innovation performance of regions or nations has been repeatedly done in the
literature. What is missing in the literature is a discussion of what
innovation performance of a region means. How do regions or nations contribute
really to the innovation output of firms? And how can this contribution
be investigated in an empirically sound way? We argue that while the literature
offers many suggestions, their theoretical foundation is often weak and the
underlying assumptions are rarely discussed. In this paper, we systematize
various mechanisms by which spatial units influence firms’
innovation activities. On the basis of this, common innovation performance
measures and analyses are discussed and evaluated. It is concluded that there
is no general best way of measuring the innovation performance of spatial
units. In fact, the most interesting insights can be obtained using a multitude
of different approaches at the same time.
#09.05 (PDF: 236kb)
We propose an
evolutionary perspective on the geography of network formation that is grounded
in a dynamic proximity framework. In doing so, we root the proximity concept in
an evolutionary approach to the geography of innovation networks. We discuss
three topics. The first topic focuses on explaining the structure of networks.
The second topic concentrates on explaining the effects of networks on the
performance of actors. The third topic deals with the changing role of
proximity dimensions in the formation and performance of innovation networks in
the longer run.
#09.06 (PDF: 500kb)
Stefania Vitali and Mauro Napoletano and Giorgio Fagiolo
This paper
employs a homogenous firms database to investigate industry localization
in European countries. More specifically, we compare, across industries
and countries, the predictions of two of the most popular localization indices,
i.e., the Ellison and Glaeser index (Ellison and Glaeser, 1997) and the
Duranton and Overman index (Duranton and Overman, 2005). We find that,
independently from the index used, localization is a pervasive phenomenon in
all countries studied, but the degree of localization is very uneven across
industries in each country. Furthermore, we find that
the two indices significantly diverge in predicting the intensity of the
forces generating localization within each industry. Finally, we perform
a cross-sectoral analysis of localized industries. We show that, in all countries,
localized sectors are mainly “traditional” sectors (like jewelery, wine, and
textiles) and sectors where scale economies are important. However, once one
controls for countries’ industrial structures science-based sectors turn out to
be the most localized ones.