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on Economics of Strategic Management |
|
Issue of 2007‒01‒14
twenty-two papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Biera Interior |
| By: | Aija Leiponen; Constance E. Helfat |
| Abstract: | Companies face an expanding set of choices about where to locate their innovation activity, both within their home countries and abroad. This location choice also requires firms to make a simultaneous choice about the organizational structure of innovation activity : almost by definition, multiple locations per firm imply some degree of decentralization. Using firm-level data on innovation output and the location of research and development (R&D) activity, we shed new light on the question of whether firms that have multiple locations also have greater innovation success. Our results indicate that, on average, having distributed R&D activity is beneficial in terms of the extent and breadth of innovation success, and the effect is strongly related to the knowledge sourcing strategies that firms employ. These results are consistent with the interpreta-tion that R&D location decisions are driven by the desire of firms to access a broad set of external sources of knowledge for innovation activities. We also find that the benefits of multiple R&D lo-cations do not apply to novel (new-to-the-market) innovations. Our results suggest that when analyzing technological innovation, it is important to distinguish between novel and imitative innova-tions, since their determinants may differ. |
| JEL: | O32 L22 |
| Date: | 2006–12–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rif:dpaper:1063&r=cse |
| By: | M-Cristina Martinez-Fernandez; Kim Leevers |
| Abstract: | University-industry alliances have long been pursued by public funded programs hoping to boost innovation spillovers in a geographical or cognitive area of research-strength by universities. However, there is still a lack of industry-university cooperation in many fields while at the same time the benefits of universities to their regions’ knowledge intensity is firmly advocated (Acs 2004, Martinez-Fernandez & Leevers 2004, Martinez-Fernandez 2004)). The issue is not limited to the dissemination of knowledge, a traditional role of universities, but to introducing change into the region’s innovation system through activities that increase industry competitive advantage. Results from a project conducted in South-West Sydney from 2003 to 2005 shows that active industry engagement by Universities offering specific expertise in frontier technologies has a positive effect in university-industry cooperation if compared with other technologies well established in the private sector. The project results also show that the role of Universities as active facilitators of industry engagement in frontier technologies is a critical element in the regional/local innovation system where the university operates. The paper discusses first the context of the emergence of the UWS Nanotechnology Network as a sophisticated knowledge intensive service activity led by the University. Secondly the paper discusses the particular case of nanotechnology as a science in an early path and the role of universities at this particular stage. Thirdly, the paper discusses the use and barriers of firms to nanotechnology applications and the role played by UWS during the duration of the project. Finally policy issues arise in relation to the role of the public education sector in the early promotion of frontier technologies. References Acs, Z. (2002) Innovation and the Growth of Cities. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Martinez-Fernandez, M.C. (2004) ‘Regional Collaboration Infrastructure: Effects in the Hunter Valley of NSW’, Australian Planner Vol 41(4); Planning Institute of Australia: Queensland. Martinez-Fernandez, M.C. and K. Leevers (2004) ‘Knowledge Creation, Sharing and Transfer as an Innovation Strategy: The Discovery of Nano-technology by South-West Sydney’. International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM), Volume 28 (3/4/5/6): 560-581. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p819&r=cse |
| By: | Miguel A. López-Morell (Universidad de Murcia); José M. O’Kean (Department of Economics, Universidad Pablo de Olavide) |
| Abstract: | In the period between 1835 and 1931 the Rothschild House established one of the most complex and influential business networks in Spanish economic history. This network controlled a wide range of activities, including financial services for the Spanish Government and the Bank of Spain, as well as the management of industrial, mining and railway firms. Instances of these firms are Rio Tinto Co., Société Minière et Metallurgique Peñarroya, MZA railway company and Deutsch & Cie, which was the main oil refining firm in Spain at the end of the 19th century. |
| Keywords: | Spain 1835-1931, Rothschild, networks, Weisweiller, Bauer, foreign investments in Spain, railways, mining and refining companies, international raw material market, Public Finances, entrepreneurial function, agency problems, rent-seeking. |
| JEL: | N00 |
| Date: | 2006–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pab:wpaper:06.32&r=cse |
| By: | Garrido Azevedo, Susana; Ferreira, João; Leitão, João |
| Abstract: | With the rapid growth of technologies, our economic society and life are changing significantly in the 21th century. The way to capture their competitive advantage has become the most important issue for enterprises in the rapidly changing and uncertain business environments. Many researches have pointed out that the adoption of technology is the most important tool for enterprises to keep their competitive advantage. The survival of an enterprise in the age of knowledge-based economy depends on how to improve their technological capability. In this sense, firms should develop adequate methodologies, in order to adopt, in a successful way, new technologies in the logistics field, and also to integrate logistics into the corporate strategy for becoming even more competitive. Growing number of firms are under pressure from their partners to change their traditional management style, both operationally and organizationally, replacing them with integrated systems that help increase the speed and fluidity of physical and information flows. In order to reach this kind of integration they are investing on new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). In this paper we consider that the ICT are the devices or infrastructures to make more efficient the communications of business information among organizations (Dawe, 1994). Being so, the present paper aims: (i) to highlight the importance of ICT on logistics; and (ii) to understand the impact of ICT on the firms’ competitiveness. In this paper a conceptual model for the adoption of Logistics’ ICT is presented, by taking into consideration four determinant factors: individual, organizational, technological or innovation, and environmental. The interaction established between the referred determinant factors may be identified through the computation of the predominant factor, by using a selected set of adequate indicators and a simple geometry methodology. These procedures may provide the identification of the sources of firms’ competitive advantages that adopt Logistics’ ICT. The Logistics’ ICT analysed in this paper are grouped into four types, such as, the identification, the data communications and the data acquisition technologies. With regard to the identification technologies, firms may appeal to barcoding, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). The barcoding (Chapman et al., 2003; Ellram et al., 1999), and RFID (Kumar et al., 2006; Twist, 2005; Choy et al., 2007), are identification technologies that facilitate logistics information collection and exchange. Nowadays, as regards the data acquisition technologies, the firms usually deal with a large amount of goods and data which means that data collection and exchange are critical for logistics information management and control. Good quality in data acquisition can help firms deliver customers' goods more accurately and efficiently. To attain this goal firms could appeal to some data acquisition technologies in logistics field, such as the optical scanning, the electronic pen notepads, (Lin, 2006), the voice recognition and the robotics (Dawe, 1994). |
| Keywords: | ICT; Logistics; Competitive Advantages; Strategy. |
| JEL: | M0 M11 |
| Date: | 2007–01–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:1359&r=cse |
| By: | Natarajan Balasubramanian; Marvin Lieberman |
| Abstract: | This paper characterizes inter-industry heterogeneity in rates of learning-by-doing and examines how industry learning rates are connected with firm performance. Using data from the Census Bureau and Compustat, we measure the industry learning rate as the coefficient on cumulative output in a production function. We find that learning rates vary considerably among industries and are higher in industries with greater R&D, advertising, and capital intensity. More importantly, we find that higher rates of learning are associated with wider dispersion of Tobin’s q and profitability among firms in the industry. Together, these findings suggest that learning intensity represents an important characteristic of the industry environment. |
| Keywords: | Learning, Firm Heterogeneity, RBV, Productivity |
| Date: | 2006–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:06-29&r=cse |
| By: | Kingsley E. Haynes; Lei Ding |
| Abstract: | Since the entry of Chinese domestic mobile handset manufacturers in 1998, Chinese domestic suppliers have successfully surpassed the market share of joint ventures (JVs) while direct imports have been largely phased out. By examining China’s mobile handset manufacturing sector as a whole and through case studies, we found several factors that contributed to the success of China’s domestic handset manufacturers which can be classified into three categories: market conditions, competition, and government’s support. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p17&r=cse |
| By: | SHIFERAW, A. |
| Keywords: | manufacturing; business economics; econometric analysis; Ethiopia; |
| Date: | 2006 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iss:wpaper:425&r=cse |
| By: | Baldomero Segura-Garciadel Rio; Marna Del Val Segarra-Opa |
| Abstract: | The main objective of the research project is to increase the competitiveness of the Spanish ceramic tile industry and, in this paper, we make a first approach to the state of the art in order to generate a theoretical model of study. This sector faces an increasing competition from other countries. Nowadays, the sector has access to a great deal of technological capacity and needs to diversify and differentiate its products. The precise objectives that we wish to pursue are the following: First, we intend to identify the resources and capacities of the different companys’ behaviour and to evaluate the impact of industrial concentration, with the aim of developing a model that would allow us to propose new competitive strategies. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p188&r=cse |
| By: | Giulio Cainelli; Donato Iacobucci |
| Abstract: | Vertical integration, i.e. the control of activities along the production chain, is a fundamental issue for understanding firms’ strategic choices and production organization. In this paper we analyze the determinants of vertical integration in Italian manufacturing firms testing some hypotheses drawn from the transaction cost economics (TCE) and the property rights theory (PRT). Specifically, we focus on the role played by structural variables, such as spatial agglomeration and technology. While the role of technology in influencing vertical integration has been already investigated, the impact of spatial agglomeration is a novel contribution of this paper. The PRT makes the prediction that greater technology intensity of producers should be associated with greater vertical integration while greater technology intensity of suppliers should be associated with less vertical integration. The TCE makes the opposite hypothesis as the technology intensity of suppliers is associated with investment specificity, thus inducing vertical integration. As far as spatial agglomeration is concerned PRT makes the prediction that spatial proximity encourages vertical integration by raising the threat of knowledge appropriation by competitors. This effect is positive in high tech sectors while should be negligeable in low tech sectors. On the contrary TCE predicts a negative relationship between spatial agglomeration and vertical integration due to the reduction of opportunism within spatial clusters, such as industrial districts. In the empirical part of the paper we take advantage of a large data set on Italian business groups referring to 2001 which allow us to identify the production activities controlled by the same owner. In addition, using the Italian input-output table we are able to assess when these activities can be considered as vertical integration. Technology intensity is captured by the R&D expenditure while spatial agglomeration is captured by the belonging of firms to industrial districts as defined according to the Sforzi-ISTAT procedure. On the basis of these data we test different econometric specifications to detect the statistical relevance of technology, spatial agglomeration and their interaction in explaining firms’ vertical integration. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p286&r=cse |
| By: | Ferreira, João; Leitão, João; Garrido Azevedo, Susana |
| Abstract: | In the last years, broad changes have contributed to the enhancement of the importance of the logistics as a source of competitive advantage, not just for increasing the satisfaction of the clients, but also for improving the performance of the firms. Nevertheless, the response functions of the firms to the referred changes are different according to the life-cycle stage that they face. The present paper aims to present a conceptual model that explores the connection between the life-cycle firm’s stages, and the standard profile of logistics activities, and the correspondent impact on performance. |
| Keywords: | Life Cycle; Logistics; Performance. |
| JEL: | M1 M10 M0 M11 |
| Date: | 2007–01–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:1362&r=cse |
| By: | Zygmunt Zminda; Tomasz Zminda |
| Abstract: | Almost every textbook related to management includes chapter devoted to four key functions of management. Even a little-perceptive researcher will easily find the term of “controlâ€. However in literature there is definitely lower attention paid to the term of ‘monitoring’, especially if it refers to Regional Strategy. It entails difficulties to find ideal practices of monitoring and evaluation of Regional Innovation Strategythat would be suitable for Polish conditions. However, we can derive lessons from the best practices – (solutions) models that have been introduced and turned out to be useful in other regions of Europe or even the globe. The article covers the most important issues concerning essence of monitoring. It includes a consideration of some of the world best practice in search for the origins of monitoring of regional innovation capacity. At second part of the article authors present the conception of a simple monitoring and evaluation system of Regional Innovation Strategy that has been created and implemented in lubelskie region of Poland. Finally we show how to strengthen regional policy using monitoring system outlets we described. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p598&r=cse |
| By: | Effie Antoniou |
| Abstract: | During the past few decades there appeared to be an important increase in the interest about the environmental issues, the sustainability and the better management of development, respecting the environmental resources. New legislations, national and international (i.e. the European Union) influence, nowadays, the relationship between the development and the environment. Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of policies, plans and programmes, introduced by the European Commission and incorporated to the national legislation of the member states, is trying to achieve sustainable development always respecting the environment. It is widely believed that SEA have the ability to influence the environmental and sustainable nature of strategic decisions and to provide efficient, integrated and sustainable policies and planning frameworks in order to support and help the development process of projects. Sustainability has been developed as a very popular term for planners, politicians, experts, businesses, local authorities, non governmental orginisations and the public. The role of SEA is closely connected to the idea of sustainability since it was recognized as a mechanism for the success of sustainable development. The added value that is attributed to the environment through the SEA process is the ability to assess the economic and social impacts of plans or programmes, so that the plans or programmes could become sustainable. In order to apply the principles of sustainable development into plans and programmes someone should not target only to the natural and ecological issues but also should extend to the sectors of social prosperity and economic development. Strategic Environmental Assessment constitutes a motive and at the same time a challenge for all the EU member states in order to promote a more sustainable way of assessing the impacts of plans and programmes. A large number of the EU member states have incorporated the SEA into their national legislation, while some others, including Greece, are expected to incorporate it in the current year of 2006. Applying SEA to Greek programmes and plans, as well as to all the other countries of the EU the sustainability of the countries could be strengthened and confirmed. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p863&r=cse |
| By: | Carvalho, Pedro G. |
| Abstract: | After an institutional request, strategic planning is usually promoted by teams coordinated by one expert in the field, by a firm or by a University. The day it is delivered there is a general feeling of frustration with the outcome. This feeling is most likely due to an incomplete diffusion process or/and to some difficulties to measure long term and intangible outcomes. In this paper we intend to overcome some of these misinterpretations, reflecting on the mostly theoretical questions popping up from recent study cases; it is essentially centred upon the lived experiences and the methodological issues that only future will assess. This paper is also an academic exercise to share with the regional science peers the life experiment we had during PETUR (Strategic Plan for Tourism in Serra Estrela - Portugal), the acronym of the work team I coordinated, which rose a number of practical questions that one should reflect upon under recent theoretical developments in social sciences involving decision and collective action. The paper is structured as follows: (1) a context introduction; (2) an international and national literature review considering then in more detail (3) some recent developments on innovation diffusion theories. The (4) section illustrates some of the initiatives we took in the case study for a the specific region in Serra da Estrela, an internal small region located in between the Portuguese Atlantic coast and the Spanish border; the (5) section is devoted to the main focus of the paper - key issues in tourism Strategies. The paper will close with the concluding remarks where private-public partnership is mostly considered a complex learning process in order to excel in innovative diffusion processes. JEL Classification: R58; L83; O22; L26; C61; H77 |
| Keywords: | Keywords: tourism economics; planning methodology; organizational complexity; cluster strategy; Portugal |
| JEL: | L83 O22 R58 |
| Date: | 2006–11–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:1370&r=cse |
| By: | Loris Servillo |
| Abstract: | The EU’s ever-tightening focus on an urban agenda has led it, in recent years, to a clear recognition of cities as motors of regional, national and thus European development. Cities appears as crucial nodes, as centres of excellence of european territory, that can drive economic competitiveness and, at the same time, can forge territorial cohesion – itself an essential condition for the growth of long-term competitiveness. The opportunity to explicitly pursue the territorial dimension of cohesion will take substance with the forthcoming programming period. As cities seem to be crucial for the aim of a more coherent spatial framework of European development, urban policies will be one of the pillar of European Cohesion policy beeing strongly linked with territorial cohesion. From a strategic point of view, the Commission has proposed a new planning system which is of considerable significance for the territorial cohesion agenda, based on Community Strategic Guidelines and National Strategic Reference Framework governing the delivery of individual operational programmes, with the intention of to ensuring that overarching EU policy objectives are clearly reflected in the allocation of resources. The guidelines specifically will refer to the key issue of urban areas, suggesting the need to support competitiveness of neighboring cities. However how this aim will be tackled in practice depends on a number of issues. The thesis of the paper is about the various topics, emerging from the EU praxis, that seems relevant about urban policies: the urban and territorial governance, the "territorialization" of infrastructural projects, the urban policentric systems and city–region concept, the urban quality and renewaling instrument, the transnational cooperation and the urban networks. As well as taking into account the new context for territorial cohesion and urban policy, it is important to take stock of past experience and policy practice. Reletad, to understand how future urban policies might support territorial cohesion, it is worth considering how key measures have been implemented and what kind of tipologies it is possible to identify. The ESPON projects 2.3.1. and 2.3.2 will be the part of the core research field in which to extrapolate cases studies and analysis references. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p647&r=cse |
| By: | George Mihailidis; Giorgos Georgiadis; Nikos Koutsomarkos |
| Abstract: | (This paper is the result of a research program that was carried out by the Laboratory for Evaluation of Development Policies and Programs, University of Thessaly). Greek economy, after nominal converging with other western European countries and meeting the accession criteria to the European Monetary Union, sets as a new objective the attainment of “real†convergence. Success in this objective, while operating in a globalized economic environment and the single European market, will be judged on the choice of a development policy focused on competitiveness and regional development. This paper exactly aims at informing the strategic planning of a regional competitiveness policy. Especially, it intends to set specifications for a regional competitiveness strategy, to define actions at an institutional level for its implementation and to propose a quantification and measurement system of its results. Based on the definition of competitiveness and its determinant factors for each level (national, branch, enterprise, regional) and how they are intertwined, the necessity for a regional competitiveness strategy is validated by a critical analysis of Greek economy¢s recent related data and performance. The frame in which Greek regions¢ competitiveness problems will be addressed is analyzed under the light of the European Union¢s new regional development policies Furthermore, the article analyzes the competitiveness strategic planning of Greece and Greek regions in interventions of the current programming period. Namely, it evaluates the extent at which competitiveness is identified and specified in the Community Support Programme, the Competitiveness Operational Programme and the SWOT analyses of the Regional Operational Programmes. Moreover the policies that implement the European regional policy (CSP, OP) and the competitiveness policy (COP) are being evaluated on aspects that include fund allocation, strategy update, regional priorities, implementation progress, efficiency, performance, and synergies, as far as competitiveness and its determinant factors are concerned. Based on literature review, the paper assesses and analyzes the most renowned benchmark systems of countries¢ and regions¢ competitiveness. This paper results to a coherent set of proposals for regional competitiveness policy strategic planning. Particularly, it defines requests towards the aforementioned policy and identifies important issues for the forthcoming programming period. It proposes the establishment of regional agencies analogous to the National Competitiveness and Development Council, alternative organizational forms and a typical action plan. It defines an index set for Greek regions¢ competitiveness benchmarking, a synthesis and utilization methodology, and evaluates the documentation of available data. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p837&r=cse |
| By: | Knut Ingar Westeren |
| Abstract: | Aker Verdal produces steel jackets for the offshore industry and is situated in Trøndelag in peripheral Norway. The firm has about 600 employees and a yearly production value of about 200 mill. $. The main competitors are in the southern part of Europe, for example Dragados in Spain. The wage level at Dragados is about 50% lower than at Aker Verdal, but Aker has won several contracts in the later years. One reason for this is that Aker has a knowledge component that contributes to the compensation for higher wage costs. The firm wants to analyze how it acquires and develops knowledge capital by looking at: · Identification: What are the central knowledge processes that take place · Measurement: What kind of indicators can be used · Management: How is management of knowledge integrated in the general management of the firm In this paper we will look at a case study and see how that can be understood in a theoretical framework. We will also analyze the advantages and disadvantages of peripheral location and its influence on knowledge creation and development. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p582&r=cse |
| By: | Marijana Sumpor |
| Abstract: | Through the increasing importance of networking and use of participatory strategic planning approaches in the regional development practice, it seems that local and regional development theory moves from the concept of competitive advantages towards collaborative advantages. This conceptual move implies a redefinition of inter- and intra-institutional relations of the public and private sector, and therefore, calls for defining new forms of governance. The exploration of the concept of collaborative advantages might contribute to a better understanding of the relations between the European concepts of competition and cohesion. As networking in various forms and creation of collaborative advantages requires significant “coordination†of multiple development actors and activities across different territorial levels, a broad spectrum of research questions can be opened. This research paper is focussed on the problem of coordination, which is often mentioned as one of the main problems of local and regional development. Before any development activity can be coordinated, some preconditions have to be fulfilled, namely development actors have to be willing to communicate and to cooperate. Only then collaboration in the implementation of concrete development activities might occur. This process involves formal and informal institutional relationships, as well as multi-level governance. The main goal of this research paper is to explain and define the concept of collaborative advantages and coordination in the context of regional development policy. In Addition, a conceptual policy coordination model that combines horizontal and vertical relationships between the main development actors, while planning and implementing local and regional development activities, is presented. The regional development policy coordination model is developed on the basis of recent insights into regional, institutional, organizational and planning theories and practice. It is tested on the basis of the institutional framework and strategic planning experiences in Croatia, particularly in the context of the future integration into the European Union. The results indicate that the model is applicable in other countries and it contributes to a better understanding of institutional relationships in coordinating regional development activities and creating collaborative advantages. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p280&r=cse |
| By: | Nami Tanaka; Kazunari Tanaka; Yamaguchi Keiko; Tamagawa Eri |
| Abstract: | The paper discusses the initial field surveys to understand the conditions of tourism development and its perspectives of contribution towards regional development in developing countries. The case studies of Salt and Karak cities in Jordan are focused, where some international aid projects are under implementation. It is believed some clues for sustainable tourism development for the regional development, which may be referred to other regions, can be extracted. The reasons of focusing on Jordanian cases are the increasing potential and demand of tourism development in Middle East and an accessibility of information of existing master plan and ongoing projects supported through the ODA by Japanese government. The interview survey of party concerned and field survey carried out in 2005. Both cities were established and perished in 19th century that they inherited the historical resources such as Ottoman architecture and religious ruins. However, as same as many other local cities in the world, contemporary changes in social system such as governance, transportation, economic activities, and demography forced them into decline. Therefore, they are straggling to keep their sustainability through tourism development. Yet, their tourism resources are neither popular nor equipped to attract mass tourism from all over the world such as Petra, Madaba, and Dead Sea. As the intention of the study is to focus on the impacts of tourism development in the regional development that those less advantaged and in need of revitalization areas are picked up for case studies. The study will preliminary applies the Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat (SWOT) analysis for assessing the cities. Based on the results of analysis, some positive factors of tourism development in the regional development will be discussed. The findings may includes some aspects of tourism development measures such as utilization of available tourism resources, application of renovation and re-routing of existing tourism resources in order to make use of available resources and creation of network among them, provision of technical assistance from the outside including international aid agencies and NGOs, participation and ownership building of local residents in tourism development activities, and involvement of existing training institutions in the area. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p79&r=cse |
| By: | Zoran Njegovan |
| Abstract: | The policy of regional rural development has to be efficient. It must relay on so called “good governanceâ€. But in last few decades the results on this segment in the republic of Serbia couldn’t be qualified as significant. So the primary objective of the paper is focused on how to reverse the process of continued impoverishment of the local rural areas and create conditions for social, cultural, economic and environmentally sustainable development based on local initiative. In order to meet this objective, an attempt is made to define systematic, continuous and cyclic approach of setting up priorities and policies as a basic tool for strategic action planning on a local level (LSAP). Decentralization of the state, strengthening of local municipalities and participation of citizens are three processes which had to be articulated and which through their validity has to gain strength and importance in republic of Serbia. The paper can provisionally be divided into two parts. The first part encompasses the importance of local strategic planning as well as justification of theoretical approaches while the second part gives the bases for methodology of strategic action planning on the local level formulation. In such approach two basic preconditions of LSAP could be specified: adequate institutional base i.e. strong participation of local community and its main stakeholders like local government, citizens, NGO’s and others; as well as high level of professional knowledge which builds local stakeholders ability of planning. Introducing of the regional rural approach on the local level is connected with development of LSAP in three basic sectors: institutional – civil society, infrastructural and economic. Local community must be aware what does LSAP mean, why it is so important, what preconditions are important in its development, how it’s structure look like, how it has to be developed, and how to stimulate local initiative, participation, transparency and democracy to reach sustainability. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p172&r=cse |
| By: | Frank Van Oort; Roderik Ponds; Koen Frenken |
| Abstract: | The geography of innovation has established itself as a central subject in economic geography. Geographical proximity to firms and organizations like universities is supposed to have a positive effect on a firms’ innovative performance. One of the reasons causing these positive agglomeration effects is the fact that collaboration is eased by geographical proximity. Although the role of proximity for collaboration is a well researched theme with regard to innovation, less is known about the role of proximity in scientific collaboration and how this affects the probability and nature of networking among research institutions. This is surprising given the fact that collaboration in science has become a central policy issue. In this paper we set out a number of theoretical considerations about the role of geography for innovation and see whether these apply for science as well. The empirical part will focus on the geography of collaboration in scientific knowledge production, testing the hypothesis that collaboration between different kinds of organizations is geographically more localized than collaboration between the same kinds of organizations due to institutional or organizational proximity. Besides this we will analyze the importance of spatial proximity for various forms of collaboration (such as university-university and university-firm collaboration) using the concept of the gravity model. Finally we will look at the spatial structure of these collaboration networks using insights from social network methodology. Based on co-publications, central nodes of collaborative interaction and network structures are analysed over time. On the network-level we conclude on differences in the fields of life- and physical sciences and on differences on the type of relations according to university-firm, university-university and university-governmental institution linkages. On the regional level we conclude on the centrality and spatial extent of scientific collaboration hubs over time |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p762&r=cse |
| By: | Yiota Theodora |
| Abstract: | Although the start of the debate on the contribution of universities to the local and regional development dates back to several decades ago, it is only in the past 25 years that it has been intensified and seen from a new angle of investigation and consideration. It is therefore imperative that the “higher education – development†relationship be reviewed and placed on different basis. The causes for this is the major change in the content of “development" and the concept of “university†[mainly in terms of its role in the society and economy], the new policies and socio-economic conditions globally, the contemporary weight attributed to new technologies and knowledge dissemination as a “development factorâ€, as well as the large number of unsuccessful attempts to use the universities a “means†for development. In the context of this general consideration at global level, it is investigated whether the Greek regional universities- as they have been established, allocated, organized and operating- have played, and may play, some part in the development of the broader areas [region, town]. In other words, it is investigated whether the expansion of higher education institutions throughout Greece has contributed to the improvement of the education quality standard and resolution of the country’s “regional problemâ€. The approach to this question is based on the grounds of two principal pursuits. First, it is studied whether and how the expansion of university education has been used as a “means of development†at the principal stages of the country's “regional development†[1946-1999]. It is, therefore, investigated whether the policy on regional universities planning and establishment was integrated in the broader framework of policies on development and education, also taking into account the regional and local specificities, needs and capabilities. Second, it is studied which are the main “operational factors†that seem to have influenced the development role of regional universities and the relationship of the latter with local societies. The implementation of the study was based on the investigation of the relevant international and Greek bibliography, and on a series of surveys focusing on : a) the Greek planning system for “developmentâ€, “spatialâ€, “regional policies†and their association with “higher education†and b) the entirety of regional universities [8 universities, 1999] and cities - prefecture capitals of Greece [53], placing special emphasis on the seventeen university-cities [2003]. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p540&r=cse |
| By: | Carlos Roberto Azzoni; Aquiles Kalatzis |
| Abstract: | This study takes on an important part or regional growth, that is, the investment decisions of private firms. The question asked is: do corporations decide on investments in the same way in different parts of the territory? The paper analyses investments of 482 large Brazilian firms in the period 1996-2004. The role of sales, cash-flow, external financing, and working capital is investigated through regression analysis, following the literature on firm investment decisions. Regional dummies used to capture differences in the role of those determinants indicate that there are significant differences across regions. This is important information for regional development policy, for different mechanisms should be used in different regions in order to foster private investments. |
| Date: | 2006–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa06p161&r=cse |