Effective Clusters as Territorial Performance Engines in a Regional Development Strategy - A Triple-Layer DEA Assessment of the Aviation Valley in Poland

Regional development policy aims to cope with the challenge of spatial disparities. It is based on a smart combination of various critical capital assets in a region which functionally and spatially interact and which yield synergetic economic opportunities and promising challenges for innovation and progress. The present study regards sustainable territorial performance – as a manifestation of regional development – as the overarching principle for competitive advantages and economic growth in a system of regions, which is particularly induced by territorial capital, comprising human capital, infrastructural capital and social capital. In the long-standing tradition of regional development policy a wide variety of effective facilitators or drivers of accelerated spatial growth has been distinguished, for instance, industrial districts, growth poles, growth centers, industrial complexes, special economic zones, communication axes, and so forth. In the past decades, a new concept has been introduced, viz. economic-technological clusters. An avalanche of literature has been published on the conceptual, operational and policy foundation and relevance of this concept, especially in relation to previously developed regional growth concepts. In this paper, clusters will be regarded as the spatial foci of sustainable territorial performance strategies and synergetic actions by both public and private actors. The present paper aims to address the relevance of cluster concepts for an effective regional development policy, based on the above notion of territorial capital. It does so by introducing a new concept, viz. effective cluster, in which spatial-economic synergy, local/regional concentration of industry, and the supporting role of territorial capital are regarded as the main determinants of a highly performing cluster in a given territory. The effective cluster concept will be tested on the basis of a field study on the aviation and aerospace cluster ‘Dolina Lotnicza’ in the Podkarpackie region in South-East Poland. This is one of the most vibrant high-tech clusters in the country. A new approach based on a triple-layer architecture will be adopted here, viz.: a quantitative comparative analysis of the 16 Polish ‘voivodships’ (main administrative regions in the country, at a NUTS-2 level), a benchmark analysis of the 25 counties (‘powiats’) within the Podkarpackie voivodship (at a NUTS-4 level), and an effective industrial cluster analysis on the basis of the individual aviation firms located in the Podkarpackie region. In each step an extended Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), characterised by a merger of a Slack-Based Measure (SMB) and a super-efficiency (SE) DEA, will be used in order to achieve an unambiguous ranking of the various regions or Decision Making Units (DMUs). The study will employ an extensive database on individual actors in the cluster, in combination with a broadly composed territorial-capital database for the areas under study. The paper will be concluded with some strategic policy lessons

The Monetary Transmission Mechanism for a Small Open Economy in a Monetary Union

This paper develops a model of a small open economy integrated in a monetary union. The model incorporates the standard nominal and real frictions in the literature. The parameters of the model are calibrated to the Portuguese data and the effects of the standard monetary policy shock are studied.

Improving The Planning Quality Through Model-Based Factory Planning In BIM

In recent years, Building Information Modelling (BIM), which originated in the construction industry, is increasingly finding its way into the planning of factories and production environments. In the scientific assessment of this change and possible future scenarios regarding BIM, the research mostly focuses on the planning process and the influence that the use of BIM has on it. However, improving the outcome of a factory planning project enjoys priority over optimizing the planning process itself regardless of whether BIM is being used or not. This paper therefore aims to build a bridge from a process-side view to the planning result. The concept of BIM is to be explained from a technical point of view establishing a reference to the concept of synergetic factory planning. For this purpose, the process view and the spatial view will be examined and the BIM model will be characterized with regard to different levels of development in the planning process. The goal is to show how the use of BIM in factory planning can ultimately improve the planning result. For this purpose, the factory targets are considered and their optimizability through the use of BIM is investigated

Measuring dynamic market selection by persistent scale inefficiencies - new methodology applied to EU business services

The paper proposes a new way of analysing the efficiency of dynamic market selection, based on the persistence of scale economies. The new methodology is used to investigate the causes of stagnating productivity growth in EU business services. An efficient market ensures that more productive firms grow faster than others. Conversely, firms with weaker performance would be outcompeted and shrink, and eventually go broke. This paper uses scale diseconomies and their persistence as indicator for the effectiveness of market selection. We use a DEA method to construct the productivity frontier by sub-sector and size class, for business services in 13 EU countries. From this we derive scale economies and their development over time. Our results indicate malfunctioning competitive selection. Between 1999 and 2005 we observe a persistence of scale diseconomies, with scale efficiency falling rather than growing over time. In panel regressions we find the distance to the productivity frontier (within and between size classes) to be significantly explained by regulatory policies that hamper entry and exit dynamics and labour adjustment, and by a lack of import penetration and domestic start-ups. The results suggest that policy reform and more market openness may have positive productivity effects. This holds for business services itself, but also wider, because of business services’ large role in intermediary production inputs

Measuring dynamic market selection by persistent scale inefficiencies - new methodology applied to EU business services

The paper proposes a new way of analysing the efficiency of dynamic market selection, based on the persistence of scale economies. The new methodology is used to investigate the causes of stagnating productivity growth in EU business services. An efficient market ensures that more productive firms grow faster than others. Conversely, firms with weaker performance would be outcompeted and shrink, and eventually go broke. This paper uses scale diseconomies and their persistence as indicator for the effectiveness of market selection. We use a DEA method to construct the productivity frontier by sub-sector and size class, for business services in 13 EU countries. From this we derive scale economies and their development over time. Our results indicate malfunctioning competitive selection. Between 1999 and 2005 we observe a persistence of scale diseconomies, with scale efficiency falling rather than growing over time. In panel regressions we find the distance to the productivity frontier (within and between size classes) to be significantly explained by regulatory policies that hamper entry and exit dynamics and labour adjustment, and by a lack of import penetration and domestic start-ups. The results suggest that policy reform and more market openness may have positive productivity effects. This holds for business services itself, but also wider, because of business services’ large role in intermediary production inputs

Rethinking the risk matrix

So far risk has been mostly defined as the expected value of a loss, mathematically PL (being P the probability of an adverse event and L the loss incurred as a consequence of the adverse event). The so called risk matrix follows from such definition. This definition of risk is justified in a long term “managerial” perspective, in which it is conceivable to distribute the effects of an adverse event on a large number of subjects or a large number of recurrences. In other words, this definition is mostly justified on frequentist terms. Moreover, according to this definition, in two extreme situations (high-probability/low-consequence and low-probability/high-consequence), the estimated risk is low. This logic is against the principles of sustainability and continuous improvement, which should impose instead both a continuous search for lower probabilities of adverse events (higher and higher reliability) and a continuous search for lower impact of adverse events (in accordance with the fail-safe principle). In this work a different definition of risk is proposed, which stems from the idea of safeguard: (1Risk)=(1P)(1L). According to this definition, the risk levels can be considered low only when both the probability of the adverse event and the loss are small. Such perspective, in which the calculation of safeguard is privileged to the calculation of risk, would possibly avoid exposing the Society to catastrophic consequences, sometimes due to wrong or oversimplified use of probabilistic models. Therefore, it can be seen as the citizen’s perspective to the definition of risk

Multi-scale modelling and optimisation of sustainable chemical processes

This dissertation explores the process modelling and optimisation of chemical processes under sustainability criteria. Resting on process systems engineering techniques combined with life cycle assessment (LCA), we present implementation strategies to improve flowsheet performance and reduce environmental impacts from early design stages. We first address the relevance of sustainability assessments in the sector and present process and environmental modelling techniques available. Under the observation that chemical processes are subject to market, technical, and environmental fluctuations, we next present an approach to account for these uncertainties. Process optimisation is then tackled by combining surrogate modelling, objective-reduction, and multi-criteria decision analysis tools. The framework proved the enhancement of the assessments by reducing the use of computational resources and allowing the ranking of optimal alternatives based on the concept of efficiency. We finally introduce a scheme to assess sustainable performance at a multi-scale level, from catalysis development to planet implications. This approach aims to provide insights about the role of catalysis and establish priorities for process development, while also introducing absolute sustainability metrics via the concept of ‘Planetary boundaries’. Ultimately, this allows a clear view of the impact that a process incurs in the current and future status of the Earth. The capabilities of the methods developed are tested in relevant applications that address challenges in the sector to attain sustainable performance. We present how concepts like circular economy, waste valorisation, and renewable raw materials can certainly bring benefits to the industry compared to their fossil-based alternatives. However, we also show that the development of new processes and technologies is very likely to shift environmental impacts from one category to another, concluding that cross-sectorial cooperation will become essential to meet sustainability targets, such as those determined by the Sustainable Development Goals.Open Acces

Dynamic market selection in EU business services

European business services has witnessed about two decades of virtual productivity stagnation. The paper investigates whether this is caused by weak dynamic market selection. The time pattern of scale-related inefficiencies is used as an indicator for the effectiveness of market selection. We use a DEA method to construct the productivity frontier by sub-sector and size class, for business services in 13 EU countries. From this we derive scale economies and their development over time. Between 1999 and 2005 we observe a persistence of scale inefficiencies and X-inefficiencies , with scale efficiency falling rather than growing over time. This indicates malfunctioning competitive selection. The time pattern of inefficiencies is significantly explained by regulatory policies that hamper entry and exit dynamics and labour adjustment, and by a lack of import penetration. The results suggest that policy reform and more market openness will have positive productivity effects. This holds for business services itself, but also wider, because of business services’ products are widely used as intermediary inputs in other parts of the European economy

A chromatographic investigation into the reactions of urea and formaldehyde.

A literature survey showed that very few studies into the chromatographic separation of urea formaldehyde resins have been made. Those that have been undertaken are of doubtful or limited value. A rapid reproducible method for investigating the molecular mass distribution of urea formaldehyde resins by size exclusion chromatography has been developed. By using lithium chloride in dimethylformamide as the solvent for chromatography, solubility and molecular association problems have been overcome. A novel liquid chromatographic procedure using an aminopropyl bonded silica column, having 8,000+ plates and acetonitrile/water as eluant has been developed. Using this technique some twenty simple low molecular mass urea-formaldehyde reaction products have-been separated efficiently and quickly. Using the novel chromatography, investigations of the reactions of urea and formaldehyde in the pH range 5.5 to 8.3 and molar ratio 1: 1.5 to 1: 2.5 demonstrated that dimethylene ether linkages were formed to a greater degree than simple methylene linkages. It has been shown that the ammonia formed by hydrolysis of urea was converted fistly into methylamine and subsequently into 1,3,5-triazin-4-ones structures. Tetrahydrol, 3,5-oxadiazin-4-ones (urons) have been shown to be formed very readily at high and low pH values (10) Dimethyloluron has been obtained in the solid state for the first time and its physical properties studied. Four new uron compounds have been isolated and completely characterised. The reactions of dimethyloluron with urea and formaldehyde have been studied. The lack of reactivity of formaldehyde, when stabilised with a small amount of urea has been shown to be due to the formation of dimethyloluron

Multiperiod modelling planning and productivity and energy efficient assessment of an industrial gases facility

El creixement de la demanda energètica i el continu desenvolupament tecnològic de la societat estan sobrepassant els límits mediambientals del nostre planeta. Sense les mesures adequades, aquesta situació podria derivar en importants problemes mediambientals que causarien danys irreversibles al medi ambient i al benestar de la humanitat. El sector industrial és el principal consumidor energètic, amb una demanda al voltant d’un terç de la global, un aspecte que té un evident efecte negatiu amb l’impacte mediambiental. Per tant, el repte de mitigar el canvi climàtic implicarà millores en l’ús de la energia a la industria, generant grans oportunitats d’estalvi energètic i reduint el seu impacte mediambiental. En aquest sentit, es essencial obtenir informació derivada de la investigació i l’anàlisi científic que permeti desenvolupar solucions focalitzades en la reducció de costos energètics. Aquesta tesis ha tractat les necessitats particulars de la producció de gasos industrials, creant eines basades en l’optimització matemàtica que permeten una presa de decisions operatives més àgil i efectiva i detectant àrees per la millora energètica. Aquestes eines fomenten i avancen cap a una industria més eficient que permeti un futur més sostenible. Aquesta tesis té dos contribucions principals. D’una banda, s’ha desenvolupat una eina d’optimització multiperiod que permet obtenir la configuració d’operació òptima (des del punt de vista econòmic i energètic) d’un procés de producció de gasos industrials, tenint en compte totes les seves variables. Per altra banda, s’utilitza la metodologia de Data Envelopment Analisis per a comparar diferents unitats de producció de gasos industrials, identificant els focus d’ineficiència i fent recomanacions per a resoldre’ls.El crecimiento de la demanda energética y el continuo desarrollo tecnológico de la sociedad están sobrepasando los límites medioambientales de nuestro planeta. Sin las medidas adecuadas, esta situación puede derivar en importantes problemas medioambientales que podrían causar daños irreversibles al medioambiente y al bienestar de la humanidad. El sector industrial es el principal consumidor energético, consumiendo alrededor de un tercio de la demanda energética global, lo que tiene una evidente relación negativa con el impacto ambiental. Por lo tanto, el reto de mitigar el cambio climático implicará mejoras del uso de la energía en la industria, creando grandes oportunidades de ahorro energético y reduciendo su impacto ambiental. Para ello, es esencial obtener información derivada de la investigación y el análisis científico que permita desarrollar soluciones enfocadas a la reducción de costes energéticos. Esta tesis ha tratado las necesidades particulares de la producción de gases industriales, creando herramientas basadas en la optimización matemática que permiten una toma de decisiones operativas más ágil y efectiva y detectando áreas para la mejora energética. Estas herramientas fomentan y avanzan hacia una industria más eficiente que permita un futuro más sostenible. Esta tesis tiene dos contribuciones principales. Por un lado, se crea una herramienta de optimización multiperiodo que permite obtener la configuración de operación óptima (desde el punto de vista económico y energético) de un proceso de producción de gases industriales, teniendo en cuenta todas sus variables. Por otro lado, se usa la metodología de Data Envelopment Analysis para comparar diferentes unidades de producción de gases industriales, identificando los focos de ineficiencia y haciendo recomendaciones para resolverlos. En definitiva, esta tesis ofrece un conjunto de herramientas prácticas y efectivas que apoyan el proceso de toma de decisiones en actividades industriales y permiten la identificación de oportunidades de mejora energética.The growth of energy demand and the continuous technological development of society are surpassing the environmental limits of our planet. Without adequate measures, this situation can lead to serious environmental problems that could cause irreversible damage to the environment and the well-being of humanity. The industrial sector is the largest energy consumer, with about one-third of global energy demand, which has an evident negative relationship with environmental impact. Therefore, the challenge of mitigating climate change will imply improvements in the energy use in industry, creating great opportunities for energy savings and reducing its environmental impact. In this sense, it is essential to obtain information derived from research and scientific analysis that allows developing solutions focused on the reduction of energy costs. This thesis has dealt with the particular needs of the production of industrial gases, by creating tools based on mathematical optimization models that allow much more agile and effective operational decision-making as well as the detection of areas for energy improvement. These tools encourage and move towards a more efficient industry that allow a more sustainable future. Two main contributions are derived from this thesis. On the one hand, it creates a multiperiod optimization tool that allows obtaining the optimal operational configuration (from the economic and energetic points of view) of an industrial gas manufacturing process, taking into account all the variables that affect the system. On the other hand, the Data Envelopment Analysis methodology is used to compare different industrial gas production units, identifying inefficiency sources and making recommendations to adopt the best practices to solve them. Summarizing, this thesis offers a set of practical and effective tools that support the decision making process in industrial activities and allows the identification of opportunities for energy improvement