When manufacturing matters: a review of the (regional and local) state economic policies for a Gauteng global city region (2006-2011)

Thesis (M.Com. (Development Theory and Policy)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Economic and Business Sciences, 2015The ‘global city’ (and the related concept of global city-regions) is presently hegemonic in South Africa’s urban reconstruction discourse. It has come to constitute, especially for cities like Johannesburg and its urban region of Gauteng, a prototypical image of city-ness; the ultimate barometer for advanced development. This is so even as its origins can be traced to a small sample of cities in the North (most prominently New York, and London), and its applicability to, relevance or usefulness for cities in developing countries has been questioned. City Development Strategies anchored on this discourse, and their related economic policies, promote an economic development trajectory in which finance and services are the main drivers. This research adopts the Kaldorian proposition that manufacturing is the sector better positioned to drive economic growth and development. It argues that developing countries, and their cities and urban regions, are riddled with the catch-up problem; which requires the deliberate reallocation of resources from low-productivity diminishing returns activity sectors (e.g. agriculture and other extractive activities) to higher productivity, increasing returns activity sectors (especially manufacture). It argues that this change in the dynamics of production structures of these economies will be brought about by technology capability building whose realisation might require a developmental state that drives selective industrial policy. As such, neither a swift shift to finance and services (which in most of developing country economy cases entails a degree of premature deindustrialisation), nor mere clustering and agglomeration as envisaged in the global city and new regionalism literature respectively suffices in such contexts. Reviewing a select set of policy documents and strategies (of both the Gauteng Provincial Government and of its three metropolitan municipalities) adopted between 2006 and 2011; the research assesses how manufacturing is accounted for in the global city region agenda proposed for the Gauteng urban region, and the implications of such for that region’s future economic trajectory. It finds that at inception, the City Region Strategy was premised on an uncritical acceptance of neoliberal globalisation as a given, necessitating the adoption of an entrepreneurial approach to governance, and of finance and services as the most strategic sectors for connectivity and competitiveness in the global economy. These assumptions continue to dominate thinking in later years, despite the fact that manufacturing remains the most critical sector in international trade, output and productivity growth, and gross domestic fixed investment. This even as reference is made to the importance of manufacturing for the Gauteng economy, and interventions such as the automotive industry development in areas like Tshwane are being rolled out

Dynamic villages in the hinterland of a polycentric region : case study of the Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolis in Poland

This article examines the growth of the labour market and entrepreneurship in a metropolitan area. In particular, the study attempts to answer how the economy of the rural regions is developing in the hinterland of a large urban complex in Southern Poland, which is transforming from a post-industrial conurbation into a metropolitan area. The study applied Florence’s local specialization index, statistical measures, dynamics indexes, and Pearson’s correlation index. The research results show that the local economy, including the labour market, is systematically growing. Rural communes refer to multifunctional development based on services, and they represent diverse economic specializations. They are subject to economies of scale and benefit from the proximity and impact of a large urban complex. The economic growth of rural areas in the hinterland is related to entrepreneurship, convenient location in relation to cities, and migration from cities to villages

Industrial Clusters in England

Research trialling a big data approach to identifying industry clusters, with case studies from each of the sectors studied

Exploring Innovation Activities of Firms from Peripheral Regions in Estonia and Germany: A Relational Perspective

Die vorliegende Dissertation exploriert Innovationsaktivitäten von Unternehmen des produzierenden Gewerbes in zwei unterschiedlich strukturierten peripheren Regionen: in Südestland und dem Erzgebirgskreis. Die Arbeit erweitert bestehende Forschung, da periphere Regionen und low-tech Industriezweige sich nur vereinzelt in wirtschaftsgeographischen Forschungsagenden finden. Ausgehend von einer relationalen Perspektive fokussiert die Forschungsarbeit auf Akteursbeziehungen und insbesondere darauf, wie diese Beziehungen Wirtschaftsprozesse wie Wissensgenerierung und Innovation bedingen. Als analytische Perspektiven innerhalb dieses relationalen Rahmens werden Netzwerke und unterschiedliche Dimension von Nähe und Distanz herangezogen (geographische, soziale, kognitive, institutionelle und organisationale). Die Dissertation erarbeitet kontextualisierte Erkenntnisse zu räumlichen und relationalen Elementen von Innovationsaktivitäten in peripheren Regionen. Methodisch orientiert sich die Arbeit am Ansatz der Innovationsbiographien. Dazu werden konkrete Innovationsprojekte und ihre Netzwerke aus räumlicher und zeitlicher Perspektive rekonstruiert. Entsprechend wird im empirischen Teil der Arbeit ein evolutionäres, interaktives und wissensbasiertes Innovationsverständnis aufgegriffen. Die Arbeit stellt heraus, dass Unternehmen in beiden Untersuchungsregionen aktiv Innovationsprozesse vorantreiben bzw. an diesen teilhaben. Periphere Lage und sozioökonomische Herausforderungen prägen die Innovationspraktiken der Unternehmen entlang unterschiedlicher Dimensionen. Insbesondere lassen sich zielgerichtete Netzwerkaktivitäten, ein hoher Mobilitätgrad sowie die strategische Ausrechterhaltung bzw. der Ausbau einer umfassenden Technologie- und Fertigungstiefe identifizieren. Diese Praktiken fungieren als Mechanismen zur Überwindung potenzieller Strukturnachteile peripherer Regionen. Basierend auf diesen Erkenntnissen illustriert die Dissertation Ansätze zur Erweiterung wirtschaftsgeographischer Innovationstheorie und diskutiert Maßnahmen zur Förderung der Innovationstätigkeit von Unternehmen in peripheren Regionen.This dissertation explores innovation activities of LMT manufacturing firms located in two differently structured peripheral regions: South Estonia and the Erzgebirgskreis. Thus, the dissertation expands existing scholarship in economic geography by investigating innovation in localities and sectors that are not part of broader research agendas. Operating from a relational perspective, this research emphasises the diverse actor relations and how these relations shape economic processes of knowledge creation and innovation. Within this relational framework, networks and multi-layered dimension of proximity and distance (geographical, social, cognitive, institutional and organisational) are mobilised as central analytical perspectives. Thereby, the dissertation provides contextually grounded insights on the spatial and relational elements that drive innovation activities in peripheral regions. Methodologically, this research is guided by the innovation biographies approach. Specific innovation projects and their networks are traced throughout space and time. Thereby, the evolutionary, interactive and knowledge grounded understanding of innovation is empirically addressed. This research finds that firms in both study regions actively pursue and participate in innovation activities. Operating at distance shapes the practices of firms in a number of decisive ways: purposive networking activities, high levels of actor mobility and maintenance of comprehensive internal capacities are identified in particular. These practices operate as mechanisms to overcome potential shortcomings of peripheral regions. Based on its findings, the dissertation outlines avenues to expand dominant approaches towards innovation theory in economic geography and provides avenues for policy measures that aim at fostering firm innovation in peripheral regions

The impact of regional supply network structure and governance on the resilience of resource extractive regions: the case of South Australia

This thesis examines the adaptation processes among mining equipment and technology services (METS) firms’ in the South Australian resource sector from 2014 till 2016 during a global downturn in resource commodity prices. Of special interest was the effect on the METS firms of the structure and governance of the resource industry regional supply network in terms of their ability to adapt to the downturn and the implications for regional resilience. The research was driven by the common problem faced by METS suppliers operating in resource extractive economies of how to prosper in spite of fluctuating mineral commodity prices. Downturns in commodity prices usually result in significant job losses, reduction in GDP growth and economic decline. It requires resilience at the firm and regional level to not only cope and recover from external shocks, but also to create new technological paths. Previous research into the regional development of resource-extractive regions has proved that the development of technology and knowledge intensive, value-adding industries around resource extractive activity enhances the resilience of resource economies. A diverse and technology intensive METS sector emerging naturally in proximity to resource extraction sites is potentially able to use its accumulated knowledge and capabilities to overcome the consequences of a decline. In the right environment, METS firms can develop high value-added products and services that can have other industrial applications and find new niches in domestic and overseas markets. The ability of local METS companies to diversify and innovate results in the lateral transfer of technologies developed initially to serve the resource sector, encouraging regional economic diversification and the development of alternative growth paths during a decline in the resource sector. Supply chain relationships are critical to the strategic diversification and innovation of regional METS experiencing resource constraints. Their ability to innovate and diversify depends not only on their own internal research and development efforts, but mostly on their collaboration with customers and supply chain partners around customer problems and solutions. Since there are multiple shared suppliers and clients, a regional supply network serves as a conduit for information and knowledge transfer. Our knowledge of the impact of the structure and governance in a regional supply network and firm diversification and innovativeness is still limited, however. There is a lack of conceptual explanation specific to how network governance in a regional supply network influences METS firms’ ability to respond during those periods when the whole network is experiencing constrained resources. To address this problem in the current research, a multilevel conceptual framework was developed, and a mixed-method research design adopted. The findings demonstrated that formal and informal instruments of regional supply network governance impact firms’ strategies and facilitates both short- term adaptation and the long-term adaptability of regional METS. The research contributes to the economic resilience literature by providing empirical evidence of the role of regional supply network structure and governance as factors influencing regional firms’ strategies at the micro-level. In turn, the strategies and behaviour of regional METS firms at the micro level impact adaptability and regional resilience at the meso-level. Therefore, a coordinated effort by governing bodies through policies and resource allocation is required to ensure the formation of well-connected, integrated regional supply networks that can foster long term adaptability and resilience in resource extractive regions.Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation & Innovation Centre, 201

Economic agglomeration in Italy before and after the Great Recession

This dissertation examines agglomerations in Italy, analyzing and measuring their extent and their patterns of change during the five-year period characterized by the Great Recession. An innovative distance-based method – Marcon and Puech’s M (2010) – is used to measure agglomeration in a way that aims to overcome the multiple issues (notably among them the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem) that affect more conventional measures of agglomeration, while still avoiding the unmanageable computational intensity that would be required by a standard implementation of M. Indeed, by approximating the geographic position of each plant to the centroid of the municipality where it is actually located, we believe that not much is lost in terms of accuracy, especially when considering the relatively small size of Italian municipalities. Such an accurate and innovative measure of agglomeration for Italy would constitute a significant attainment by itself, but even more so when considering the opportunity it provides for evaluating the change in spatial economic patterns during a peculiar period such as the Great Recession. After a reconstruction of the most relevant literature concerning the spatial distribution of economic activities – ranging from the pioneering works of Von Thünen to Evolutionary Economic Geography – and a synthesis of distance-based methods, we rely on ISTAT’s ASIA dataset to correctly identify each plant’s geographic location and number of employees for both manufacturing and services, producing what we believe is a reliable measure of agglomeration for each industry in the entire country for 2007 and 2012. We then proceed to analyze the change that occurred in such a period of crisis, and to investigate correlations with a certain number of variables. Finally, we compute the same index again for each one of four different macro-regions: the rich northern part of the country, the peninsular and more heterogeneous Center-South, and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Each macro-region is treated as a separated entity, in order to evaluate whether determinants behind the agglomeration results obtained at the country-level might be hidden by opposite-sign patterns that would instead become apparent when areas are treated separately. The inevitable limits of a work based on such an immense amount of data and computations are both methodological and analytical, and we aim to confront them in future research. Indeed, although the results are surely interesting and provide a useful ranking of agglomeration for Italian industries, the next step will necessarily involve the estimation of its statistical significance. Such a task is certainly beyond the scope of this dissertation, because of the massive amount of time and processing capabilities required to perform the necessary tests. Assessing the significance of the results will certainly help when performing a deeper analysis of agglomeration determinants and when studying the change occurred during the Great Recession. Finally, we also aim to assess the reliability of our methodology by computing M without any approximation whatsoever for an area that might be large enough to be economically representative, but small enough to be computationally dealt with: we believe that the area of choice could be our land, Sardinia

Linking the knowledge economy, urban intensity and transport in post-industrial cities with a case study of Perth, Western Australia

Cities in post-industrial economies are characterised by a multi-layered intensification of knowledge. This intensification occurs through: • agglomeration of knowledge economic activity; • human capital knowledge; and • the means of knowledge exchange i.e. ICT and transport. This thesis proposes an intensification of key walkable urban centres, particularly universities. Knowledge urban intensification is heavily reliant on rail and walking transport intensification