Reflexive self-organization and path dependency in institutionalization processes

The purpose of this paper is to work toward developing evolutionary reasoning in the social sciences. Along with that, we argue to overcome the artificial divide of natural and social science for the sake of understanding behaviour. We make the case for an evolutionary and culturally sensitive view on longsurviving institutions and its base - individual behaviour. By taking into consideration the unsatisfying answers in the debate on structure and agency, we emphasize the importance of resonance for evolution and stability. We use case studies to make the point for an evolutionary understanding of institutions and to reflect on institutional path dependency.Institutionalizion, behavioural and institutional path dependancy, reflexive self-organization, historic institutionalism, methodological individualism

Beyond the Wall: Typography from the German Democratic Republic

1989: The German Democratic Republic (GDR) still existed and the Berlin Wall was still standing. Communism was alive in Europe. Hard to believe now, yet only fifteen years ago, a reality. By 1990 the GDR was gone, but it lingers on in the memory of many people now as a dull, repressive, unimaginative place full of cheap plastic, grey concrete, goosestepping soldiers, sports stars with mullets, the dreaded Stasi secret police and of course, the Wall. These memories illustrate common Western stereotypes of the GDR. But in the real, existing East Germany, the reaction of designers to the Communist system was not as downbeat or sterile as you might expect. The graphical and typographical culture of the GDR is a fascinating glimpse into how graphics and typography might have developed and functioned in an integrated system not based solely on the economics of supply and demand. The “workers and peasants state” was founded in 1949 on the premise of supporting humanism, anti-fascism, peace and security. East Germany occupied a unique position within Eastern Europe; not only did it define an outer edge of the Soviet bloc, it faced the difficulty of being umbilically connected to ‘the other (Western) Germany’. Questions of identity dogged it to the end, and stereotypical perceptions about Communism and Capitalism heightened the tensions between the split personality of east and west. The history of East German typography is essentially, from a Western perspective, one of those “in spite of” stories. Inevitably constrained by inconsistent political ideologies in the arts, a lack of raw materials and outdated typesetting and printing equipment, GDR graphics and typography eventually flourished in a way which only occurs when designers are forced to come up with solutions in the face of seemingly impossible obstacles. Designers found innovative, critical and individual ways of coping with political and material shortcomings

Thinking about growth : a cognitive mapping approach to understanding small business development

School of Managemen

Towards a Eurasian economic Union: the challenge of integration and unity

otherwise – without the prior permission of CEPS

The battle between standards: TCP/IP vs OSI victory through path dependency or by quality?

Between the end of the 1970s and 1994 a fierce competition existed between two possible standards, TCP/IP and OSI, to solve the problem of interoperability of computer networks. Around 1994 it became evident that TCP/IP and not OSI had become the dominant standard. We specifically deal with the question whether the current dominance of the TCP/IP standard is the result of third degree path dependency or of choices based on assessments of it being technical-economically superior to the OSI standard and protocols

Off-line computing for experimental high-energy physics

The needs of experimental high-energy physics for large-scale computing and data handling are explained in terms of the complexity of individual collisions and the need for high statistics to study quantum mechanical processes. The prevalence of university-dominated collaborations adds a requirement for high-performance wide-area networks. The data handling and computational needs of the different types of large experiment, now running or under construction, are evaluated. Software for experimental high-energy physics is reviewed briefly with particular attention to the success of packages written within the discipline. It is argued that workstations and graphics are important in ensuring that analysis codes are correct, and the worldwide networks which support the involvement of remote physicists are described. Computing and data handling are reviewed showing how workstations and RISC processors are rising in importance but have not supplanted traditional mainframe processing. Examples of computing systems constructed within high-energy physics are examined and evaluated

Firm specialisation and growth. A study of the european software industry.

This paper analyses the process of growth and restructuring of 38 large European and US software firms during the period 1984-1992. Since the end of the 1960s, an independent software industry has emerged in the US and in Europe stimulated by technological and institutional change. Particularly, the diffusion of small computers and local area networks during the 1980s is largely responsible for the high growth rate of software market compared with other information technology segments. Moreover, software is a pervasive technology in that it tends to be used in all economic sectors. This has spurred the entry of many new firms and vertical disintegration of software activities from computer hardware manufacturing. In the 1980s a wave of M&As, joint ventures and corporate restructuring (new subsidiaries, reorganisations of divisions, etc.) took place in this industry. This paper aims to analyse the objectives of these operations (exploitation of new market opportunities or new joint research opportunities) and their directions (diversification or specialisation).

KnowledgePro windows: The order of merit?

The producers of KnowledgePro look set with their latest release of KPWIN (KnowledgePro Windows) to fulfil Richard Hale‐Shaw's prophecy that it will become ‘one of the most powerful visual development environments’ (Hale‐Shaw 1992). Comparisons are drawn in this paper between the KPWIN family of products and other authoring tools. The conclusion is that KPWIN is worthy of being included in any courseware developer's tool set. Reasons for preferring a tool from the KnowledgePro family of products for courseware development over three main competitors ‐ Authorware, Toolbook and Visual Basic ‐ are explained, and the merits of KPWIN and KPWIN++ (a version that generates C++ code) are examined

The rise of a new cultural products industry cluster in Germany : the case of the Leipzig media industry

Over the past decade, a variety of studies have shown that other sectors in addition to high technology industries can provide a basis for regional growth and income and employment opportunities. In addition, design-intensive, craft-based, creative industries which operate in frequently changing, fashion-oriented markets have established regional concentrations. Such industries focus on the production of products and services with a particular cultural and social content and frequently integrate new information technologies into their operations and outputs. Among these industries, the media and, more recently, multimedia industries have received particular atte ntion (Brail/ Gertler 1999; Egan/ Saxenian 1999). Especially, the film (motion picture) and TV industries have been the focus of a number of studies (e.g. Storper/ Christopherson 1987; Scott 1996). For the purpose of this paper, cultural products industries are defined as those industries which are involved in the commodification of culture, especially those operations that depend for their success on the commercialization of objects and services that transmit social and cultural messages (Scott 1996, p. 306). Empirical studies on the size, structure and organizational attributes of the firms in media-related industry clusters have revealed a number of common characteristics (Scott 1996; Brail/ Gertler 1999; Egan/ Saxenian 1999). Most firms in these industries are fairly young, often existing for only a few years. They also tend to be small in terms of employment. Often, regional clusters of specialized industries are the product of a local growth process which has been driven by innovative local start-ups. In their early stages, many firms have been established by teams of persons rather than by individual entrepreneurs and have heavily relied on owner capital. Another important feature which distinguishes these industries from others is that they concentrate in inner-city instead of suburban locations (Storper/ Christopherson 1987; Eberts/ Norcliffe 1998; Brail/ Gertler 1999). In this study, I provide evidence that the Leipzig media industry shows similar tendencies and characteristics as those displayed by the multimedia and cultural products industry clusters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Toronto, albeit at a much smaller scale. Cultural products industries are characterized by a strong tendency towards the formation of regional clusters despite the fact that in some sectors, such as the multimedia industry, technological opportunities (i.e. internet technologies) have seemingly reduced the necessity of proximity in operations between interlinked firms. In fact, it seems that regional concentration tendencies are even more dominant in cultural products industries than in many industries of the old economy . Cultural products industries have formed particular regional clusters of suppliers, producers and customers which are interlinked within the same commodity chains (Scott 1996; Les- 2 lie/ Reimer 1999). These clusters are characterized by a deep social division of labor between vertically-linked firms and patterns of interaction and cooperation in production and innovation. Within close networks of social relations and reflexive collective action, they have developed a strong tendency towards product- and process-related specialization (Storper 1997; Maskell/ Malmberg 1999; Porter 2000). In the context of the rise of a new media industry cluster in Leipzig, Germany, I discuss those approaches in the next section of this paper which provide an understanding of complex industrial clustering processes. Therein socio-institutional settings, inter-firm communication and interactive learning play a decisive role in generating regional innovation and growth. However, I will also emphasize that interfirm networks can have a negative impact on competitiveness if social relations and linkages are too close, too exclusive and too rigid. Leipzig's historical role as a location of media-related businesses will be presented in section 3. As part of this, I will argue the need to view the present cluster of media firms as an independent phenomenon which is not a mere continuation of tradition. In section 4 the start-up and location processes are analyzed which have contributed to the rise of a new media industry cluster in Leipzig during the 1990's. Related to this, section 5 will discuss the role and variety of institutions which have developed in Leipzig and how they support specialization processes. This will be interpreted as a process of reembedding into a local context. In section 6, I will discuss how media firms have become over-embedded due to their strong orientation towards regional markets. This will be followed by some brief conclusions regarding the growth potential of the Leipzig media industry