Eksternt eid næringsliv og regional utvikling i Nordkapp

I denne artikkelen diskuterer vi nye strategier for regional vekst i geografiske utkantområder. Både hindringer for vekst, og de lokale forutsetningene for vekst danner hovedgrunnlaget for forskningsproblemet som stilles. Hvilke muligheter har utkantområder til å utvikle sitt eget vekstpotensiale? Problemstillingen bygger på antakelsen at lokale områder bør, helst må ha forutsetninger lokalt for såkalt egenbasert eller sjølgrodd vekst. Nordkapp kommune brukes som case der vi diskuterer kommunens forutsetninger for å få til en vekst som ’gror’ fram av egne materielle, mentale og arbeidskraftmessige betingelser i en kontekst der næringslivet domineres av eksternt eierskap

Eksternt eid næringsliv og regional utvikling i Nordkapp

I denne artikkelen diskuterer vi nye strategier for regional vekst i geografiske utkantområder. Både hindringer for vekst, og de lokale forutsetningene for vekst danner hovedgrunnlaget for forskningsproblemet som stilles. Hvilke muligheter har utkantområder til å utvikle sitt eget vekstpotensiale? Problemstillingen bygger på antakelsen at lokale områder bør, helst må ha forutsetninger lokalt for såkalt egenbasert eller sjølgrodd vekst. Nordkapp kommune brukes som case der vi diskuterer kommunens forutsetninger for å få til en vekst som ’gror’ fram av egne materielle, mentale og arbeidskraftmessige betingelser i en kontekst der næringslivet domineres av eksternt eierskap

The embedding of universities in innovation ecosystems: The case of marine research at the University of Bergen

While historically the core missions of universities have been research and teaching, it has become increasingly recognised that universities have become significant sources of knowledge and capabilities. This third mission is cementing the role of universities as suppliers of qualified labour and generators of knowledge and technologies that promote innovation in a variety of innovation ecosystems. The main goal of the paper is to illustrate an approach that captures the various contributions of universities to their innovation ecosystems. Often territorially bounded, such links provide insights into the characteristics and geography of the various linkage for a university. With the case of the University of Bergen and its role within the marine innovation ecosystem of Western Norway, this ‘ecosystem fingerprint’, can be seen as a useful means to clarify the third mission of universities through the linkages and interdependencies with various actors. The authors demonstrate that a university can act both as a global pipeline provider and take active part in the local buzz, providing this concept with new empirical insight. The authors conclude that the university is highly embedded in both the marine innovation ecosystem and the knowledge ecosystem, but with linkages extended to interconnected business ecosystems.publishedVersio

Foreign firm location and local multiplier effects : the case of Norwegian industrial towns

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) theory show that these investments form regional effects. Our paper emphasis the heterogeneity of these effects. Different motives for FDI creates different multiplier effects, such as jobs, increased local production and new firms. Our study focus on two different industrial towns in Norway, where natural resources have attracted the foreign firms in the first town, while access to intangible technology resources has been the main attraction in the second. We compare differences and similarities in the way these investments have influenced local linkages and local growth processes. Here we draw on the theoretical contribution from the management model as well as the network model. Our findings indicates that foreign ownership per se do not explain multiplier effects. The motives, the sector-specific characteristics and the history of the local production system provide more reasonable explanations

A theoretical framework on how to approach globalization and social practice

Globalization sometimes strengthens existing patterns of social interaction and sometimes changes these patterns. In both cases the empirical outcomes can be of homogeneous as well as of heterogeneous character. This means that the process of globalization is ´double edgedª and impossible to forecast. At best it can be exposed through theory informed empirical studies of social practice. This paper is a draft of a theoretical and methodological framework to achieve this. The notion of social fields together with the abstractions of culture, interaction and agents, is suggested as theoretical and analytical concepts enabling us to grasp some of the many relationships between globalization and social practice

Tidsgeografien er død : leve tidsgeografien

Notatet er en gjennomgangen av Hägerstrands tidsgeografi. Notatet viser at Hägerstrand gjennom tidsgeografien klarte å utvikle en tilnærming som koplet situasjonsvitenskapenes romlige og tidsmessige perspektiver på en mer håndfast måte enn før. Han klarte også å etablere et empirisk forskningprogram som etterhvert ble kritisert. Kjernen i kritikken har implisitt vært rettet mot Hägerstrands lovformulering om at adferdsregler kan gis en "fysisk" form i betydningen romlig lokalisering, arealutbredelse, og varighet i tid. Dette notatet gir kritikerne medhold i at Hägerstrands tidsgeografi preges av romlig separatisme, og argumenterer for at tidsgeografien må revitaliseres i en mer relasjonell og samfunnsvitenskapelig utgave

Restructuring and innovation in a one-company town : the case of Ferrol

This report analysis the processes of restructuring and innovation in Ferrol, a onecompany town. It is based on fourteen field reports developed by students of the Department of geography at the University of Bergen in spring 2001. The paper starts with a theory discussion focusing on the concepts of regional development, restructuring, and innovation. We analyse the main effects of the industrial restructuring process in the 1980s and 1990s and the potential of present regional development efforts. Ferrol has been characterised as a town in deep crisis. It has experienced many of the negative impacts of restructuring in the past decades. The naval sector has reduced its staff severely, and auxiliary industries have suffered But, summing up our research results, Ferrol turns out to be a dynamic community characterised by people deeply involved in projects that set in motion promising processes of change

The art of networking : the case of Sogndal fotball and Fosshaugane campus

One of the most significant recent elements of restructuring in rural areas is the transition from an economy based on agricultural production to an economy based on the countryside as a form of commodity. In this transition process, different narratives or images of an area are produced in order to promote villages and other places in the countryside as commodities. Much of the literature takes it for granted that outsiders control the processes of branding rural areas, but our case illustrates that the producers (as well as potential consumers) of the countryside as commodity can be “insiders” of a community. The paper demonstrates how a local football club can take a leading role in processes of rural restructuring in the post-modern area. Football clubs are presented as commodities to attract investors, sponsors, and expertise from private businesses. In both rural restructuring and football, the challenge is to construct narratives or images that correspond with the pre-existing expectations of consumers, whoever they might be. Our discussion demonstrates how the Norwegian football club Sogndal Football used the art of networking to turn a stadium upgrade into a rural restructuring project. Through the development project Fosshaugane Campus, the football club contributes to a commodification of the village of Sogndal by reproducing the rural not as wilderness or a place of adventure for tourists, but as a place for sport, development, and innovation for creative (young) people. Thus, Sogndal Fotball is an example of how increased professionalism of an organization can change football from a game involving 22 players to a game of rural restructuring involving the main actors in a community

The Norwegian fish processing industry : regional adaptation and national policy implications

This article focuses on the regional pattern of the fish processing industry in Norway and how this pattern can be included in the national fishery policy in an effort to develop more efficient and market oriented adaptations. After a short presentation of the theoretical point of departure for this analysis, the structure of the Norwegian fishery industry and the regional pattern of adaptation are described. Then we go on to present and discuss the factors behind the diversity of profitability and changes in activity level in the regions during the 1990s . Finally, some policy implications of this regional pattern of adaptation and regional development are discussed. The discussion is based on the findings of recent research, which has investigated how the firms of the Norwegian fish processing industry have adapted to increasing international competition and a national political liberalisation in the 1990s