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

One coast, two systems: Regional innovation systems and entrepreneurial discovery in Western Norway

This paper introduces an analytical framework for understanding how specialized and diversified regional innovation system (RIS) differ in the way an entrepreneurial discovery process (EDP) is likely to unfold. To analytically explore the proposed framework, we deploy a sequential explanatory design approach, using quantitative data to analyze the regional industry structure of the city regions of Bergen and Stavanger in Western Norway, followed by a qualitative analysis of interviews with key stakeholders in both regions. We find that the city regions face unique challenges that align with an understanding of their respective RIS categorization, providing evidence that the framework proposed serves as a useful guide in understanding the development of an EDP.publishedVersio

Geologiske kort i Danmark - hvad viser de kvartærgeologiske kort

Denne artikel er et svar på foregående debatindlæg om “det ærlige jordartskort”, hvori forfatterne forklarer bagrunden for fremstillingen af geologiske kort i Danmark

Antibiotic-loaded bone cement in prevention of periprosthetic joint infections in primary total knee arthroplasty: A register-based multicentre randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (ALBA trial)

Introduction The current evidence on the efficacy of antibiotic-loaded bone cement (ALBC) in reducing the risk of periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) after primary joint reconstruction is insufficient. In several European countries, the use of ALBC is routine practice unlike in the USA where ALBC use is not approved in low-risk patients. Therefore, we designed a double-blinded pragmatic multicentre register-based randomised controlled non-inferiority trial to investigate the effects of ALBC compared with plain bone cement in primary total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods and analysis A minimum of 9,172 patients undergoing full-cemented primary TKA will be recruited and equally randomised into the ALBC group and the plain bone cement group. This trial will be conducted in Norwegian hospitals that routinely perform cemented primary TKA. The primary outcome will be risk of revision surgery due to PJI at 1-year of follow-up. Secondary outcomes will be: risk of revision due to any reason including aseptic loosening at 1, 6, 10 and 20 years of follow-up; patient-related outcome measures like function, pain, satisfaction and health-related quality of life at 1, 6 and 10 years of follow-up; risk of changes in the microbial pattern and resistance profiles of organisms cultured in subsequent revisions at 1, 6, 10 and 20 years of follow-up; cost-effectiveness of routine ALBC versus plain bone cement use in primary TKA. We will use 1:1 randomisation with random permuted blocks and stratify by participating hospitals to randomise patients to receive ALBC or plain bone cement. Inclusion, randomisation and follow-up will be through the Norwegian Arthroplasty Register. Ethics and dissemination The trial was approved by the Western Norway Regional Committees on Medical and Health Research Ethics (reference number: 2019/751/REK vest) on 21 June 2019. The findings of this trial will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Trial registration number NCT04135170.publishedVersio

Knowledge, informal rules and localised competitiveness : a study of a local milieu in the Norwegian fish processing industry

The article analyses competitiveness in a local milieu in the Norwegian fish processing industry. It presents an contextual understanding of economic practice using an intensive research design when discussing localised factors that makes this milieu, consisting of small and medium sized firms, competitive in an international business. It emphasises assets related to untraded interdependencies between firms in this milieu, operationalised by the concept of knowledge systems and informal rules. Further, the article discusses how firms in this milieu are adapting to macro-level changes and concludes with a discussion of future challenges and limits for this local production system. The firms in this local milieu are competitive in the international business of fish trading, but constantly have to evolve in order to adapt

Følgeevaluering av forskningsbasert kompetansemegling : underveisrapport 2005

SNF har fått i oppdrag av Norges forskningsråd (Forskningsrådet) å gjennomføre en følgeevaluering av programmet Forskningsbasert kompetansemegling. Evalueringen skal følge programmet fra april 2005 til juni 2007. I denne første underveisrapporten presenteres våre funn og erfaringer for driftsåret 2005. Rapporten fokuserer på erfaringer og utfordringer i forbindelse med oppstart og implementeringen av programmet. Programmet er organisert i form av regionale prosjekter, som igjen iverksetter en rekke aktiviteter i egen region. Innledningsvis i rapporten drøftes programmets profil og kontekst, og programmets idegrunnlag eller rasjonale plasseres i forhold til den pågående innovasjonsdebatten. Deretter presenteres programmets målsetninger, organisering og de ulike regionale prosjektenes intensjoner. Den resterende delen av analysen drøfter aktiviteten til disse regionale prosjektene. Først analyserer vi den bedriftsrettede praksisen, og deretter drøftes praksis i forhold til institutt- og systemmålet i programmet. Samlet sett har det vært en betydelig aktivitet i programmet i forhold til bedriftsmålsetningen. Programmet har en bredere teoretisk og faglig forankring enn hva som var tilfelle under TEFT-programmet, som var satsingen som Kompetansemegling avløste. Dette har bidratt til en mer heterogen portefølje av bedriftsprosjekter og det er også en mer variert gruppe av forskningsinstitutter som er knyttet opp mot ordningen enn hva som var tilfelle under TEFT. Instituttmålsetningen og systemmålsetningen framstår som underordnet. Det har vist seg vanskelig å få opp aktiviteter som kan bidra til å realisere disse målene. Vår hovedkonklusjon er at Kompetansemegling har for mange likestilte målsetninger (bedrift, institutt og system) til at det er realistisk å kunne forvente høy måloppnåelse på alle, sett i forhold til de ressursene programmet har tilgjengelig. Avslutningsvis i rapporten presenteres våre anbefalinger for en videreutvikling av programmet

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

Hvilken fiskeripolitikk er norsk fiskeindustri best tjent med?

Denne utgaven av geografi i Bergen er en samling debattinnlegg om norsk fiskeripolitikk bestående av to kronikker, en anmeldelse og et motsvar med utgangspunkt i SNF-rapport 57/98Endrede rammebetingelser for norsk fiskeindustri-en empirisk analyse av romlige variasjoner i tilpasningen utarbeidet av Stig-Erik Jakobsen (SNF) og Arnt Fløysand (UiB). Innledningsvis gjengis kronikkene "Bør norsk fiskeripolitikk regionaliseres?" fra Fiskaren 30.04.99 og "Markedsorientering gjennom samarbeid" fra Fiskeribladet 26.05.99. Deretter følger anmeldelse og kommentar til SNF-rapporten og kronikkene fra Norsk Fiskerinæring nr 5-1999. Debatten avsluttes i Norsk Fiskerinæring nr 8-1999 med tilbakemelding fra Jakobsen og Fløysand på anmeldelsen, tilsvar ved redaktør Thorvald Tande jr. i "Norsk Fiskerinæring" og tilsvar fra Jakobsen og Fløysand

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