Transaction Costs, Agglomeration Economies, and Industrial Location*

Following an outline of the different types of agglomeration economy, consideration is given to transaction costs. Transaction costs may have a definite spatial dimension because institutional, commercial, cultural, and language characteristics are differentiated across the geographic space separating market agents. The concept of transaction space is introduced to represent the spatial differentiation of these characteristics, and this concept is used to cast light on how space can contribute to coordination and agency problems that raise transaction costs. Contractual agreements that are rearranged, so as to span a less heterogeneous transaction space, permit the reduction of transaction costs. Agglomeration can then be interpreted as an alternative to hierarchical structures within firms in economizing on transaction costs. The paper concludes with illustrations of how this framework may help to understand the spatial implications of corporate restructuring and new information technologies. Copyright 2005 Blackwell Publishing Ltd..

Rethinking Technology-Oriented Business Incubators: Developing a Robust Policy Instrument for Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Regional Development?

Today, technology-oriented business incubators are a worldwide phenomenon, although empirical research evidence clearly suggests that they tend to fail in supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and regional development and, therefore, do not fulfil their expected role as policy instrument. The paper focuses on this obvious antagonism. It deliberates upon political rationales, reviews evaluation literatures, and delineates suggestions for the future of the incubation industry. The main conclusion is that technology-oriented business incubators should be run as private organisations "without" public funding. Copyright 2007 Blackwell Publishing.

Association between Vitamin D Levels and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Potential Confounding Variables

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), historically considered to be the hepatic component of the metabolic syndrome, is a spectrum of fat-associated liver conditions, in the absence of secondary causes, that may progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and cirrhosis. Disease progression is closely associated with body weight or fatness, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Recently, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to the pathogenesis and severity of NAFLD because of vitamin D "pleiotropic" functions, with roles in immune modulation, cell differentiation and proliferation, and regulation of inflammation. Indeed, several studies have reported an association between vitamin D and NAFLD/NASH. However, other studies have failed to find an association. Therefore, we sought to critically review the current evidence on the association between vitamin D deficiency and NAFLD/NASH, and to analyze and discuss some key variables that may interfere with this evaluation, such as host-, environment-, and heritability-related factors regulating vitamin D synthesis and metabolism; definitions of deficient or optimal vitamin D status with respect to skeletal and nonskeletal outcomes including NAFLD/NASH; methods of measuring 25(OH)D; and methods of diagnosing NAFLD as well as quantifying adiposity, the cardinal link between vitamin D deficiency and NAFLD