Global Production Networks, Foreign Direct Investment, and Supplier Linkages in the Integrated Peripheries of the Automotive Industry

This article examines the regional development effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the integrated peripheries of the automotive industry by analyzing supplier linkages between foreign subsidiaries and domestic firms. It develops the spatial concept of integrated peripheries in core-based macroregional production networks. Conceptually, it draws on the dynamic notion of uneven development in contemporary capitalism, namely, on David Harvey’s spatiotemporal fix and on the global production networks concept of strategic coupling to investigate the mode of articulation of integrated peripheries into macroregional production networks. Empirically, it analyzes the quantity and quality of supplier linkages in the automotive industry of Slovakia based on unique data collected by the author from both foreign subsidiaries and domestic firms through a survey completed by 133 automotive firms in 2010 and interviews with 50 automotive firms conducted between 2011 and 2015. The empirical analysis uncovered weak and dependent supplier linkages between foreign subsidiaries and domestic firms, which undermine the potential for technology and knowledge transfer from foreign subsidiaries to the domestic economy and positive long-term regional development effects of large FDI by automotive industry corporations in integrated peripheries

Occupational Diseases in the Automotive Industry in Czechia – Geographic and Medical Context

Objectives: The automotive industry represents the most important industrial sector in Czechia. The objective of this study has been to analyze the occurrence of occupational diseases (OD) in the automotive industry during the period from 2001 till 2014. Material and Methods: Data on OD cases was retrieved from the National Registry of OD. Further, we conducted a survey in automotive companies with focus on occupational health services and positions of the companies in global production networks (GPNs). An analysis of OD distribution in the automotive industry was performed (age, gender, company size and its role in GPNs, regional distribution of studied companies, and regional unemployment rate), and was accompanied by assessment of the quality and range of occupational health services. Results: Employees older than 40 years old have nearly 2.5 times higher probability of OD occurrence as compared with employees younger than 40 years old (odds ratio (OR) = 2.41, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.05–2.85). Occupational diseases occurrence probability was 3 times higher for women than for men (OR = 3.01, 95% CI: 2.55–3.55). Occupational diseases incidence rates increased with the size of the company (0 OD/10 000 employees in micro enterprises to 57 OD/10 000 employees in large enterprises). A particularly steep rise in OD incidents in the automotive industry was observed in the Plzeň Region between 2001 and 2011. An association between OD incidents and the unemployment rate was not statistically confirmed. Conclusions: A statistically significant increase in OD incidents dependent on company size may be arguably attributed to a higher quality of occupational medical services in bigger companies, which ensures better detection and diagnosis of OD. In the Plzeň Region, the rapid increase in OD incidents was mainly caused by a change in the production process of automobile textiles in one factory due to the introduction of a glue containing isocyanates, which are potent allergising agents. This led to an increase in occupational allergic diseases – bronchial asthma in particular

Construction of hierarchical CuO/Cu2O@NiCo2S4 Nanowire arrays on copper foam for high performance supercapacitor electrodes

Hierarchical copper oxide @ ternary nickel cobalt sulfide (CuO/Cu2O@NiCo2S4) core-shell nanowire arrays on Cu foam have been successfully constructed by a facile two-step strategy. Vertically aligned CuO/Cu2O nanowire arrays are firstly grown on Cu foam by one-step thermal oxidation of Cu foam, followed by electrodeposition of NiCo2S4 nanosheets on the surface of CuO/Cu2O nanowires to form the CuO/Cu2O@NiCo2S4 core-shell nanostructures. Structural and morphological characterizations indicate that the average thickness of the NiCo2S4 nanosheets is ~20 nm and the diameter of CuO/Cu2O core is ~50 nm. Electrochemical properties of the hierarchical composites as integrated binder-free electrodes for supercapacitor were evaluated by various electrochemical methods. The hierarchical composite electrodes could achieve ultrahigh specific capacitance of 3.186 F cm-2 at 10 mA cm-2, good rate capability (82.06% capacitance retention at the current density from 2 to 50 mA cm-2) and excellent cycling stability, with capacitance retention of 96.73% after 2000 cycles at 10 mA cm-2. These results demonstrate the significance of optimized design and fabrication of electrode materials with more sufficient electrolyte-electrode interface, robust structural integrity and fast ion/electron transfer. © 2017 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.21371057, NSFC, National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaNational Key R&D Program of China [2016YFE0131200]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [21371057]; International Cooperation Project of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Committee [15520721100

Comparison of electrorheological characteristics obtained in two geometrical arrangements: Parallel plates and concentric cylinders

The electrorheological characteristics of suspensions of PANI powders suspended in silicone oil measured by a rotational rheometer Physica MCR 501 (Anton Paar Co.) are compared for two different geometrical arrangements - parallel plates and concentric cylinders. The individual differences in the results of the measured parameters are discussed

Restructuring and internationalization of the European automotive industry

This article draws on Harvey’s theory of uneven development and spatio-temporal fix to conceptualize the changing geography of the European automotive industry based on the spatial profit-seeking strategies of automotive firms. It employs the spatial concept of integrated peripheries, in order to explain the growth of the automotive industry in peripheral regions and its contemporaneous restructuring in existing locations. The empirical analysis is based on 2124 restructuring events of large automotive industry firms in the European Union countries and Norway between 2005 and 2016, and on 91 interviews with foreign automotive industry subsidiaries conducted in Czechia and Slovakia between 2009 and 2015. Large differences in labor costs and other production costs across the European Union explain the growth in the East European integrated periphery and simultaneous restructuring in both traditional core regions and old integrated peripheries in Western Europe. The empirical analysis also confirmed the increasing internationalization and the decreasing role played by large domestic firms in the European automotive industry

The chemical stability and cytotoxicity of carbonyl iron particles grafted with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) and the magnetorheological activity of their suspensions

Carbonyl iron (CI) particles were grafted with poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PGMA) using atom transfer radical polymerization. Compact coating of PGMA largely improved the chemical stability of the particles in an acid environment and thus reduced the common drawback of bare CI particles. Furthermore, due to possible medical applications of CI-polymer systems for magnetic drug targeting, an in vitro cytotoxicity test was performed using an NIH/3T3 cell line. The cell viability was evaluated by spectrometric assay (MTT). The results show that the prepared particles are not cytotoxic. Moreover, bare CI particles as well as synthesized core-shell particles were suspended in silicone oil, and the rheological behavior of MR suspensions was investigated in controlled shear rate mode under various magnetic field strengths. Dynamic yield stress as a measure of the rigidity of the created internal structures of the suspensions was determined using the Herschel-Bulkley model, which provided a reasonably good fit for rheological data. MR suspensions of PGMA-coated particles exhibited only slightly decreased yield stresses due to their negligibly-affected magnetic performance. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.Operational Program Research and Development for Innovations - European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); National Budget of the Czech Republic [CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0111]; TBU in Zlin [IGA/CPS/2015/007]; Centre of Excellence FUN-MAT; Czech Science Foundation [13-08944S

Alternative Theoretical Approaches to Post-Communist Transformations in Central and Eastern Europe

Since the start of post-communist transformations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), there have been disagreements about the best strategies to follow and policies to implement the reforms.1 Similar disagreements have existed in practical and theoretical interpretations of these transformations. These differences have reflected various and often conflicting understandings of the previous state socialist system, the existing political-economic situation and the nature of post-communist reforms by economists, political scientists, sociologists, historians and members of other disciplines and suggest the complexity, diversity and unpredictability of post-communist developments. Views have also differed significantly within the individual disciplines. Two basic groups of approaches to the study of post-communist developments in CEE can be recognized. First are the teleological “transition” approaches, also known as “transitology,”2 typically associated with neoliberal and neoclassical economic interpretations. Second are the non-teleological alternative “transformation” interpretations stemming from evolutionary and institutional economics, the analysis of networks of economic embeddedness, and Marxist political economy and regulation theory. The view of recent changes in CEE as transformations rather than transitions emphasizes actual processes rather than destinations3 and it differs from the neoliberal and neoclassical notion of transitions dominated by the theoretical agenda of modernization theory.4Proponents of “transitology” argue that economies of CEE countries are undergo ing a relatively unproblematic shift from a command to a capitalist economy and from communism to democracy. The analyses and critique of “transitology” have been carried out elsewhere.5 The goal of this paper is to review and evaluate select alternative theoretical interpretations and approaches to the CEE post-communist transformations in light of my research in the region. Before turning to alternative explanations of post-communist transformations in CEE, I begin with a brief evaluation of the early “transitology” based on the results of my own research in the Czech Republic in the first half of the 1990s in order to complement existing critical analyses. Next is a discussion of recombinant property in the context of privatization and property ownership transformation in CEE. Third, I briefly review the concept of path dependency and its importance for understanding the developments since the collapse of state socialism in CEE. Fourth is a discussion of network analysis in the context of post-communist economic transformation and regional development. Fifth, I briefly analyze Marxist political economy approaches, including the neo-Marxist “transition from state to private capitalism thesis” and the Marxist analysis of production processes. Sixth, I review regulation theory and its approaches to state socialism and post-communist transformations. Finally, I summarize the main findings in the conclusion

Vybrané teoretické interpretace současné transformace kapitalismu

415

The effect of polyaniline content deposited on silica gel particles on the electrorheology of silicone-oil suspensions

Investigation of the electrorheological effect of silicone-oil suspensions of silica particles coated with polyaniline base in a DC electric field revealed that breaking stress, as a criterion the intensity of the electrorheological phenomenon, steeply increased at first with coating thickness. At relatively low polyaniline content (volume fraction approximate to 0.05), it has reached a value several times higher than that with suspension of pure silica Then they became virtually constant or slightly increased. The frequency spectra of dielectric characteristics of these systems reflect high relaxation times. The results suggest that the interfacial polarization of particles is predominantly controlled by polarizability of their surface layer, and the influence of the thickness is of secondary importance