Spatial-Structural Relations among Technology Industrial Clusters: A Comparative Analysis of Metropolitan Regions in the U.S

Technical industrial clusters are defined and analyzed for a sample of U.S. metropolitan regions. Economic structure, spatial proximity and shape of the clusters are examined across the metropolitan regions through various economic and spatial measures and statistics. The data for this research are used to test the hypothesis that close spatial proximity results in stronger economic functional interdependence. This hypothesis is examined and the implications of the test are explored.

Modelling leadership and institutional factors in endogenous regional development.

Theories and approaches to endogenous growth and regional development tend to neglect or at best underplay the role of leadership and the way institutional factors are considered is usually simplistic. This paper builds on work the authors have been developing over the last year or so to develop a model framework of regional economic development that explicitly incorporates leadership and institutional factors along with the consideration of resource endowments and market fit and of entrepreneurship. An approach to operationalizing the model is proposed.

Measuring "small-world" connectivity in international trade: a shift-share and ANOVA approach

Improvements in telecommunications and transportation appear to be bringing the world closer making physical location less of a factor in determining interaction between nations. The formation of regional and global trading pacts and arrangements seem to be further contribution to this interaction. Some would argue that what is evolving, as a result of these developments, is a 'small world' network. This type of network has a high degree of cliquishness, or local connectivity, and a relatively short average minimum path, or strong overall network connectivity. 'Small-world networks' is a new concept that is receiving a lot of attention. Introduced by Watts and Strogatz (1998), a 'small-world network' is based on 'six degrees of separation' or the notion that everyone in the world is related to everyone else through at most six acquaintances. 'Six degrees of separation' arises from the existence of cliques and a few popular individuals who provide connections between these cliques. The huge appeal of 'small-world networks' lies in the impact they are said to have on dynamical systems. According to Watts and Strogatz(1998), for example, models of dynamical systems with small-world coupling display enhanced signal propagation speed, computational power, and synchronizability. Furthermore, contagious diseases tend to spread more freely in 'small-world networks'. These findings have profound implications for many manmade and natural systems. In a trading network, 'small-world' topology might contribute to the regional and global economic spillover effects. This paper introduces a method, based on shift-share analysis and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), which can be used to measure the extent of 'small-world' connectivity is evolving in a network. The shift-share model is basically a rule of thumb/empirical method and is used in identifying the "small world" activity. ANOVA is used as a theoretical explanation of the shift-share results and an alternate way to measure "small world". The model is applied to two distinct time periods, the first from 1996 to 1998 and the second from 1989 to 1992. The first time period is representative of the trading network topology that was present in the 1980's, in particular a lot of local trading arrangements (cliques) and very few multilateral alliances and agreements between nations of different cliques, while the latter time period reflects stronger local trading arrangements (cliques) and the introduction of multilateral and bilateral agreements between nations of different cliques. Results are summarized using a geographic information system.

Institutions, regulations and sustainable transport, a review

This policy research document examines institutional and regulatory aspects of sustainable transport from a cross- national perspective. While institutions appear to play an important role in the economic success of many countries, it is not so clear that they also support sustainable development. In fact, institutions are probably both supporting and constraining depending on the situation and it remains unclear what the net balance is. A number of examples of the role of institutions in transport are discussed. A research agenda is formulated with special attention to among others success and failure factors for regulatory reform, private versus public roles in transport, border effects and issues of fiscalcompetition

A New Method for Assessing the Resiliency of Large, Complex Networks

Designing resilient and reliable networks is a principle concern of planners and private firms. Traffic congestion whether recurring or as the result of some aperiodic event is extremely costly. This paper describes an alternative process and a model for analyzing the resiliency of networks that address some of the shortcomings of more traditional approaches – e.g., the four-step modeling process used in transportation planning. It should be noted that the authors do not view this as a replacement to current approaches but rather as a complementary tool designed to augment analysis capabilities. The process that is described in this paper for analyzing the resiliency of a network involves at least three steps: 1. assessment or identification of important nodes and links according to different criteria 2. verification of critical nodes and links based on failure simulations and 3. consequence. Raster analysis, graph-theory principles and GIS are used to develop a model for carrying out each of these steps. The methods are demonstrated using two, large interdependent networks for a metropolitan area in the United States.

Liderazgo e instituciones factores endógenos del desarrollo de la economía regional

This paper proposes that a virtuous circle for the sustainable development of a city or region is achieved through a process whereby proactive and strong leadership and effective institutions enhance the capacity and capability of a place to better use its resource endowments and gain an improved market fit in becoming competitive and being entrepreneurial. It is proposed that the performance of a city or region at a point in time and the path of its economic development over time may be represented by its position in a Regional Competitiveness Performance Cube. The paper proposes a new model framework whereby a city or region’s economic development and performance is an outcome dependent on how its resource endowments and market fit as quasi-independent variables are mediated by the interaction between leadership, institutions, and entrepreneurship as intervening variables. The experiences of a number of case study cities from a variety of settings in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia are explored within that framework.Este artículo propone que un círculo virtuoso para el desarrollo sostenible de una ciudad o región se logra a través de un proceso por el que el liderazgo proactivo y fuerte y las instituciones efectivas refuerzan la capacidad y aptitud de un lugar para hacer un mejor uso de sus dotaciones de recursos y lograr un mercado mejorado que consiga ser competitivo y emprendedor. Se propone que el funcionamiento de una ciudad o región en un punto en el tiempo y la trayectoria de su desarrollo económico a lo largo del tiempo puede representarse por su posición en un Cubo de resultados de Competitividad Regional. El artículo propone una nueva estructura de modelo donde el desarrollo económico y funcionamiento de una ciudad o región sea un resultado dependiente de cómo sus dotaciones de recursos y mercado ajustadas como variables cuasi-independientes son mediadas por la interacción entre el liderazgo, instituciones y espíritu empresarial como variables intervinientes. Las experiencias de un cierto número de casos de estudio de ciudades dentro de una variedad de lugares en EE.UU., Europa, Asia y Australia se exploran dentro de esa estructura

Impact of Urban Conditions of Firm Performance of Migrant Entrepreneurs: A Comparative Dutch - US Study

Recent studies on ethnic entrepreneurship have pointed at an increasing share of migrants in urban small- and medium-sized entrepreneurial businesses. These migrant activities are crucial to the urban economy in many countries, as they employ a significant part of the workforce. The main objective of our study is to identify success conditions of ethnic entrepreneurship by using concepts from social capital and human capital from the literature on empirical factors that are responsible for successful ethnic entrepreneurship. The empirical part of the paper is based on a survey questionnaire among migrant entrepreneurs in the city of Amsterdam in the Netherlands and in Fairfax, County in the state of Virginia in the US. We present an overview of cultural, ethno-psychological and motivational aspects that contribute to the understanding of similarities and differences between ethnic entrepreneurs in both locations. The analysis is structured around several dimensions of social and human capital including personal and business characteristics, and network participation for improving business performance. The findings of the two studies are compared to explore a possible correspondence in business performance patterns. The research tool used to assess performance is Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a technique for comparative efficiency analysis in various types of corporate organizations. Finally, concluding remarks are presented and possible extensions of the analysis are suggested. © Springer-Verlag 2009