Logistics global network connectivity and its determinants. A European City network analysis

The Globalization and World City Research Network classifies global cities according to their connectivity through advanced producer service activities. Recent studies have suggested there is scope to develop a new classification of cities based on advanced logistics services. Within this framework, the aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to develop an interlocking Logistics Global Network for advanced logistics in Europe and measure the Logistics Global Network Connectivity (LGNC) of the host cities; (ii) to explore the variables explaining each the cities' score on the LGNC. The aim is achieved by means of a mixed methodological approach based on Taylor's Interlocking Network Model and via econometric analysis through Ordinary Least Square regression (OLS)

The role of ideology in grassroots innovation: An application of the arenas of development framework to organic in Europe

Grassroots Innovation is a typology of innovation that develops in civil society and is driven by social and ideological concerns. This paper focuses on the strategies of resistance developed by Grassroots movements in response to capture and mainstreaming processes and on the role that ideology has in the evolution of Grassroots Innovation. The study refers to the Arenas of Development framework. The adoption of a flat ontology allows to overcome the dichotomy between niche and regime and the focus on market breakthrough. It permits to consider social and political issues, and interactions between different arenas with different perspectives. The notion of actor-world used to define arenas' focus and boundaries allows to stress the role of ideology in evolutionary pathways. The analysis is based on a case study on Organic in Europe, that leads to consider three different arenas: the Grassroots arena, the EU Common Agricultural Policy arena, and the Global retail/agrifood arena. The arenas approach Organic with different lenses, interact and co-evolve. The recent ideological repositioning of the Grassroots arena brought it to the development of a strategy of resistance based on alliances with other arenas of civil society and on both confrontation and separateness with the other Organic arenas

Lost in Mainstreaming? Agrifood and Urban Mobility Grassroots Innovations with Multiple Pathways and Outcomes

Grassroots innovations provide a significant contribution to sustainability transitions. They differ from other innovations as they originate in civil society and are mostly inspired by ideological values. In the literature on grassroots innovation there is no systematic analysis of most prominent processes at supra-local and global scale, including mainstreaming. Mainstreaming is often characterized by ideological conflicts between actors that bring along different interpretations and divergent practices of the same grassroots innovation. Longitudinal global scale case studies of six agrifood and urban mobility grassroots innovations are provided in order to answer to two research questions that are not considered by the literature: 1) What factors underlie the generation of multiple grassroots innovation pathways? 2) What is the relationship between the dynamics of each pathway and its outcome? The comparative analysis of Fair Trade, Organic, Veganism, Carsharing, Cycling and Shared Space highlights recurrent patterns between their dynamics and outcomes. Bifurcations resulting in multiple pathways are systematic and are always linked to mainstreaming. With reference to outcomes, a trade-off is observed between the congruence with original values and the level of empowerment. If compared to big firms, the involvement of institutions into mainstreaming results in less pronounced trade-offs and greater empowerment

Logistics global network connectivity and its determinants. A European City network analysis

The Globalization and World City Research Network classifies global cities according to their connectivity through advanced producer service activities. Recent studies have suggested there is scope to develop a new classification of cities based on advanced logistics services. Within this framework, the aim of this paper is twofold: (i) to develop an interlocking Logistics Global Network for advanced logistics in Europe and measure the Logistics Global Network Connectivity (LGNC) of the host cities; (ii) to explore the variables explaining each the cities' score on the LGNC. The aim is achieved by means of a mixed methodological approach based on Taylor's Interlocking Network Model and via econometric analysis through Ordinary Least Square regression (OLS)