Review : Proximity, Distance and Diversity: Issues on Economic and Local Development. Edited by Arnoud Lagendijk and Päivi Oinas. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 2005.

Abstract included in text

Review: Clusters in Urban and Regional Development, ANDY CUMBERS and DANNY MACKINNON (Eds), Routledge, London (2006). xvii þ 232 pp. E96.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 415 36011 0.

Abstract included in text

The Irish Pharmaceutical Industry over the Boom Period and Beyond

The pharmaceutical industry has been one of the strongest performing sectors of the Celtic Tiger era. During the past two decades, employment growth in the sector has been strong and continuous, even when, in recent years, employment in other manufacturing sectors has been contracting. Although positive in itself, from a dynamic regional development perspective it is important to explore the qualitative changes in the types of activities that are conducted in Ireland. Adopting a global production network approach, the paper examines Ireland’s changing role in global production networks within the pharmaceutical industry, focussing on the different components of manufacturing and R&D. The analysis shows that Ireland’s involvement in manufacturing has shifted in the direction of relatively higher value generating activities. Within R&D, although the level of value creation has increased substantially, Ireland’s involvement remains concentrated in the (relatively) lower value generating activities of the global R&D network. In addition, the sector remains strongly dominated by foreign direct investment so that a large share of the created value is not captured within Ireland.

Review : Proximity, Distance and Diversity: Issues on Economic and Local Development. Edited by Arnoud Lagendijk and Päivi Oinas. Aldershot, U.K.: Ashgate, 2005.

Abstract included in text

Review: Clusters in Urban and Regional Development, ANDY CUMBERS and DANNY MACKINNON (Eds), Routledge, London (2006). xvii þ 232 pp. E96.50 (hbk). ISBN 0 415 36011 0.

Abstract included in text

New high volume production, production linkages and regional development: the case of the microcomputer hardware industry in Ireland and Scotland

The dissertation explores the regional development effects, via production linkages, of subsidiaries of multinational enterprises that have adopted New High Volume Production (NHVP) approaches, in non-core regions NHVP approaches are positioned amid other post-Fordist forms of industrial organisation. There are literatures that suggest that the adoption of NHVP approaches will have positive implications for regional development of non-core regions because of greater indirect, backward linkage, effects. Theoretically, local linkage formation or buyersuppher proximity in NHVP industries might be the outcome of three drivers. It can be driven by a search for efficiency in product flow/logistics, efficiency in formal information exchange in the context of inter-firm functional integration and by sociocultural and institutional factors enhancing information flow in a local milieu. This dissertation investigates the role of the first two drivers in shaping the geographical configuration of backward linkages in NHVP industries. This is done in a case study of the microcomputer hardware industry in Ireland and Scotland. The findings of the case study do not support the positive suggestions of greater backward linkage effects. A detailed examination of the supply chains of the subsidiaries of foreign microcomputer assemblers shows that the vast majority of components and parts were imported from the Far East and, to a lesser extent, the USA. It is shown that efficiency in technical information exchange was a relatively insignificant driver for buyer-supplier proximity, and how this fact was related to the particular way NHVP manifested itself m the microcomputer hardware industry. Similarly, in relation to most material inputs, logistical efficiency did not lead to buyer-suppher proximity. It is shown that the supply chains generally involved inbound inventories, stored in local warehouses - ‘hubs’ - from where the manufacturing lines were supplied on a very frequent basis. This logistical solution should, however, not be interpreted as sub-optimal. A detailed examination of the key logistics data shows that the inbound logistics pipelines were tightly managed and that inventory levels and shipment frequencies were consistent with modem comprehensive logistics management principles. The dissertation also explores the actual impact that the NHVP plants had on the quality and competitiveness of their local suppliers in non-core regions. The findings show that, although the subsidiaries of the foreign microcomputer assemblers created few local linkages, they had a significant positive impact on the quality and competitiveness of nearly all local suppliers they were dealing with

Identifying Clusters – A Review of Methodological Approaches

Although a seemingly intuitive concept, the identification of clusters involves a number of complexities linked to (1) the cluster definition (the industry boundaries) and (2) the spatial determination of clusters. Over the last 20 years, researchers have proposed a range of methods to address both aspects. The choice of cluster identification method will depend on the policy question, geographical context, type of industries under investigation and, importantly, data availability. A combination of Delgado’s et al. (2016) cluster definition method and Feser’s et al. (2005) method for identifying geographical concentrations would usefully inform many policy contexts

The scale and scope of process R&D in the Irish pharmaceutical industry (NIRSA) Working Paper Series. No.33

Manufacturing Process R&D activities are one of the target areas of Irish industrial development agencies in their quest towards embedding pharmaceutical companies in Ireland. This paper analyses the changing role of Ireland in the global process R&D networks of the pharmaceutical companies. The paper is based on data collected in an email survey of all pharmaceutical establishments in Ireland and face-to-face interviews with 13 companies. The article outlines the various stages of the process R&D cycle and assesses the involvement of the Irish establishments at each stage. Far from a uniform undifferentiated activity, process R&D comprises a range of activities. The results show that although Irish plants are increasing their involvement in process R&D, this involvement tends to be concentrated in the last stages of the cycle

Spatial concentration in the Irish pharmaceutical industry: the role of government intervention and agglomeration economies (NIRSA) Working Paper Series. No.28

This paper examines the spatial pattern of the pharmaceutical industry in Ireland and in particular the drivers accounting for spatial concentration in the industry.1 Spatial concentration indexes indicate a particularly high level of spatial concentration in one of the industry’s sub-sectors, namely, drug substance production. This high level of concentration has been attributed to the operation of agglomeration advantages, notably localisation economies. Based on interview data and secondary sources, a detailed investigation of the spatial dynamics and location factors involved suggests that these advantages have played, at most, a relatively limited role and that the concentration of the industry in and near the two particular urban centres in question has largely been driven by government intervention, notably environmental and regional planning policy and the related spatially selective provision of well-serviced industrial sites and infrastructure

Identifying Clusters – A Review of Methodological Approaches

Although a seemingly intuitive concept, the identification of clusters involves a number of complexities linked to (1) the cluster definition (the industry boundaries) and (2) the spatial determination of clusters. Over the last 20 years, researchers have proposed a range of methods to address both aspects. The choice of cluster identification method will depend on the policy question, geographical context, type of industries under investigation and, importantly, data availability. A combination of Delgado’s et al. (2016) cluster definition method and Feser’s et al. (2005) method for identifying geographical concentrations would usefully inform many policy contexts