Sustainable local development in the context of a short-lived mining boom : The case of Pajala in northern Sweden

The article discusses sustainable development in small Arctic communities under ongoing neoliberalization of economic and social policies. It draws on a case study from Teriberka, a coastal village in Northwest Arctic Russia. To understand the processes of sustainable development of such Arctic communities, the study applies the concept of community capitals, examines the effects of neoliberal policies on Teriberka, and analyses the impact of local strategies on community capitals. The research confirms that the balanced development of community capitals is both a path to and an indicator of sustainable development in small Arctic communities facing neoliberalism. The study reveals that recent initiatives undertaken mainly by outside actors have not invested Teriberka’s capitals in a balanced way and have thereby not promoted sustainable local development. Community capitals are suggested as an appropriate model to discovering what small Arctic communities may do in practice to advance sustainable development in the face of neoliberal change. Also, in small communities with scarce human, social, and political capitals – as is the case in many Arctic communities – this model can work effectively only if local interests are not ignored by the state and external business actors

Neoliberal governance, sustainable development and local communities in the Barents Region

There are currently high hopes in the Barents Region for economic growth, higher employment and improved well-being, encouraged by developments in the energy industry, tourism and mining. The article discusses these prospects from the perspective of local communities in five locations in the region, which spans the northernmost counties of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Northwest Russia. The communities studied are remote, relatively small, multicultural, and dependent on natural resources. The salient dynamic illuminated in the research is how ideas of sustainability and neoliberal governance meet in community development. While the two governmentalities often conflict, they sometimes also complement one another, posing a paradox that raises concerns over the social aspect of sustainable development in particular. The article is based on international, multidisciplinary research drawing on interviews as well as statistical and documentary analysis

Investments in primary aluminium production : location choice and the impact of electricity price

Primary aluminium production requires huge amounts of electricity. The cost of electricity is thus of great importance for firms in the industry. Electricity prices in the western world tends to increase over time at the same time as many producers face expiring long term power contracts, thus resulting in increased production costs and reduced competitiveness. Hence, reports from media suggest a growing tendency towards a re-location of capacity to countries capable of offering cheap electricity. This study was carried out in order to shed further light on which factors firms in the industry consider in their choice of location for investments. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the determinants of investment in primary aluminium production and asses how these determinants affect location choice for investments. Using smelter-level data on a majority of the world’s primary producers, a count data analysis was performed in order to asses the impact of factor prices and agglomeration effects. Due to the lack of country-level data for key variables, smelters were grouped into 12 regions. Contrary to expectations, no significant evidence was found for the importance of electricity prices. However, access to cheap labour and agglomeration effects appears to attract investments. This implies that high levels of sunk costs make firms prone to upgrading existing capacity, but may also suggest that agglomeration effects such as technical know-how and industry infrastructure are considered in the choice of location for investments in new plants.Validerat; 20101217 (root

Entrepreneurship and the Geography of Innovation : Essays on the Role of Related Variety

The traditional view that large industrial corporations are the primary engines of innovation and economic progress has gradually been replaced by the notion that place is the key organizing platform for innovative activity in the modern knowledge economy. The geography of innovation has shown that innovative activities tend to cluster in space, due to the advantages of certain cities and regions. Recent literature suggests that a regional diversity of economic activities that are related in a cognitive or technological sense is advantageous, as it facilitates knowledge spillovers that foster positive economic outcomes. This re-specifies the traditional dichotomy between economic specialization and diversity and opens up new lines of inquiry. This thesis aims to contribute to the literature on the geography of innovation and related variety with studies that treat the relationships between related industry variety, innovation and entrepreneurship in explicit fashions, thus addressing important research gaps. The overall purpose of the thesis is therefore to examine and explain the relationship between regional related variety and regional economic change, in terms of: (a) entrepreneurship, and; (b) innovation.  The thesis consists of an introductory text and five appended papers. Paper 1 provides a bibliometric study of the literature on related variety, while papers 2 to 5 provide empirical analyses that address the implications of related variety for regional economic outcomes in terms of growth, entrepreneurship and innovation. The main findings of the thesis work suggest that related variety facilitates knowledge spillovers that unlock entrepreneurial opportunities, and that knowledge spillover entrepreneurship underpins the external economies of scope that arise from related variety. In addition, the thesis finds that entrepreneurship is an important driver of economic diversification in related activities. Furthermore, findings presented in the thesis align with previous literature that has reported a positive influence of related variety on regional innovation, which indicates the presence of positive knowledge externalities that foster innovation. It is however argued that the thesis work extends on previous findings by emphasizing the function of entrepreneurship in realizing the knowledge spillover effects of related variety. The importance of entrepreneurship is further reinforced by the finding that unrelated variety in particular is associated with firm-level entrepreneurial innovation. Drawing on the notion of Knightian uncertainty, the thesis work concludes that the process of innovation may require business decisions under ‘true’ uncertainty about expected returns, particularly when combinations of unrelated knowledge are attempted as they are new and unprecedented, and such pursuits can be understood as acts of entrepreneurial innovation.

Investments in primary aluminium production : location choice and the impact of electricity price

Primary aluminium production requires huge amounts of electricity. The cost of electricity is thus of great importance for firms in the industry. Electricity prices in the western world tends to increase over time at the same time as many producers face expiring long term power contracts, thus resulting in increased production costs and reduced competitiveness. Hence, reports from media suggest a growing tendency towards a re-location of capacity to countries capable of offering cheap electricity. This study was carried out in order to shed further light on which factors firms in the industry consider in their choice of location for investments. The purpose of this thesis is to explore the determinants of investment in primary aluminium production and asses how these determinants affect location choice for investments. Using smelter-level data on a majority of the world’s primary producers, a count data analysis was performed in order to asses the impact of factor prices and agglomeration effects. Due to the lack of country-level data for key variables, smelters were grouped into 12 regions. Contrary to expectations, no significant evidence was found for the importance of electricity prices. However, access to cheap labour and agglomeration effects appears to attract investments. This implies that high levels of sunk costs make firms prone to upgrading existing capacity, but may also suggest that agglomeration effects such as technical know-how and industry infrastructure are considered in the choice of location for investments in new plants.Validerat; 20101217 (root

Exploring a leading and lagging regions dichotomy: Does entrepreneurship and diversity explain it?

There has been a long debate about the role of industry structure in the literature on why some regions successfully achieve economic growth, while other regions stagnate or decline. This paper provides an empirical analysis in which we, based on a cluster analysis, develop a taxonomy for regional growth. In a second part of the study, we explore how specialization and entrepreneurship are meaningful to discriminate between the different types of regions. Our results suggest that regional entrepreneurship and industry diversity characterized by relatedness are key elements in understanding why some regions are leading while others lag behind. The suggested taxonomy is argued to contribute with a nuanced perspective that can enhance discussions about improvements of regional development policies and to further empirical analysis on the topic

Regionala effekter : Testnäring i Norrbotten

Regional förnyels

The regional economic impacts of mining : the case of northern Sweden

Godkänd; 2009; 20090924 (thoejd

Steel scrap markets in Europe and the USA

The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the market for steel scrap (or ferrous scrap) for steelmaking. A simple theoretical discussion of scrap markets is outlined, and constitutes the basis for a discussion of consumption and supply behaviour, international trade patterns and the development of scrap prices over time and across world regions. The geographical scope is essentially worldwide, but we pay particular attention to market behaviour and outcomes in Europe and the USA. In pursuing the above the paper also reviews past research efforts on steel scrap markets, and identifies topics for future economic research in the field. We emphasize that improved knowledge about scrap markets ought to provide important lessons for public policy measures aimed at further increasing steel recycling rates as well as for environmental impact assessment studies.Validerad; 2008; 20090106 (ysko

Ekonomisk analys av energieffektivisering i bebyggelsen : [Bilaga 1 till ER 2010:37, Finansieringsinstrument för energieffektivisering]

Godkänd; 2010; 20101112 (patrik_s