Effects of world market oriented regional integration on developing countries

The inward-oriented wave of regionalisation in the mid-sixties in the so-called developing countries was judged, twenty years later, to have been a failure almost everywhere. Since the beginning of the nineties a new trend towards regionalisation has been emerging, this time more strongly oriented towards world markets. Do the new regional integration agreements complement the economic and development policy effects aimed at by the structural adjustment programmes of the international financial institutions? What effects do they have on the economic development and the industrialisation of the countries involved

Structural adjustment programmes and industrialization in sub-Saharan Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, like elsewhere in the Third World, great hopes are attached to industrialization as a means of achieving economic and social development. Are the IMF and the World Bank, via their Structural Adjustment Programmes in the region, helping to create a leaner, more competitive industrial sector or are they in fact weakening the industrialization process

The predominance of social proximity for innovation collaboration of SME

The paper at hand contributes to the field of proximity studies with a focus on social proximity. The paper gives an in-depth discussion of a theoretical and empirical definition of social proximity. Based on this, an argumentation follows why social proximity is of particular importance when the decision for external innovation collaboration partners has to be made. This holds especially for SME and for firms with low or medium innovativeness. Furthermore, the paper presents two explorative case studies as a first support for the developed theory. The analysis of two firms shows how social proximity guides the search for collaboration partners

The North American trade region: The reasons for its creation and its initial economic repercussions

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that is to take effect at the beginning of 1994 will create a free trade area between three economies which differ substantially in terms of size and stage of development. What were the reasons that led the unequal partners, the USA, Canada and Mexico, to enter into closer trade integration? What will be the economic consequences for the countries involved and for world trade

The Dynamics of Inter-Regional Collaboration - An Analysis of Co-Patenting

The paper at hand investigates how co-patenting over distance develops when aggregating inventive activities on a regional level. That means, the object of analysis is a link between two regions in contrast to other studies, where links between two individuals or firms are investigated. We analyse which regional characteristics influence the creation and continuation of such links. The main focus lies on different types of distance. The approach adds a dynamic view to the existing, often static literature about collaboration behaviour. The regressions are done for all patent-relevant industries in Germany. We find that several distance types decrease - as expected - the likelihood of link creation but also - not in all cases expected - of link continuation

How individual characteristics and attitudes shape the job search process of graduates.

Economic factors and individual attitudes have an impact on the mobility of university graduates. At this point of the life, mobility is highest, but still little is known about the process leading to actually starting a job at a certain place. The paper at hand investigates the job search process by means of a graduate survey at two points in time: prior to graduation and one year later. We asked for individual characteristics and attitudes during the job search, ex ante preferred places, and actual locations of the first job. Hence, we are able to show that a spatial focus or certain attitudes during the search do not have an influence on finding a job, but on the duration of the job search. Furthermore, searching at a familiar place does not necessarily lead to a job actually at a familiar place

Motives behind the mobility of university graduates - A study of three German universities

The mobility of university graduates is influenced by economic factors and individual attitudes. The paper at hand focuses on individual characteristics influencing the spatial preferences of graduates from three universities in Hesse (Germany). Using survey data from prospective graduates in 2012 we find that the majority has preferred locations during the job search, which are on average farther away if the respondents focus on broad availability of job opportunities and leisure/cultural activities. Social ties and a focus on good infrastructure leads to a search dominantly at familiar places, i.e. the home or university region

Inventor collaboration over distance - a comparison of academic and corporate patents

The paper compares academic and corporate patents in Germany to shed light on the geographical distribution of the inventors. The residences of the inventors show different patterns in the two datasets. Furthermore, we analyze the spatial distance between inventors for patents invented in collaboration and give insights into the distance's change over a time period of 14 years. The distance between collaborating inventors of corporate patents exceeds that of inventors of academic patents. In spite of the rise of ICT and cheap passenger transportation the collaboration distances have not increased. This supports earlier literature on the importance of proximity in innovation

The organizational and regional determinants of inter-regional collaborations - Academic inventors as bridging agents

Collaboration over distance is difficult to maintain in innovation projects which require a great deal of regional collaboration. However, patent documents reveal that a number of inventor teams are able to overcome long distances. Earlier literature started to investigate factors, which increase the probability of long-distance innovation co-operation. The paper at hand is restricted to patents with academic participation, but takes a close look at two types of factors in the environment of the inventors: (1) the characteristics of the university that employs the academic inventor(s), and (2) the influence of the regional environment. Research on the impact of these factors is still underdeveloped in the literature. By considering only patents with at least one academic inventor we have a relatively homogeneous subset of patents and can concentrate on the external impacts. We find that a similar research area structure, a high absorptive capacity as well as a high start-up rate foster intra-regional collaboration. More TTO staff and a larger university lead to more long-distance collaboration while the industry orientation of the university does not exert an influence on the distance between inventors

Co-operation over Distance? The Spatial Dimension of Inter-organisational Innovation Collaboration

In the literature there is a controversy about the relevance of the spatial dimension in innovation collaboration. We examine the link between the spatial composition of group members and group characteristics which are important for performing innovation projects. To this end, we introduce a social-psychological approach to the field of economic geography. The empirical part is a longitudinal study of 49 inter-organisational innovation groups in Germany. We find that the share of regional partners is rather stable after a funded formation stage. Hence, policy measures aiming at inter-regional collaboration have to be employed at an early stage of group development