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.

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

Cardiopoietic cell therapy for advanced ischemic heart failure: results at 39 weeks of the prospective, randomized, double blind, sham-controlled CHART-1 clinical trial

Cardiopoietic cells, produced through cardiogenic conditioning of patients' mesenchymal stem cells, have shown preliminary efficacy. The Congestive Heart Failure Cardiopoietic Regenerative Therapy (CHART-1) trial aimed to validate cardiopoiesis-based biotherapy in a larger heart failure cohort

INSTITUTIONAL BARRIERS TO PORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND HARBOR DEVELOPMENT

Ports and their regions have experienced at least a century of crisis from wars (e.g., World War I and II), technological change (e.g., containerization and information and computer technology), political change (e.g., end of the Cold War and liberalization of commerce and trade in countries like China and India) and globalization. As such ports have needed to adjust to these conditions to maintain their competitiveness. They have done this by adapting their physical and institutional infrastructures and the adoption of new technologies. In this paper it is argued however that institutional adaptation is the most important way in which ports have changed in pursuit of sustained competitiveness. The paper defines institutions in keeping with the view of the new institutional economists and develops an institutional typology for framing the analyses of four case studies of ports and/or their regions that faced crisis conditions. The case studies include an analysis of the problems and responses made by the ports and then an institutional examination and evaluation of the adjustment process pursued. Conclusions are made as working hypotheses about the process of institutional adjustment to competitiveness crises of ports and their regions and directions for future research are presented

Entrepreneurship and regional economic development: some reflections

This paper is a reflection of the author’s views on recent research developments at the interface of entrepreneurship and regional economic development and growth. The paper begins with an overview of the recent rise of interest in entrepreneurship in general and, in particular, with respect to its influence on regional economic growth and development. Following an introduction the formation and development of high growth firms (HGFs) and their disproportionately large contribution to job creation are examined. Entrepreneurship ecosystems are then examined in an effort to understand the factors that contribute to high levels of HGF production and job growth. This analysis raises a question about the role of culture, governance and institutions in the collage of factors that influence the development of entrepreneurship systems. These factors are then comparatively examined using three case studies for the U.S., Europe and China which raise the question of how to manage the role of government policy to promote entrepreneurship while, at the same time, preserving other seemingly contradictory factors such as risk taking an d self-reliance. The last part of the paper focuses on equity considerations that have served as rationales for government intervention in regional and national ntrepreneurship systems. Gender, age, migrants, family, technology groups are examined briefly in an effort to provide deeper insight into how public policies in these areas are rationalized. At the end of each major part of the paper relevant research questions are described and discussed. A summary of the paper is presented at the end.El artículo es una reflexión con los puntos de vista del autor sobre los recientes desarrollos en las relaciones entre emprendedurismo y desarrollo regional y crecimiento. Se inicia con una visión general del reciente aumento del interés en el emprendedurismo, en general, y con respecto a su influencia en el crecimiento y el desarrollo económico regional, en particular. A partir de una introducción a la formación y desarrollo de las empresas de alto crecimiento (HGFs/EAC) se examina su desproporcionadamente amplia contribución (más del 50%) a la creación de empleos. Los ecosistemas de emprendedores se analizan a continuación, con un esfuerzo orientado a conocer los factores que contribuyen a los altos niveles de producción y de empleo de las empresas de alto crecimiento (HGF/EAC). Este análisis plantea una pregunta sobre el papel de la cultura, la gobernanza y las instituciones en el conjunto de factores que influyen en el desarrollo de los sistemas de emprendedores. Estos factores se analizan comparativamente utilizando tres casos de estudio referidos a Estados Unidos, Europa y China, los cuales plantean el problema de cómo gestionar el papel de la política del gobierno para promover el emprendedurismo, a la vez que se respeten al mismo tiempo otros factores aparentemente contradictorios, como la asunción de riesgos y la autoconfianza. La última parte del artículo se centra en las consideraciones de equidad que han servido como guía para las intervenciones de las autoridades en los sistemas de emprendedurismo regional y nacional. Se examinan brevemente cuestiones como el género, la edad, los inmigrantes, la familia, los grupos tecnológicos, en un esfuerzo orientado a proporcionar una visión más profunda sobre cómo se racionalizan y justifican las políticas públicas en dichas áreas. Al final de cada parte más importante del artículo se plantean algunas preguntas de investigación que son relevantes y que se describen y discuten. El artículo se cierra con un resumen final