Agglomeration and the spatial distribution of creativity

Abstract.  This article analyses the spatial distribution of "creativity"– the production of new knowledge. We analyse commercial patents granted in Sweden between 1994 and 2001 using a panel of 100 labour market areas that encompass the entire country. We relate patent activity to measures of localisation and urbanisation, to the industrial composition and size distribution of firms, and to the regional distribution of human capital. Our analysis confirms the importance of human capital and research facilities in stimulating regional patent output. Our results document the importance of agglomeration and spatial factors in influencing creativity: patent activity is increased in larger and more dense labour markets and in regions in which a larger fraction of the labour force is employed in medium-sized firms. Our results also indicate that creativity is greater in labour markets with more diverse employment bases and in those which contain a larger share of national employment in certain industries, thus confirming the importance of urbanisation and localisation economies in stimulating creativity. Our quantitative results suggest that the urbanisation of Sweden during the 1990s had an important effect upon the aggregate level of patent activity in the country, leading to increases of up to 15 percent in aggregate patents.     

Ecological network analysis of an urban water metabolic system: Model development, and a case study for Beijing

Using ecological network analysis, we analyzed the network structure and ecological relationships in an urban water metabolic system. We developed an ecological network model for the system, and used Beijing as an example of analysis based on the model. We used network throughflow analysis to determine the flows among components, and measured both indirect and direct flows. Using a network utility matrix, we determined the relationships and degrees of mutualism among six compartments - 1) local environment, 2) rainwater collection, 3) industry, 4) agriculture, 5) domestic sector, and 6) wastewater recycling - which represent producer, consumer, and reducer trophic levels. The capacity of producers to provide water for Beijing decreased from 2003 to 2007, and consumer demand for water decreased due to decreasing industrial and agricultural demand; the recycling capacity of reducers also improved, decreasing the discharge pressure on the environment. The ecological relationships associated with the local environment or the wastewater recycling sector changed little from 2003 to 2007. From 2003 to 2005, the main changes in the ecological relationships among components of Beijing's water metabolic system mostly occurred between the local environment, the industrial and agricultural sectors, and the domestic sector, but by 2006 and 2007, the major change was between the local environment, the agricultural sector, and the industrial sector. The other ecological relationships did not change during the study period. Although Beijing's mutualism indices remained generally stable, the ecological relationships among compartments changed greatly. Our analysis revealed ways to further optimize this system and the relationships among compartments, thereby optimizing future urban water resources development.     

Regional innovation potential in the United States: Evidence of spatial transformation

Abstract. The new economy hypothesis identifies the southern and western parts of the United States as important source points for industrial creativity that can rival the northeast. This study shows that this viewpoint, based on patent activity, is warranted. Regional technology production in the country is being helped by the presence of professional, skilled labor, rather than manufacturing and related activities as in times past. While the northeast or midwest now operate in a much more competitive inventive spatial system, and are being outperformed technologically by California, Texas, and Florida combined, all regions of the country are patenting inventions more than ever before.     

Does intentional mean hierarchical? Knowledge flows and innovative performance of European regions

The production of scientific and technical knowledge is mostly concentrated in specific locations (high-tech clusters, innovative industry agglomerations, centres of excellence, and technologically advanced regions). Knowledge flows very easily within regions; however, scientific and technical knowledge also flow between regions. The aim of this paper was to analyse how knowledge flows between regions, and the effect of these flows on the innovative performance, measured by patent applications. We estimate a regional knowledge production function, and, using appropriate spatial econometric estimation techniques, we test the effect of both geographical and relational autocorrelation (measured by participation in EU funded research networks as part of Fifth Framework Programme). We model unobservable structure and link value of knowledge flows in these joint research networks. We find that knowledge flows within inter-regional research networks, along non-symmetrical and hierarchical structures in which the knowledge produced by network participants tends to be exploited by the network coordinator.     

市场经营下的科技园区规划建筑设计——兼谈三亚大学科技园规划设计

科技园是我国开发科研生产,提高工业技术生产水平的重要平台,文章探讨适合我国国情的科技园建设,并介绍作者设计的三亚大学科技园项目。     

Localised knowledge spillovers vs. innovative milieux: Knowledge “tacitness” reconsidered

Abstract. This article provides a critical discussion of the recent econometric literature on "localised knowledge spillovers" and the related notion of tacit knowledge. The basic claim of the article is that the increasing, and more or less automatic reliance of industrial geographers upon such econometric evidence and theoretical concepts to support their work on industrial districts, hi-tech agglomerations and, more broadly, local innovation systems is not well placed and risks to generate conceptual confusion and to distort research agendas. Following some recent advances in the economics of knowledge, the article also suggests that more research efforts should instead be devoted to exploring how knowledge is actually transmitted, among whom, at what distance, and on the basis of which codebooks.     

Applying social network analysis in economic geography: framing some key analytic issues

Social network analysis attracts increasing attention in economic geography. We claim social network analysis is a promising tool for empirically investigating the structure and evolution of inter-organizational interaction and knowledge flows within and across regions. However, the potential of the application of network methodology to regional issues is far from exhausted. The aim of our paper is twofold. The first objective is to shed light on the untapped potential of social network analysis techniques in economic geography: we set out some theoretical challenges concerning the static and dynamic analysis of networks in geography. Basically, we claim that network analysis has a huge potential to enrich the literature on clusters, regional innovation systems and knowledge spillovers. The second objective is to describe how these challenges can be met through the application of network analysis techniques, using primary (survey) and secondary (patent) data. We argue that the choice between these two types of data has strong implications for the type of research questions that can be dealt with in economic geography, such as the feasibility of dynamic network analysis.     

An econometric analysis of private sector participation in China’s urban water supply

This paper explores the impact of private sector participation on industrial performance of urban water supply by using panel data for 35 major cities in China over the period 1998 to 2008. We find that the introduction of private sector participation is significantly correlated with improvement in integrated production capacity and water coverage rate, but not correlated with the investment in fixed assets. Private sector participation has a positive impact on the integrated production capacity in the developed eastern cities and contributes to narrowing the gap of water coverage rate between the less developed central and western cities and the more developed eastern cities. We also find that the participation of foreign companies, but not domestic private companies, significantly improves water industry performance. The research sheds some light on the importance of private participation in urban water markets. However, the performance of domestic private firms in urban water supply still needs be improved.     

ISO 9000 certification and construction project performance: The Malaysian experience

Purpose

This paper explores the relationship between an ISO 9000 certified quality management system (QMS) and elements of performance in construction project environments.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey based approach is used to collect data from project managers working in the Malaysian construction sector in both ISO 9000 certified and non-certified organisations. Three elements of performance are explored: project management (PM) practices, financial management (FM) practices and Project Success. The Project Management Performance Assessment model (PMPA) (Bryde, 2003) is used as the framework for assessing PM Practices. 336 completed questionnaires are analysed, with a group of 73 being from ISO 9000 certified companies (a response rate of 48.3%) and a group of 262 being from non-certified companies (response rate = 32.6%). MANOVA are used to explore differences in levels of performance between the two groups.

Findings

Overall there is significance difference in mean scores at the 5% level in respect of each of the PM and FM Practice elements of performance, indicating that ISO 9000 certified companies have enhanced levels of performance in their project environments compared to those in non-certified companies. The two exceptions are the PM Practice related to establishing partnerships and managing resources and the FM Practice related to allowing for inflation and price escalations. The results also indicate that ISO 9000 certification has a positive moderating effect on the casual relationship between PM Practices and Project Success. Based on the survey results a Project Management Performance Assessment for Construction (PMPAC) model is developed, which extends the PMPA to include performance enablers linked to financial management activities.

Research limitations/implications

The survey focuses on the construction sector in Malaysia and further work is required to see if the findings are applicable to other countries and also to other business sectors beyond the construction sector.

Originality/value

The research reported in this paper is original in that prior research into the link of ISO 9000 certification and dimensions of organizational performance has not explicitly focused on project environments. The research findings provide evidence that those seeking to enhance their project performance could gain benefits from developing a QMS and seeking ISO 9000 accreditation. However the finding also indicate that an approach to performance management based solely on establishing a certified QMS may have its limitations in terms of establishing processes for managing the relationships on a project through partnership approaches and in dealing with uncertainty in the external environment, such as price fluctuations. The PMPAC model presented in this paper provides a framework for those working in construction project environments to ensure their project management systems incorporate the key activities that enable better performance.     

Cross-sector sustainability benchmarking of major utilities in the United Kingdom

Benchmarking can be a useful tool for utility companies to improve their efficiency, offering many potential positives such as assessing performance objectively, exposing areas where improvement is needed, and identifying best performing companies, ultimately illuminating possible strategies for poorer performers to implement. Despite these positives, the challenge remains of how to compare the performance of different organisations from different sectors. This research aimed to develop a methodology to effectively compare companies across sectors using UK utilities across the water and sewage, energy, and communications sectors as a case study. A methodology was constructed based on service, environmental, and financial metrics, and cross-sector benchmarking was undertaken, which generated performance scores based on company metrics relative to sector peers. This circumnavigated issues of indicators often being mismatched across sectors and the lack of relevance and context when sectors do use similar indicators. Results showed that the sample of 18 utilities had two distinct clusters, one of eight sector leaders and the other of ten lower performers. Sky had the highest overall score of 13.5 (maximum 15), suggesting it significantly outperformed the rest of the communications sector. Similarly, British Gas and SSE lead the energy sector, whilst Wessex, Severn Trent, and United Utilities lead the way for water and sewage companies. The two distinct groups of sector leaders and lower performers can be employed to identify other companies that may offer learning opportunities. Top performers can assess top performers in other sectors to identify how they might continue improving, rather than be potentially limited within their sectors. Conversely, lower-performing companies can look within and across sectors to identify best practices to improve their performance. The methodological development and UK utility sustainability results collectively provide novel insight into the water, energy, and communication sectors and contribute to the international academic literature on benchmarking by illustrating an alternative and unique solution to comparing diverse sectors in any region.     

Project risk management methodology for small firms

We present a project management methodology designed for small businesses (SMEs), who need to run projects beyond their normal operations. These projects are critical to the survival of these organisations, such as the development of new products to adapt to the market or new legislation, management system implementations, etc. Very frequently, the managers of these projects are not project management professionals, so they need guidance to have autonomy, using minimal time and documentation resources. The risk management method outlined in this paper is based on extensive research with a large number (72) of Spanish companies. This new methodology considers the factors that are usually neglected by SMEs; i.e., project alignment with the company's strategy and results management. The methodology, based on project risk management, includes simple tools, templates and risk checklists with recommended actions and indicators. For validation it was tested in five different types of real projects (innovation, management systems and ICT implementation) of industrial and service companies with different characteristics.     

促进高校科研实验公共平台良性发展的建设实践与思考

教育部重点实验室作为普通高校重要的科研实验公共平台,其建设与管理是推进高校实现科研资源开放共享的有效手段。以重庆大学山地城镇建设与新技术教育部重点实验室为例,结合实际问题,总结实验室建设中5项主要的实践经验:合理人才队伍梯次,加强领军人才引育;增强研究保障,加大硬件投入力度;产学研用融合,促进科教平台发展;立足山地特色,扩大对外学术交流;管理虚实交替,实现硬件权益共享。为高校科研实验公共平台运行建设管理提供一些参考建议。     

Decentralisation in the public housing sector in Sweden

In 1981 SABO (The Swedish Association of Municipal Housing Companies), which is the interest organization for housing companies in the public housing sector in Sweden, launched a new policy for organization and working methods in housing management. The core of the new ideas was decentralisation and reduced distance between the management of housing companies and tenants. However, SABO companies decide on their own internal affairs. This paper examines organizational developments in the sector in the early eighties. The research problem is to study whether any structural changes have taken place in accordance with the new policy. The material consists of a questionnaire to the companies. The analysis shows that major structural changes have taken place. In addition an explorative study is made of various factors which may have contributed to the process. The authors suggest an interpretation of the development in a motive‐means perspective in which the exposed position of the sector and the evident shortcomings of earlier working methods were the companies’ motives for change and in which new knowledge and new ideas were their chief means.     

Localised knowledge,local policies and regional innovation activity for renewable energy technologies: Evidence from Italy

This paper investigates the mechanism of locally induced innovation activities in the field of renewable energy technologies (RET). A panel data analysis from 1998 to 2007 across 20 Italian regions identifies the primary drivers of renewable energy patenting activity. As expected, the localised stock of knowledge, local researchers and regional public research subsidies contribute significantly to the development of innovation activities. Additionally, regional characteristics, such as regional energy dependence and hydroelectric resources, are effective in determining the RET innovation patterns. Specifically, regional hydroelectric power acts as a substitute input and hence hampers the innovation activities in the field of RET. Finally, RET innovation activities depend to a limited extent on the political orientation of regional councils, thereby confirming prior research on the role of social acceptance of and political support for technology development. Highlighting the role of local resources and local policies for RET innovation activities, the present research has potential implications for economies that strive to become more self‐reliant and less import intensive in the knowledge sector.     

满足新时代大学生科研需求的关键平台:创新研修课

中美两国本科教学有着较大的区别。与美国相比，中国管理制的教学体制有利于督促学生学习，充足的课程让学生理论功底更扎实。但中国本科教学往往强调知识内容本身，而较少关注理论的实践运用，重知识传授，轻能力培养，以致学生实践能力不足。当代大学生科研热情日益高涨，越来越多的本科生期望参与科研。哈尔滨工业大学以科研优势为依托，设立"创新研修课"，受到学生欢迎。实践证明，"创新研修课"不仅为年轻教师提供了科研助手，更为本科生搭建了通往研究生继续深造的过渡桥梁。"创新研修课"已成为本科生发表SCI学术论文的创新平台，为本科生打开了参与国际交流的一扇窗。     

Examining repercussions of consumptions and inputs placed on the construction sector by use of I–O tables and DEA

This paper aims at introducing the data envelopment analysis (DEA) method to input–output (I–O) analyses. I–O tables have been developed for many decades and have been used extensively to describe and explain economic, social, and environmental issues. One of its major benefits is the derivation of intermediate inputs and demands, which offers more information for data analysis. On the other hand, DEA is argued to be an objective method addressing decision problems. In this paper, it helps to calculate the relative efficiency for each industrial sector based on inputs and outputs of an I–O table. This has extended the static I–O tables to dynamic applications. In order to demonstrate this, five objectives are created to examine repercussions of consumptions and inputs placed on the construction sector in terms of the relative degree of reliance. A numerical example based on the Japanese case is discussed. Based upon the results, strategies and policies can be formulated to overcome difficulties and problems faced by the construction related companies, the construction sector as a whole, and the government as well.     

Regional Concentration and Dynamics of Fast-growing Industries in Baden-Württemberg and Israel

Fast-growing industries are regarded as providing an above-average contribution to production, employment and innovation. Due to necessary knowledge spillovers and a high product innovation rate, these industries are expected to have a locational bias towards central, metropolitan regions guaranteeing a risk- and uncertainty-minimizing industrial atmosphere. Using statistical data on the regional distribution and composition of fast-growing industrial branches in Baden-Württemberg and Israel, it is the objective of this paper to analyse the spatial distribution process of fast-growing industries and to answer the question if also non-metropolitan regions provide favourable location conditions which could be made the starting point for innovation-oriented regional development strategies. Based on different methods of regional analysis, like concentration indices and shift-share analysis, our results indicate that although the highest share of fast-growing industrial branches can still be found in central regions, spatial dispersion towards intermediate and peripheral regions occurred between the late 1980s and early 1990s in Israel as well as in Baden-Württemberg. This decentralization process makes it clear that these industries can be an important target group for disparity-reducing regional policy.     

The social impact of construction industry schools-based corporate volunteering

Despite the rapid growth of corporate volunteering in construction, there has been very little research in this area, particularly from a recipient’s perspective. To address this gap in knowledge, data were collected using surveys, reflective diaries, workbooks and a progress web, from 103 school pupils participating in one of the UK’s largest schools-based construction industry corporate volunteering programmes. The results show that corporate volunteering programmes which partner construction industry professionals with school students in a work-related activity-based learning environment can have a significant impact on student construction industry knowledge, perceptions, career choices, aspirations and employability skills. This is particularly the case for female students and for students whose learning styles do not align with traditional classroom-based pedagogies. It is recommended that more research is needed to classify and understand the different types of volunteering programmes that operate in the construction sector across multiple cohort groups, the factors that determine success and failure and the overall impact on the students and the wider community in the long term as well as the short term. There is also a need for more research into what it means for the companies involved and for the staff who volunteer.     

Development of local knowledge of environmental contamination in Sydney, Nova Scotia: environmental health practice from an environmental justice perspective

In Sydney, Nova Scotia, from 1901 through 1988 a coke and steel factory operated with no pollution controls, depositing over a million tons of particulate matter and releasing several thousands of tons of coal tar into the estuary. Previously we documented the presence of lead, arsenic and PAHs, in soil above Canadian guidelines, and in house dust in the communities surrounding the site [Lambert, TW, Lane, S. Lead, arsenic, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil and house dust in the communities surrounding the Sydney, Nova Scotia, tar ponds. Environ Health Perspect 2004; 112:35-41.]. In this paper we further the research by documenting and developing community knowledge with a study of resident's observations and experiences of the industrial contamination. We conducted two surveys, a quantitative door-to-door survey and qualitative dust interview, designed to complement each other and bring together the observations and experiences in the different communities to develop the local knowledge. The combined methodology uses techniques from both social and physical science, and was developed with the cooperation of community members. The research supports the proposition that local knowledge adds contextual meaning that complements the physical measurement of environmental contaminants, in order to understand the complex environment in which people live, and the multiple exposure pathways through which they can be affected. Residents in all three communities provided vivid observations and detailed experiences of the industrial pollution in their community and homes. The local knowledge is consistent with our physical data and review of the historical scientific research in Sydney, and supports the inference that the community was adversely impacted by the coke and steel facility. From a justice perspective, the three communities should be equally considered for remediation as part of the 'tar pond remediation policy' rather than the current policy of including only a few streets and houses.     

Knowledge flows across European regions

The recent resurgence of growth studies has clearly established that technological progress and knowledge accumulation are among the most important factors in determining the performance of regional and national economic systems. In this paper we propose new evidence on knowledge flows across European regions based on patenting at the European Patent Office. We examine in- and out-flows of patent citations as a proxy of knowledge connections, while looking also at their dynamics through time. The econometric analysis is based on a model where the exchange of knowledge across regions is mainly affected by geographical distance together with a set of spatial variables. The main result is that knowledge flows decrease as the geographical distance between the origin and the destination region increase. Furthermore, knowledge flows tend to be higher among contiguous regions and areas within the same country. These results prove to be robust with respect to the inclusion of other characteristics of the origin and destination regions (production structure, economic conditions and technological efforts) as well as different estimation methods.