1,720,970 research outputs found
Exploring Differentiated Economic Adaptation and Adaptability of Old Industrial Areas in Transitional China
Get PDFMy dissertation is concerned with uneven economic adaptation and adaptability of old industrial areas in an evolutionary and institutional, as well as a human agency perspective. There is a considerable literature in economic geography (EG), focusing on the role of firms and industry dynamics in affecting the evolution of old industrial areas (OIAs). However, little work has been done, both empirically and theoretically, on the role of state, multi-scalar institutions, politics and policies. Moreover, the majority of the re-search on the topic is very much based on single-case studies, whose evidence and knowledge is mainly derived from European and American contexts. Therefore, the key aim of the doctoral dissertation are to: 1) theoretically, integrate an institutional and geographical political economy perspective with the Evolutionary Economic Geography (EEG) approach, in order to give a better understanding of the evolutionary processes and mechanisms of OIAs. And 2) empirically, to examine the nature of uneven regional economic evolution, based on an in-depth comparison of two coal-mining regions in a post-crisis and non-western context.
My book pays more attention to how the state, more precisely, how the people within the state and state owned enterprises (SOEs) of OIAs, response and enact to changing environment for long-run industrial adaptation and adaptability. It does not simply focus on the micro behaviors of firms, states and people, but more on their embedded posi-tions and relationships of multi-scalar political-institutional frameworks and policy fields. The empirical research is based on in-depth case studies on two Chinese coal-mining re-gions (Zaozhuang in Shandong Province and Fuxin in Liaoning Province) both facing the ‘slow burn’ crisis of local coal resource exhaustion since 2000. The findings are mainly derived from a qualitative method of semi-structured interviews and evaluated by con-text analysis and statistical data description.
In this book, first and foremost, the concepts of path dependence, path creation and lock-ins are critically examined. The empirical evidence suggests that the effects of lock-ins in Chinese contexts are more politically constituted, due to the Chinese-specific ad-ministrative hierarchy system among SOEs and governments. Despite strong industrial path dependence and negative regional lock-ins, new paths are not restricted to emerge. Based on the notion of path plasticity, I conclude that the Chinese local state and its state leaders in OIAs are aware of how to balance the interests among multi-scalar polit-ical economies, and of how to flexibly read and enact locally according to multi-scalar institutional and policy conditions for potential industrial change. Secondly, given the ubiquitous influences of state elites in China, the book takes a closer look at how state officials mold specific institutional environment for industrial dynamics. The notion of place leadership has been critically adopted in the Chinese authoritarian context. It well explains the micro-level dynamics and characteristics of people on the evolution of Chinese OIAs. The book finds that although Chinese state elites do have formal power to effectively make and implement fast economic decisions and policy-fix, local institutional change still critically calls for informal leadership, such as interpretive and network leadership. New paths might be created quickly by local state leaders. But, without forming solid new supporting institutions, they may not generate positive im-pact for long-term regional development. The most important contribution of the book is the comparison of two Chinese mining regions. A new conceptual framework on analyzing and understanding uneven resilience of regions has been developed. It is built upon an in-depth conceptualization that de-constructs the dualism idea between adaptation and adaptability. And it redefines them in an interactive, dialectical and evolutionary way. The comparative study in China high-lights the importance of multi-scalar institutions and national political economy change in coordinating the behaviors of firms, local states and, the micro dynamics of their con-stitutive human agents in OIAs. The historically conditioned political distance between localities and the central state is essential. It can help to fundamentally understand the differen-tiated resilience of China’s OIAs. It should be placed at the core to explore the question of why some regions in China are able to manage endogenous place-based development of economies, while others fail to do such but mostly at the mercy of exogenous forces and assets. In the end, this book provides new evidence that EEG needs to be integrated into other related paradigms in EG, when it comes to understand the complex restructuring of OIAs. Besides the theoretical contributions, the book also put several policy recommendations for future development of OIAs in China and beyond.Die vorliegende Dissertation befasst sich mit ungleicher ökonomischer Anpassung und Anpassungsfähigkeit altindustrieller Gebiete aus einer evolutionären, institutionellen und akteurszentrierten Perspektive. In der wirtschaftsgeographischen Literatur gibt es bereits zahlreiche Beiträge die sich mit den Rollen von Unternehmen und industriellen Dynamiken für den Aufstieg und Niedergang altindustrieller Gebiete befassen. Wenige Beiträge haben sich allerdings sowohl empirisch als auch konzeptionell mit den Einflüssen von Staaten, multiskalaren Institutionen oder unterschiedlichen Strategien und Politiken befasst. Zudem fokussiert der Großteil der bisherigen Arbeiten Einzelfälle in Europa oder Nordamerika. Daraus ergeben sich die zwei Hauptziele dieser Doktorarbeit. 1) Theoretisch werden eine institutionelle Perspektive und Ansätzen der Politischen Ökonomie mit der Evolutionären Wirtschaftsgeographie in Verbindung gebracht, um zu einem tieferen Verständnis evolutionärer Prozesse und Mechanismen in altindustriellen Gebieten zu kommen. 2) Empirisch werden Facetten ungleicher regionaler Wirtschaftsentwicklung am Beispiel zweier Kohlebergbaugebiete untersucht, die sich beide in einer Nachkrisensituation befinden und einem nicht-westlichen Kontext zugehören.
Die Arbeit beleuchtet, wie der Staat - verstanden als handelnde Akteure in Staat und staatlichen Betrieben in altindustriellen Regionen - auf Umfeldänderungen reagiert, um langfristige industrielle Anpassung zu erreichen. Dabei geht die Arbeit über einen Fokus auf unternehmerische, staatliche oder individuelle Einzelhandlungen hinaus und konzentriert sich auf deren Einbettung und Beziehungen in einem multiskalaren, politisch-institutionellen Rahmen und Politikfeld. Die empirische Untersuchung basiert auf Tiefenstudien zweier chinesischer Kohlebergbauregionen (Zaozhuang in der Provinz Shandong und Fuxin in der Provinz Liaoning), die beide vom schleichenden Niedergang der lokalen Kohlereserven seit dem Jahr 2000 geprägt sind. Die Forschungsergebnisse beruhen größtenteils auf qualitativen Daten (halbstandardisierte Interviews), die durch eine Kontextanalyse ausgewertet und um eine deskriptive Analyse sekundärstatistischer Daten ergänzt wurden.
Der erste Beitrag dieser Doktorarbeit liegt in einer kritischen Bestandsaufnahme der Konzepte von Pfadabhängigkeiten, Pfadentstehungen und Lock-Ins. Die empirischen Einblicke deuten darauf hin, dass Lock-Ins im chinesischen Kontext stark politisch bedingt sind. Dies ist auf das spezifische administrative Hierarchiesystem zwischen staatseigenen Betrieben und Staaten zurückzuführen. Trotz starker industrieller Pfadabhängigkeit und negativer regionaler Lock-In-Effekte steht der Entstehung neuer Pfade nichts entgegen. Aufbauend auf dem Konzept der Pfadplastizität kommt die Arbeit zu dem Ergebnis, dass sich die chinesischen lokalen Staatsbehörden und die staatliche Führung in staatseigenen Betrieben der Interessenkonflikte zwischen den multiskalaren politischen Ökonomien bewusst sind, diese flexibel auslegen und gemäß der multiskalaren institutionellen und politischen Bedingungen hinsichtlich potentieller lokaler industrieller Veränderung auslegen.
Der zweite Beitrag liegt darin, dass der ubiquitäre Einfluss staatlicher Eliten in China auf industrielle Dynamiken genauer analysiert wird. Dazu wird untersucht, wie Staatsbeamte und lokale Führungspersönlichkeiten die entsprechenden institutionellen Kontexte formen. Der Gedanke der „Place Leadership“ wird kritisch an den autoritären chinesischen Kontext angepasst. So können die kleinmaßstäblichen Dynamiken und Charakteristika im Zusammenhang mit der Entstehung altindustrieller Regionen in China erläutert werden. Wie sich zeigt, verfügen die staatlichen Eliten über ein hohes Maß an formeller und exekutiver Macht, um wirtschaftliche und politische Entscheidungen zu fällen. Dennoch verdeutlichen die empirischen Ergebnisse, dass für institutionellen Wandel informelle Führungsformen wie interpretative oder netzwerkartige Führung nötig sind. Neue Pfade können zwar von lokalen staatlichen Anführern schneller erzeugt werden, aber ohne neue, unterstützende Institutionen bestehen kaum Aussichten darauf, langfristige Veränderungspotenziale der regionalen Entwicklung aufrechtzuerhalte.
Der Hauptbeitrag der Arbeit liegt im Vergleich der zwei chinesischen Bergbauregionen. Um deren ungleiche regionale Resilienz zur analysieren und zu verstehen wird ein neuartiger konzeptuelle Ansatz vorgeschlagen. In einer interaktiven, dialektischen und evolutionären Art überwindet dieser den Dualismus von Anpassung und Anpassungsfähigkeit und hebt die Rolle von multiskalaren Institutionen sowie von nationalem politisch-ökonomnischem Wandel für die Koordination unternehmerischen und lokal-staatlichen Handelns und derer Akteure in staatseigenen Betrieben hervor. Die historisch bedingte politische Distanz zwischen lokaler und nationaler Verwaltung und Regierung ist dabei grundlegend, um die verschiedenen Resilienzen und Anpassungsfähigkeiten chinesischer staatseigener Betriebe zu verstehen. Diese werden in das Zentrum der vergleichenden Fallstudie gerückt, um besser zu verstehen, warum einige Regionen in China dazu in der Lage sind endogene wirtschaftliche Entwicklungspotenziale zu steuern, während andere daran – zumeist aufgrund exogener Kräfte – scheitern.
Insgesamt leistet die vorliegende Dissertation einen Beitrag zur Erweiterung der Evolutionären Wirtschaftsgeographie, indem andere wirtschaftsgeographische Paradigmen und Perspektiven eingebunden werden und somit komplexe Restrukturierungsprozesse staatseigener Betriebe verstanden werden können. Neben diesem theoretischen Beitrag liefert die Arbeit politische Empfehlungen für die zukünftige Entwicklung altindustrieller Industrieregionen in China und andernorts
Tourism area development from an evolutionary economic geography perspective: The case of Guilin, China
Get PDFThe dissertation is concerned with the emergence, rise and decline of tourism area development from an evolutionary economic geography perspective. In particular, two concepts derived from evolutionary economic geography, namely path dependence and coevolution are argued to bring the debate around the literature of tourism area life cycle substantially forward. In this respect, I develop two alternative theoretical models for analyzing and explaining tourism area evolution, namely an alternative path dependence model and a coevolutionary framework of tourism areas. To further test the validity and utility of the two proposed models, I apply the two theoretical frameworks to a case study of a tourism destination, Guilin, China. The case research reveals that Guilin has experienced path preformation, path creation, lock-in and a new turn of path creation phases of tourism area development. The interaction and coevolution of tourism products, sectors and institutional environments suggest that external environments, policy changes and product innovation are the main coevolutionary mechanisms for tourism development in Guilin over time
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Policy Transfer and Institutional Learning: An Evolutionary Perspective on Regional Cluster Policies in Germany
No full textThis book rigorously explores the critical, initial stage of cluster emergence in which the seeds for further growth are sown. Whether economic growth actually occurs, however, ultimately depends on various regional conditions and the processes in place. The contributors offer a broad spectrum of conceptual perspectives and empirical case studies on the regional factors and policies required for economic growth. They discuss the link between new clusters and established regional paths, the generation of institutions and endogenous dynamics, and the patterns of emergence and growth of successful clusters. A number of important questions are addressed, including: * How do opportunities and crises influence cluster emergence? * Is cluster emergence purely random or can it be planned? * How can emerging clusters be identified and their growth patterns measured? * How can regional policies support cluster emergence? Filling a gap in the literature on the actual genesis of clusters, this path-breaking book will prove a fascinating read for academics focusing on economics, geography, entrepreneurship, technological change and innovation, and regional studies
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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