La prospérité d'un territoire et le niveau de son emploi dépendent de sa capacité à attirer et à retenir des activités productives. Parmi les facteurs d'attractivité territoriale, on trouve la dotation des territoires en infrastructures de transports et de télécommunications (Baranzini et al., 2006). Le développement quantitatif et qualitatif des réseaux de transports et de télécommunications constitue donc un enjeu important. Alors que les modèles d'Economie Géographique se sont imposés en mobilisant systématiquement la notion de distance géographique et les coûts de transports qui lui sont associés, l'impact du développement des télécommunications n'a pas été intégré. Pourtant, un parallèle peut être fait entre la relation transports-économie et la relation télécommunications-économie car les télécommunications vont également modifier la relation à l'espace (Rallet et Torre, 2007). On souhaite montrer comment la coexistence des systèmes de transports et de télécommunications va modifier les mécanismes et résultats mis en évidence en Economie Géographique. Pour cela, après une revue de littérature, nous nous intéresserons à trois thèmes issus du champs de l'Economie Géographique, pouvant être affectés par la prise en compte conjointe des transports et des télécommunications. (Chapitre 2) : Relations inter-firmes et modification des processus de concurrence. (Chapitre 3) : Structuration et attractivité territoriale. (Chapitre 4) : Mise en œuvre du télétravail et concurrence entre les territoires. / Territory's prosperity and its employment level depend on its ability to attract and keep productive activities. Transports and telecommunications infrastructures are both factors of territories' attractivity (Baranzani et al., 2006). Therefore, the development of transports and telecommunications networks is an important game stake. Economic Geography models have been developed by taking into acount the notion of geographical distance and the transport costs associated. The impact of telecommunications development has not been inserted. Though, we can draw an analogy between transport-economic relation and telecommunication-economic relation. We want to show how transports and telecommunications coexistence is going to modify mechanisms and results of Economic Geography. After making a literature review, we are going to focus on 3 topics coming from Economic Geography. (Chapter 2) : Firms relations and modification of competition process. (Chapter 3) : Structuration and territories' attractivity. (Chapter 4) : Teleworking and territories' competition

Relatedness, industrial branching and technological cohesion in US metropolitan areas, Regional Studies. Work by evolutionary economic geographers on the role of industry relatedness for regional economic development is extended into a number of methodological and empirical directions. First, relatedness is measured as the intensity of inputoutput linkages between industries. Second, this measure is employed to examine industry evolution in 360 US metropolitan areas. Third, an employment-weighted measure of metropolitan technological cohesion is developed. The results confirm that technological relatedness is positively related to metropolitan industry portfolio membership and industry entry and negatively related to industry exit. The decomposition of technological cohesion indicates that the selection of related incumbent industries complements industry entry and exit as the main drivers of change in metropolitan technological cohesion.

Dubai’s rapid double-digit economic growth was severely challenged by the global financial crisis of 2007, which raised many concerns questioning the sustainability of the Dubai model of economic development and the viability of the emirate’s economic managerial practices. Although the economic landscape of Dubai has experienced a significant transformation over the last two decades, from a basic traditional economy of US $17.9 billion in 2001 to a diversified non-oil dependent economy of US $ 86.7 billion in 2012, there are few convincing empirical academic studies to assess and explain the Dubai model of economic development. This doctoral research provides a crucial assessment of the Dubai model in light of its political and socio-cultural contexts. For this purpose, a multidisciplinary theoretical framework that stems from the literature of economic geography, cultural economy and managerialism, has been designed in order to critically interpret the mechanism of the emirate’s economic practices in today’s global capitalism. This involves a methodological approach based on the study of narratives and performance to explain Dubai’s narratives and macro-economic performance. The multidisciplinary theoretical framework adopted is useful in analysing the Dubai model as an alternative to the discipline of mainstream economics, which ignores cultural and social dimensions and conditions that not only influence but also shape a given economic landscape. The research was undertaken by analysing a wide range of data, including intensive macro-economic statistics, financial and economic reports, international and local press, as well as conducting empirical in-depth elite interviews with fifty-six key stakeholders in the economy of Dubai: senior government officials, representatives of financial institutions, senior managers in the private non-financial sector, and academics. The research findings reveal that although the political and socio-cultural contexts naturally support Dubai's economic model, institutional and managerial problems were also exposed following the global financial crisis and the property shock of 2007. Dubai represents a financialized economy in which the government has adopted a hybrid model of government-driven developments and corporate managerial features within an environment that encourages commercial liberalism and market capitalism. However, despite this financialized economy, tensions remain in Dubai's pursuit of these goals. Finally, the research stresses the need for appropriate government mechanisms to foster oversight over economic performance and long-term sustainable economic development.

The current implementation of a free trade area in SADC has given rise to concerns that the present location of industry in the region will be adversely affected. Specifically, many of the smaller and less-developed countries fear that this change will result in a loss of their industry towards the more developed members, and particularly towards South Africa. This study uses the framework of the new economic geography to address these concerns. The new economic geography is a body of theory that has arisen in the last decade and allows for a dynamic analysis of the process of regional integration. Studies of such dynamic effects in the developing country context are exceedingly scarce, and particularly so in southern Africa. Another area of little research is in the comparison of the evolving industrial structure of different regional blocs. Thus, in response to this gap in the literature and in order to address the concerns of polarisation of industry within the SADC region, a two-pronged empirical approach is taken. The study first conducts a review of the spatial distribution of industry within SADC from 1970 to 1999. This is achieved through the calculation and examination of industrial locational Gini coefficients, measuring the relative degree of concentration of 28 ISIC (rev 2) industries for the years 1970, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995 and 1999. Secondly, an empirical comparison is conducted with other blocs that are in the process of deepening regional integration, namely the European Union and Mercosur. Again, this is done through the calculation of locational Gini coefficients for individual industries for all three blocs at five year intervals from 1980 to 1995, and then for 1999. The average level of concentration within SADC is found to increase steadily from 1970 to 1990. Between 1990 and 1995, the level of concentration increases further, but at a lower rate, and, by 1999 industry begins to disperse. The Gini coefficient is a relative measure, and thus does not measure the absolute level of concentration. Thus, much of the increase in concentration seen is towards peripheral countries. To further interpret the Gini, the changes in concentration are compared to the absolute changes in manufacturing employment in South Africa. From this analysis, eight of the 28 industries analysed show particular tendencies to concentrate in the periphery. These are beverages, textiles, wearing apparel, paper and products, rubber products, other non-metallic mineral products, transport equipment, and professional and scientific equipment. Likewise, another six industries become more concentrated in South Africa over this time, namely food products, printing and publishing, industrial chemicals, petroleum refineries, miscellaneous petroleum and coal products, and electrical machinery. According to the Gini coefficient, the tobacco industry is by far the most concentrated, while the wood products industry is the most dispersed. It is also found that scale-intensive industries tend to be among the most concentrated. In the cross-bloc comparison, Mercosur has the lowest level of aggregate concentration with an average Gini of 0.08 in 1999. This compares with Ginis of 0.28 for the EU, and 0.22 for SADC. The EU has the largest increase in concentration over the period, while the concentration in Mercosur falls during the 1980s, increases in the mid 1990s and then falls again by 1999. A common theme, however, between all three blocs is a trend towards dispersion in the late 1990s. This is particularly apparent in SADC and Mercosur where the Gini decreases in value, while in the EU, the Gini only increases marginally in this period. Other studies of the EU have indicated that industry was starting to disperse at this time. This finding would be more apparent at a greater level of industrial disaggregation. The following industries are found to be agglomerated above the average level in all three blocs: tobacco, miscellaneous petroleum and coal products, and pottery china and earthenware. Conversely, transport equipment, paper and products, machinery except electrical, plastic products, rubber products, and fabricated metal products tend to be more dispersed across all three. Perhaps more interesting is that there appears to be some commonality between industries that become more agglomerated across all three blocs, while industries that dispersed tend to be region specific. The industries that show universal agglomeration tendencies are the highly sensitive wearing apparel and textiles industries, in addition to industrial chemicals, printing and publishing, iron and steel, and plastic products. In relation to SADC, the first two of these industries show an increased concentration in the periphery, as in the EU, while the remaining industries show tendencies to concentrate in the core. The new economic geography predicts that, as the presently high levels of transport costs begin to fall in SADC, industry will tend to concentrate in the core. However, the results of this study indicate that the effect on manufacturing is, to a large extent, sector specific, with some manufacturing industries concentrating in the core and others in the periphery. The study therefore concludes that the mass polarization of industry from the smaller countries in SADC towards South Africa is unlikely to occur with the further reduction in trade costs. Although certain industries may be attracted towards the core, the high degree of wage disparity in the region and present trade concessions from developed markets overseas towards the peripheral countries, will make these countries an attractive location, particularly for export orientated firms. Two main policy recommendations result from the study. Firstly, individual countries in SADC need to promote those industries that show concentration tendencies in their country. Secondly, in order for the periphery to maximize their gain from the free trade area, transport costs within the region need to be reduced rapidly and effectively.

Cette thèse examine le phénomène de la compétitivité territoriale selon la Nouvelle économie géographique (NEG). Tandis que nous pensons que la compétitivité régionale est la capacité des territoires à attirer les facteurs de production mobiles, ce sujet revêt une importance accrue dans une économie mondialisée. La thèse est structurée de la manière suivante : le premier chapitre tente de positionner le débat dans le cadre de la NEG. Après avoir opté pour une vision théorique du problème, dans le chapitre 2 nous orienterons le débat vers la création d’une nouvelle définition, qui servira de fondement à la partie empirique. Le troisième chapitre propose un indice composite pour les régions européennes. Il discute des choix territoriaux, temporels, méthodologiques et conceptuels, tout en présentant et interprétant les résultats à la lumière de la NEG. Les résultats de ce chapitre posent surtout la question du lien entre la compétitivité des régions et la croissance des pays, et c’est donc pour cela que nous présenterons de façon détaillée le rôle des politiques de gestion de ce processus. / This thesis examins the phenomenon of the territorial competitiveness by using optics of the New Economic Geography (NEG). While we think that the regional competitiveness is the capacity of a local economy to attract mobile factors of production, this subject has an increasing importance within a globalized economy. The thesis is structured as follows. The first chapter represents an attempt to position the debate within the framework of NEG. After having chosen a theoretical perspective, in the second chapter we narrow the debate towards the creation of a new definition used as platform for the empirical part. Against this backdrop, the third chapter provides a novel index of regional competitiveness for European regions, a discussion on territorial, temporal and methodological choices, while presenting and interpreting the results in the light of NEG. The results of this chapter question especially the links between territorial competitiveness and national growth rate, and which is why we are discussing in a more detailed fashion the role of policies in managing these processes.

Cette thèse porte sur la création de connaissances scientifiques et technologiques,et son lien avec la géographie et le réseau social. En ce sens la thèse s’attacheà mieux identifier le rôle du réseau social dans la production de connaissance, et à éclairerle lien entre réseau social et géographie dans la formation des collaborations, en mettanten avant dans quelles conditions le réseau permet de s’affranchir de cette dernière. Acet égard, cette thèse apporte plusieurs contributions théoriques, méthodologiques et empiriques.L’essentiel de la thèse s’applique à assembler les mécanismes qui lient le réseausocial à la production de connaissances. La discussion théorique est ensuite appuyée parune analyse empirique dans deux contextes liés la création de connaissances. D’une partla thèse analyse la formation du réseau des collaborations scientifiques en Europe dansle domaine de la chimie, mettant en avant l’interaction réseau versus géographie dansla formation des collaborations. D’autre part, elle évalue le rôle du réseau d’inventeurdans la performance des zones d’emploi françaises en termes de production d’innovation,en se focalisant sur le type de structure de réseau qui favorise le plus l’innovation. Lesrésultats principaux sont que l’expansion du réseau social – mesuré par la connectivitédes inventeurs – a un effet bénéfique sur l’innovation. De plus, il est montré que le réseausocial permet en partie de s’affranchir de la barrière géographique pour collaborer. Cesrésultats apportent des éclairages sur le rôle du réseau dans l’organisation spatiale desactivités scientifiques et technologiques / This thesis pertains to understanding how social networks and geography affect thecreation of new knowledge. More precisely, this thesis will question how the social networkof collaboration can influence the production of knowledge, how do geography and thesocial network interact, and whether the social network can help to bypass geography. Answeringthese questions required to make some theoretical, methodological and empiricalcontributions. One part of the thesis gathers the mechanisms linking the social network toknowledge creation, while another focuses on the interplay of geography and the networkinto the collaboration process. Following this theoretical discussion, two empirical studiesare laid out. First, it assesses the formation of scientific collaborations in Europe in thefield of chemistry. This study focus on the competing role between the social network andgeography to shaping new collaborations. Then, the thesis comes to evaluate how thenetwork of inventors influence the innovation performance of French employment areas.In particular, a specific methodology is set up to address what kind of network structurefavours the most collaboration. The main results of this thesis are that an increase inthe connectedness of inventors is always beneficial to urban innovation performance. Wealso show that social network act as a substitute to geographic distance, so that socialnetwork allows to alleviate the burden of distance. These results shed light on the role ofthe network in shaping the spatial distribution of the scientific and technological activity.

The purpose of this study is to examine how Leader Gute and the municipality Region Gotland work with sustainable tourism development in Visby on Gotland. This methodological study will shed light on how Gotlands Besöksnäring AB and Destination Gotland markets Visby and if they work with sustainability. This objectivistic and qualitative study consists of four interviews and a text- and pictureanalyzis has been made. Five theories have been used to explain marketing of destinations, sustainable tourism and sustainable development. The result shows that the municipality Region Gotland works with sustainable tourism development in their planning work of Visby but that few resources are used to this work within the tourism industry and that they work with social, ecological and economical areas but have not yet developed tangible goals within these areas. Leader Gute works socially with projects driven by the local population, with small enterprises and to increase employment opportunities on the island. They work economically with contributing to entrepreneurship and ecologically with renewable energy and to increase nature tourism with a low environmental effect. Destination Gotland work with filling boats with travelers and also package trips. They work sustainably with usage of catalytic converters on their boats and market Visby via digital channels. Gotlands Besöksnäring AB arrange meeting days within the tourism industry and members of the association Gotlands förenade besöksnäring and also realise projects. The firm has not developed a sustainable development plan or a marketing strategy for the tourism industry on Gotland. They cooperate with the municipality Region Gotland and the destination company Inspiration Gotland to develop a development plan and a marketing strategy. The firm market at their members via Facebook. / Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på hur Leader Gute och Region Gotland arbetar med hållbar utveckling av turism i Visby. Denna metodologiska studie kommer även att belysa på vilka sätt Gotlands Besöksnäring AB och Destination Gotland marknadsför Visby och om de i sitt arbete även arbetar med hållbarhet. Denna objektivistiska och kvalitativa studie består av fyra intervjuer och en genomförd text- och bildanalys. Fem teorier har använts för att beskriva destinationsmarknadsföring, hållbar turism och hållbar utveckling. Resultatet visar att Region Gotland arbetar med hållbar utveckling i sitt planeringsarbete av Visby men få resurser används till arbetet inom turismbranschen. De arbetar med sociala, ekologiska och ekonomiska områden men har inte ännu utvecklat konkreta mål inom dessa områden. Leader Gute arbetar socialt med projekt drivna av lokalbefolkningen, med småföretagande och för en ökad sysselsättning. De arbetar ekonomiskt genom bidrag till ett ökat företagande och ekologiskt med förnyelsebar energi och att öka naturturismen med en låg miljöpåverkan. Destination Gotland arbetar med att fylla sina båtar med resenärer och erbjuda paketresor. De arbetar även hållbart med användning av katalysatorer på båtarna och marknadsför Visby via digitala kanaler. Gotlands Besöksnäring AB anordnar besöksnäringsdagar med föreningen Gotlands förenade besöksnärings medlemmar och genomför projektarbeten. Bolaget har inte utvecklat en hållbar utvecklingsplan eller marknadsföringsstrategi för besöksnäringen. De samarbetar däremot med Region Gotland och destinationsbolaget Inspiration Gotland för utveckling av marknadsföringen av Gotland. Bolaget marknadsför mot deras medlemmar via Facebook.

Small businesses located in the most sparsely populated and peripheral parts of Europe are frequently believed to be marginalised with respect to the processes of economic globalisation. This thesis proposes to explore an alternative perspective for understanding how small businesses that are located at the geographical margins engage with the globalised economy. Distance is no longer a purely physical phenomenon. Meanwhile, networks are considered to be the primary means for small firms to mobilise external resources and stay competitive. Acknowledging these conceptual shifts, this thesis explores how peripheral small businesses develop network configurations with multiple actors across multiple geographical scales to engage in the global economy. This thesis consists of four papers and a cover essay. The four papers share the theme of the network interaction of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in peripheral regions and discuss this theme from various perspectives with different research questions. The papers use combinations of quantitative and qualitative analytical methods to empirically investigate the configuration of small firm networks in the case study of Upper Norrland in Sweden. The cover essay introduces the overarching conceptual framework that is grounded in ideas from the seminal work of Granovetter on the social embeddedness of economic interactions and the ‘strength of weak ties’, and this essay contributes to the debate in geography on multi-scalar proximity dynamics. The empirical findings of the papers describe the collaborative and transactional forms of firm relations in peripheral regions and discuss the role of key actors—such as international customers or regional intermediary organisations—in bridging the local and extra-local dimensions of small firm networks. The conceptual contribution of this thesis corroborates the understanding that small firm development requires a balance between regional and international networks. This thesis also contributes to the debate on development policies for peripheral regions by offering insights into the manner in which institutional support for the design and implementation of open, flexible network arrangements may provide a leverage effect for small firm development. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Submitted. Paper 4: Submitted.</p>

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’expliquer la faiblesse de la mobilité du travail dans l’Union européenne. Pour ce faire, nous étudions empiriquement la relation entre la mobilité du travail et ses déterminants : les salaires, le PIB, les taux de chômage, la distance et le commerce international. La complémentarité constatée entre la mobilité du travail et le commerce international ne permet pas d’expliquer cette faiblesse, pas plus que la distance ou les salaires. L’économie géographique nous fournit un élément d’explication à travers les potentiels de marché. La non-attirance des migrants par les potentiels de marché constitue un élément d’explication à la faiblesse de la mobilité du travail dans l’Union européenne. / This PhD thesis aims to explain the weakness of labour mobility in the European Union. In order to do so, we carried out an empirical study which focuses on the relationship between labour mobility and its determinants: salaries, GDP, unemployment rates, distance and international trade. Neither the complementarity observed between labour mobility and trade nor the other variables allow us to explain this weakness. Economic geography offers some explanations by studying the role of market potentials. We show that migrants do not follow market potentials, which provides an explanation to labour mobility weakness in the European Union.

Contemporary urban planning for the past decades has concentrated on sustainable development, for instance through the promotion of dense development (Echenique et al., 2012). Important components for sustainable urban development concerns increasing residential and building density, as means of counteracting the consequences of urban sprawl (Jenks and Jones, 2008). Because it is argued that high-residential density is more economically, environmentally and socially sustainable than low-density since a higher concentration of people contributes to for instance shorter transportation distances as well as makes services and amenities more economically viable  (Frey, 1999; Haughton and Hunter, 2004). However, whether the densification of cities has desirable or undesirable social, economic and ecological impacts is highly contested. The purpose of this study is to analyze the socioeconomic outcomes of the urban densification process in the Lundby District, Gothenburg, over time. Through a mixed method approach, statistical information for Lundby District, for the years 2008 to 2015 have been processed and two semi-structured interviews with employees in the City Planning Authority and Lundby District Administration were conducted. The densification in Lundby presents certain strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. As more than 6300 new housing units has been constructed during this time-period, and more is to come in the near future, Lundby experienced a repopulation as the housing construction has facilitate a population increase of more than 11 000 new inhabitants. However, as the favored tenure developed during this time-period been condominiums certain weaknesses exist. Nonetheless, densification and the rapid increase in population has contributed to the number of vehicle per 100 inhabitants decreasing, which presents opportunities for being more environmentally friendly. On the other hand the claim that through densification could diversity and social mixing be achieved is flawed, as seen in Lundby the densification process has brought changes in population structure and socioeconomic characteristics, which suggest some form of gentrification is occurring.