The emphasis in cluster theory has been in explaining how and why clustering might contribute to competitive advantage for co-located firms, and hence for the economy. While firms may be encouraged to co-locate to gain from transactional, institutional and knowledge benefits, threats to economic sustainability have been associated with a deterioration of advantages and a failure to adapt, resulting in a decline of competitiveness. This thesis reconsiders industry clusters as organisational populations, suggesting a mechanism through which the population and the resource environment can adapt and survive Cluster sustainability is described as a evolutionary process in which the population and resources of the cluster adapt through the creation of new member firms. Based on an embedded case study of eight firm formation events taking place in the UK motorsport industry, the research examines how an industry cluster regenerates and reproduces itself. The concentration, complexity, and diversity of supply and demand comprising the cluster’s organisational population generate a resource environment which generates creation of new members compatible with the cluster’s knowledge architecture. New member entry depends on the absorptive capacity of the cluster, while contributing to the ability to identify, diffuse and exploit new knowledge. Sustainability of industry clusters is associated with the characteristics that support new member creation.

The thesis is composed of four broadly related essays. The focus is on Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), on their production structures and integration with international markets. The first two chapters look at how market liberalisation and opening of the economy shaped the structure and location of economic activity. The fITst chapter studies the spatial distribution of industrial activity in the CEECs since the beginning of transition. Our analysis shows that the detenninants of industrial location in the CEECs are similar to those typical for the EU. The increasing returns to scale industries tend to concentrate in central locations, industries benefit from proximity to industrial consumers (backward linkages) and countries rich in scientists and engineers attract R&D intensive industries. The second chapter analyses the location of economic activity across regions in Poland. The Polish data provides support not only for backward linkages, but also for forward linkages hypothesis, as industries' growth is higher in regions where large concentrations of finns' suppliers are present. In the third and fourth chapters the focus shifts towards the future. The third chapter studies the effects on Poland of the adoption of the EU's Common External Tariff (CET). The analysis indicates that overall impact of the adoption of the CET on Polish imports is modest. In the fourth chapter I employ a computable general equilibrium model to evaluate the impact of the EU accession on Poland, Hungary and the EU-IS. I study the implications of integration into the customs union, adoption of the EU standards and removal of internal borders. The simulations indicate significant welfare gains for Poland and Hungary and modest gains for the EU. The new members are expected to experience production increases across almost all sectors, while the impact on EU production is some sectors is negative, but very small

This thesis is on the subject of the development and growth of the Indonesian automotive cluster which is mainly driven by me Japanese Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) Toyota and Honda, through knowledge transfer within subsidiaries and suppliers. The MNEs are the primary agents of knowledge transfer into the subsidiaries in the cluster. These leading companies are the key to building and sustaining cluster growth. As a direct consequence of this. cluster policy has become an important agenda in Indonesia to advance the progress of current local industry, particularly for the core industrial prime movers such as the automotive cluster. The automotive cluster as the focus of this thesis is located in industrial estates across the Java Region, the most densely populated island as well as a key region due IQ its geographical location and socio-economic and political importance. Accordingly. in order to understand how Japanese automotive MNEs in the automotive industry integrates with the Indonesian automotive cluster. This research aims to investigate the development of knowledge transfer in the automotive cluster based on Toyota and Honda case studies in me Java region. I focus only on Toyota and Honda because of their dominance.

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The concern of the thesis is to clarify the structural relevance between market areas and supply areas through the investigation of firm location under the given conditions of market demand, deposit of inputs and technologies for production. Conventional economic analysis studies a solid interaction between input and output, through the structure of the production function, by means of the duality theory in the input-output framework. This corresponds to the framework of market areas and supply areas in location theory. However, the existing market-area analysis and supply-area analysis focus examination on an independent framework, and a series of approaches has not been sufficiently developed. Although the integrated framework of both types of area would be treated as an extended version of the duality theory, the framework would not be complete unless the analysis took additional spatial factors into consideration. These factors are suggested to be parts of spatially unconstrained and constrained internal and external economies. The spatially constrained types of economies are called agglomeration economies and these, together with spatially unconstrained types of economies, constitute the neglected factors in existing market-area analysis and supply-area analysis. As agglomeration economies have a trade-off interaction with transportation costs, an analysis of assembly and distribution transportation costs is also required. This research clarifies these neglected factors and considers them with the duality theory, applying the input-output framework to both types of area analysis. This alternative approach not only demonstrates the effects of market area change on the spatial structure of supply area and vice versa, but also investigates the incentives governing the determination of the firm location.

The use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems by small enterprises is proliferating. Traditionally used by large enterprises, ERP systems are now considered important enterprise management aids, which may contribute to the sustainability and growth of small enterprises. Although varying acceptance factors may impact on the acceptance of ERP systems, there is no consolidated list of ERP system acceptance factors specific to small enterprises. In this study, the strategic, business, technical and human factors that influence the acceptance of ERP systems in small manufacturing enterprises in South Africa is presented. These influencing factors may guide future initiatives aiming to ensure the acceptance of ERP systems by small manufacturing enterprise. A combined quantitative and qualitative data analysis approach was used as an analytical lens to interpret responses gathered from small manufacturing enterprises. Recommendations are made for future research on ERP system acceptance and adoption within the broader spectrum of small enterprises. / Information Systems / M. Sc. (Information Systems)

The use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems by small enterprises is proliferating. Traditionally used by large enterprises, ERP systems are now considered important enterprise management aids, which may contribute to the sustainability and growth of small enterprises. Although varying acceptance factors may impact on the acceptance of ERP systems, there is no consolidated list of ERP system acceptance factors specific to small enterprises. In this study, the strategic, business, technical and human factors that influence the acceptance of ERP systems in small manufacturing enterprises in South Africa is presented. These influencing factors may guide future initiatives aiming to ensure the acceptance of ERP systems by small manufacturing enterprise. A combined quantitative and qualitative data analysis approach was used as an analytical lens to interpret responses gathered from small manufacturing enterprises. Recommendations are made for future research on ERP system acceptance and adoption within the broader spectrum of small enterprises. / Information Systems / M. Sc. (Information Systems)