<p>This thesis deals with the causes and effects of spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity. The relationship between spatial clustering and industrial competitive-ness is analysed in a series of empirical studies, revolving around four research questions: How useful is an institutional approach in analyses of spatial clustering? Can the link between spatial clustering and industrial performance be empirically validated and measured by quantitative methods? In what sense does spatial clustering promote localised processes of learning and innovation? What role can industrial and regional policies play in promoting the type of localised processes emphasised in spatial clustering research?</p><p>It proves to be a rather complicated matter to measure the impact of spatial clustering on firm performance. In the case of export-oriented manufacturing firms in Sweden, the co-location of firms in a particular industry appears to have only a modest impact on export performance. However, when a more qualitative approach is applied, there is some evidence that spatial clustering can have a positive impact. A study of the Swedish music industry indicates that there is indeed a link between the concentration of music-related businesses in the Stockholm region and localised processes of learning and innovation. Such localised processes appear, in turn, to be linked to the ability to create and sustain industrial competitiveness. Finally, the thesis examines how the cluster concept has been put into practice in Swedish industrial and regional policies.</p>

This thesis deals with the causes and effects of spatial clustering of similar and related economic activity. The relationship between spatial clustering and industrial competitive-ness is analysed in a series of empirical studies, revolving around four research questions: How useful is an institutional approach in analyses of spatial clustering? Can the link between spatial clustering and industrial performance be empirically validated and measured by quantitative methods? In what sense does spatial clustering promote localised processes of learning and innovation? What role can industrial and regional policies play in promoting the type of localised processes emphasised in spatial clustering research? It proves to be a rather complicated matter to measure the impact of spatial clustering on firm performance. In the case of export-oriented manufacturing firms in Sweden, the co-location of firms in a particular industry appears to have only a modest impact on export performance. However, when a more qualitative approach is applied, there is some evidence that spatial clustering can have a positive impact. A study of the Swedish music industry indicates that there is indeed a link between the concentration of music-related businesses in the Stockholm region and localised processes of learning and innovation. Such localised processes appear, in turn, to be linked to the ability to create and sustain industrial competitiveness. Finally, the thesis examines how the cluster concept has been put into practice in Swedish industrial and regional policies.

The purpose of this thesis is to shed new light on the theorizations discussing the economic benefits of geographical clustering in a space economy increasingly characterized by globalization processes. This is made possible through the employment of a plant-perspective and a focus on how the relative fixity and mobility of labour influence plant performance throughout the entire Swedish economy.  By means of the longitudinal micro database ASTRID, connecting attributes of individuals to features of plants and localities for the whole Swedish economy, the empirical findings indicate that both localization and urbanization economies produce significant labour market externalities and that such inter-plant linkages positively affect plant performance as compared to the partial effects of relative regional specialization and diversification. Moreover, it is also demonstrated that it is necessary both to distinguish how well the external skills retrieved via labour mobility match the existing knowledge base of plants and to determine the geographical dimension of such flows to verify the relative effect of labour market-induced externalities. Finally, it is demonstrated that whereas general urbanization is beneficial within close distance to the plant, the composition of economic activities is more influential at greater distances. In such cases the geographical dimension influences whether plants benefit from being located in similar or different local settings.  In conclusion, it is argued that the circulation of labour skills, created and reproduced through the place-specific industrial setup, is crucial for understanding the mechanisms creating geographical variations in plant performance as compared to other regional conditions often proxied as relative specialization or diversification. This is because the relative fixity of labour tends to create place- and sector-specific skills which by means of their mobility in space are likely to facilitate the recombination of local skills, make the acquirement of non-local skills possible and secure sufficient affinity between economic actors by strengthening other dimensions of proximity – all aspects regarded as crucial to facilitate interactive learning processes and contribute to sustained regional growth.

This thesis concerns both static and dynamic modeling in a spatial computable general equilibrium setting. First, we have applied a static framework for the assessment of economic impacts of the Öresund bridge. Secondly, we make an attempt to enhance the static framework through the introduction of economic dynamics. Third, we introduce the STRAGO model, incorporating monopolistic competition, dynamics and additive transport costs. STRAGO is applied to the analysis of effects from a kilometer tax on freight. The last paper presents a framework for studying the division, or fragmentation of production. This framework uses the standard theory of monopolistic competition, with a production chain extension, through a recursive view of markets. The optimal level of fragmentation in such industries is studied. / QC 20100811

A fundamental research question in regional economic development, is why some regions are able to diversify into new products and industries, while others continue to face challenges in diversification? This doctorate research explores the different pathways to diversification. It follows the three-stage modular structure of DBA for Cranfield School of Management. This thesis consists of a systematic literature review, a single qualitative case study on UAE, and a research synthesis of published cases on Singapore, Norway and UAE. The linking document provides a summary of the three projects and consolidates findings and contributions into a path creation model that provides new understanding on the pathways to regional diversifications. This research integrates existing theoretical foundations of evolutionary economic geography, institutional economic geography, path dependence, industry relatedness, economic complexity, and path creation into a unified conceptual path creation model. It generates propositions, builds a framework and develops a matrix for path creation that integrate context, actors, factors, mechanisms and outcomes shaping regional diversification. It finds that in the context of path dependence and existing conditions of a region, economic actors undertake strategic measures to influence the institutional capabilities to accumulate knowledge and trigger indigenous creation, anchoring, branching, and clustering diversification mechanisms to create complex varieties of related and unrelated diversification outcomes. The institutional collaboration capabilities are found to be instrumental in accumulating knowledge and determining the relatedness and complexity of diversification outcomes. This research further provides a set of integrated platform strategies to guide policy-makers on setting up the pathways to regional diversification.

The Madrid City Council’s efforts to invite citizens to decision making are being examined through the eyes of six young inhabitants, aged 18-30. Their views on sustainability and experiences of participating in the city development are gained through qualitative, semi-structured interviews. The interviewed citizens find sustainability important, but their definitions are not in accordance with the polysemic way sustainability is being conceived and discussed theoretically. It also differs from their experience of how the government defines it. The findings are filtered through the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, urban planning, and citizen engagement. While expressing a low trust in the institutions, the citizens seem to believe that the city takes the public’s opinions into account, but to a low extent. Possible explanations to the perspectives provided by the interviewees and the current situation of low participation rate among young inhabitants are presented. Strategies for how the Madrid City Council could increase the participation rate among young citizens are then suggested, such as increased governmental transparency, increased focus on projects related to sustainability, and improved education about sustainability.

For more than two decades there has been a growing niche for ethically sourced coffees, at the same time as a revitalisation and development of sourcing models focused on indicators of coffee quality and measures of taste. Small independent and multinational buyers and roasters have become progressively interested in sourcing coffee in a way that privileges sustainable and/or high quality indicators, and are increasingly engaged in debates about solidarity versus mainstreaming, quantity versus quality, and provider of caffeine versus taste. Research on one coffee producing country, Guatemala, suggests how these debates have affected the historical evolution of the coffee market. This ethnographic study traces the qualifications of Guatemalan coffee and argues that responses to both the enactment of the technologies, as well as the perceived limitations of sourcing models have produced new articulations of ethics and taste. Producers and small entrepreneurs located in Guatemala reconfigure the practices of cultivation, processing, and selling/buying in relation to circulating market indicators. They create locally situated attachments to the coffee through skill transfer and knowledge exchange and in this way they imitate and also transform international valuations of taste, ethics and quality. This thesis works to make visible the range and diversity of processes and agencies involved in the production of markets for ethical coffee and considers coffee as vital and mobile; an active producer of public effects rather than a passive object moved through a commodity network. This view enables a more open, relational and mobile account of both coffee and of ethics, one which is capable of making clear the important and emerging role of taste. This thesis extends the qualifications of coffee to the daily enactments of cultivation and the skills and techniques that work to reveal taste. On this view, taste mediates the agency of the materials in both high quality and sustainable coffees and this expands and extends ethics to interpersonal, material and bodily relations that link producers and consumers in multiple ways.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Geography / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

<p>Turistindustrien vokser fra år til år. Samtidig øker konkurransen om de reisende, både i Norge og i resten av verden. Budor har primært sitt marked i Norge, og det er mange krevende oppgaver som venter, både når det gjelder markedsføring, innovasjon og annen utvikling. Det er de siste kategoriene vi har konsentrert oss om i denne vitenskaplige avhandlingen. Vi undersøker om forutsetningene ligger til rette for at Budor skal henge med i kampen om markedsandeler i framtida. Dette har vi gjort både ved å se på generelle og demografiske utviklingstrekk ved marked og befolkning, vi har sett konkret på reiselivsnæringa og hyttebygging. Vi har undersøkt hva som er trender og utviklingstendenser i reiselivet, og hva Budor kan levere i forhold til dette. Vi har sett på Triple Helixsamarbeidet som en drivkraft for innovasjon som Løiten Almenning bør benytte seg av, og til slutt har vi undersøkt og analysert det kreative klimaet og forutsetningene for innovasjon i organisasjonen bak Budor; Løiten Almenning.</p><p>Vi mener Budor har gode naturmessige forutsetninger for kreativitet og innovasjon, men for å få til dette kreves samarbeid og nettverksbygging, bl a med myndighetene, virkemiddelapparatet, FoU og destinasjonsselskapene, samt ikke minst tro på egne muligheter. Vi har lansert begrepet kvalitetsturisme!</p> / <p>The tourist industry is growing every year, together with the increasing competition among the travellers, both in Norway and in the rest of the world. The market for destination Budor is primarily Norway, and there are many important challenges waiting, both concerning marketing and innovation. Here we want to focus on the last mentioned item; innovation. We want to investigate if Budor has the appropriate conditions in order to continue competing for future costumers.</p><p>We have done this by looking at both general and demographic developmental features connected to market and population, and we have especially been looking to the tourist industry and the building of Second homes.</p><p>We have been investigating what kind of movements and innovations we see in the tourist business, and what Budor can do to meet these. We have been looking to Triple Helix theories as a power for innovations that Løiten Almenning could use, and finally we have investigated and analysed the creative climate and conditions for innovations in the organisation behind Budor; Løiten Almenning.</p><p>Our opinion is that destination Budor has splendid natural conditions for both creativity and innovation. But, to cope with this you need cooperation and building of network together with national authorities, governmental business support apparatus i.e “Innovasjon Norge”, “FoU” and destination companies, and you need to believe in yourself and your own possibilities.</p>

<p>I vårt arbete har vi undersökt sambandet mellan företagens kreativa klimat och personalrörlighet.</p><p>Genomgång har även gjorts av olika teorier kring ledarskapets påverkan på företagets kreativa klimat. Den svenska arbetsrättslagstiftningens påverkan på personalrörlighet har behandlats både i ett nationellt perspektiv och i en internationell jämförelse.</p><p>Vi har genomfört en enkätundersökning på 196 företag i Värmland, där vi undersökt sambandet mellan personalrörlighet och det kreativa klimatet i de företagen. Vårt urval bestod av företag som extremt mycket ökat respektive minskat antal anställda under 2005, samt de företag som hade en extremt låg förändring av antalet anställda under samma år.</p><p>Delar av Ekvalls undersökningsinstrument (CCQ) har använts i enkäten, med fokus på de klimatdimensioner som verkar främjande för radikala innovationer.</p><p>Materialet redovisas för respektive klimatdimension: frihet, debatt, risk och livfullhet. En geografisk uppdelning har även gjorts för östra Värmland, västra Värmland samt Karlstadregionen. Resultatet är även redovisat per bransch.</p><p>Avslutningsvis diskuterar vi resultatet och sättet att genomföra undersökningen. Vi påpekar däri vikten av att förstå att det är företagsledningarna som har svarat på enkäten och inte de anställda. Det är alltså ledningens uppfattning om det kreativa klimatet i företaget som speglas i resultatet. De viktigaste slutsatserna vi kan dra efter analys av resultatet är att:</p><p>Det upplevda kreativa klimatet bland företagens ledningsgrupper tycks öka då företagen kraftigt ökar antalet anställda. Företag som kommit ur sina svårigheter uppvisar också positiva resultat.</p><p>Däremot tycks det kreativa klimatet vara på en något lägre nivå i företag med endast blygsamma förändringar av antalet anställda.</p><p>Ledningsgrupperna i de värmländska företagen upplever sig som återhållsamma avseende risktagande, dvs:</p><p>organisationens benägenhet att tolerera osäkerhet, att ta tillvara uppdykande tillfällen, att handla snabbt, att ta tillvara på uppdykande tillfällen och att prova hellre än utreda.</p><p>De företag med endast små förändringar av antalet anställda, vågar ta större risker. De företag som kraftigt minskar antalet anställda är de som är minst riskbenägna. Företagen som kraftigt ökar antalet anställda uppvisar en riskbenägenhet som ligger mellan dessa två företagsgrupper.</p><p>Den stora majoriteten av de värmländska företagen riskerar att stagnera klimatmässigt. För att bibehålla och öka sin konkurrenskraft, måste de därför vidta andra åtgärder för att öka och stärka sina kreativa klimat, exempelvis genom en ökad intern rörlighet och ett aktivt och långsiktigt samarbete med universitetet och företag som bidrar till att förbättra det kreativa klimatet.</p><p>Avslutningsvis vill vi uppmana företagen i Värmland att börja våga anställa företagens viktigaste resurs, människorna, för att därigenom förbättra företagens kreativa klimat. På detta sätt stärks det värmländska näringslivets innovationskraft, och därmed en av framtidens viktigaste förutsättningar för Hållbar Värmländsk Växtkraft.</p> / <p>In this thesis we have investigated the influence of personnel mobility on the creative climate of the organization.</p><p>Swedish labour law and its influence on employee mobility has been studied both in a national as well as an international perspective.</p><p>We have conducted a survey of 196 companies in Värmland, in which we studied the relation of employee mobility and their creative climate. We choose to study companies that have increased or decreased their number of employees to a very large degree during 2005, and those companies that made very small changes of their number of employees during the same year.</p><p>We have used parts of professor Ekvall’s Creative Climate Questionnaire instrument, CCQ, focusing on the dimensions of creative climate which primarily tend to benefit radical innovations.</p><p>In the thesis, we have focussed on the dimensions concerning freedom, debate, risk, and liveliness. We divided the result geographically, as well as by type of business.</p><p>It is important to be aware that the questionnaire has been answered by the management of the companies, and not the employees.</p><p>The most important conclusions of this thesis are:</p><p>The creative climate seems to benefit from a great increase in the number of employees. Companies that have improved their business from a low level, at which they had to drastically reduce the number of employees, also show signs of improved creative climate. It also seems that the creative climate of those companies that have had only marginal changes of their number of employees is somewhat lower than the others.</p><p>The company management of the companies in Värmland, who reduced their number of employees drastically during 2005, describe themselves as not too keen on taking risks, which in this context concerns the readiness of organizations in tolerating uncertainties.</p><p>Risk taking companies act prompt and quickly on emerging possibilities, arising opportunities are taken and concrete experimentation is preferred to detailed investigation and analysis.</p><p>The companies with only small changes of their number of employees show higher degrees of risk taking, than those with higher numbers of personnel mobility. The companies that have drastically increased the number of employees seem to be in between the other two company groups.</p><p>The great majority of companies in Värmland risk facing creative climate stagnation. In order to maintain and improve their company competitive abilities, the companies need to take measures to improve their creative climate, for example by increasing their internal employee mobility, and by developing an active cooperation with the university and other actors that contribute to improve the creative climate.</p>