<p>The national curriculum and the School Act emphasize the importance of establishing partnerships between schools and local businesses. The formation of partnerships was expected to be facilitated by the decentralization reforms that took place in the beginning of the 1990’s. These reforms gave schools and municipalities greater scope for adjusting education to meet local circumstances. However, central government has not made financial resources available for stimulating the establishment of school-business partnerships, nor does it penalize municipalities that do not set up such partnerships.</p><p>The questions in focus in this study are: why do partnerships arise, how are they organised and what factors are important in achieving a partnership which can function in practice? Urban regime theory is applied to explain why collaborations occur and policy network theory is used to analyse how they are organised. A further aim of the study is to examine whether the partnerships can be defined as urban regimes.</p><p>The study was based on case studies of four upper secondary schools in Sweden, each in a different municipality. These municipalities are all industrialized, but the structure of their industrial base varies. Two are dominated by one or a few major companies whereas the others are characterized by the predominance of many small businesses. The study focuses on how three vocational study programmes – industry, electricity and building - collaborate with local businesses.</p><p>The study shows that the main explanation of why a partnership arises is that both partners believe that they can gain something by collaborating. For schools, the main reason for establishing a partnership with business is a belief that this will make the vocational education programmes more attractive for pupils. Through partnerships, schools can get access not only to practical experience for their pupils, but also help from business with developing the content of courses and some financial contributions. However, the economic benefits are of limited importance compared with the perceived gains in terms of the development of the educational content of the courses. This goes against results from studies in other countries.</p><p>For business, it is particularly important to be able to influence decisions about the content of local education. By doing so, they hope to ensure that the pupils, after having completed their education, will enter the local labour market with more relevant qualifications.</p><p>My research shows that several requirements have to be present for a successful partnership to be established. First, there must be a commitment and firm intentions from both partners. Second, size of the businesses involved in the partnerships is important for how they are organized. Larger businesses tend to see the partnership from a more long term perspective. However, it is also possible to organize collaborations with smaller businesses if they can be united under a common organisation. Third, specific actors make a difference in the partnerships. Devoted and interested key actors who are closely associated with the partnership are very important for the continuity of the partnership</p><p>The study suggests that urban regime theory and policy network theory are useful for understanding why and how partnerships between schools and businesses are established and retained. However, it can not be concluded that these collaborations in themselves are urban regimes at a more local level. This would require that their focus was much more long-term.</p>

Is it feasible to stimulate informal collaboration among non-urban firms and local public- and other private-sector actors, whereby they jointly strengthen the competitiveness of these firms? To answer this question, firms’ collaboration with local partner’s actors were examined. Most of the studied firms in this thesis are embedded in a regional “ecosystem” of a country (Sweden), with the usual set of public- and third-sector (not-for-profit) actors. Firms that “exploit” all their local external actors do create additional resources for themselves. This thesis argues that such fuller use is feasible and perhaps necessary in a non-urban Swedish context. The Resource-Based Theory (RBT) considers mainly internal firm resources to achieve superior performance. In order to extend this theory in the context of a non-urban area, collaborative excellence is advocated through informal public-private collaboration that can help firms to flourish economically. The collaboration between the public and the private sectors can also enhance a common spirit or identity of a place. Action Design Research (ADR) Methodology is invoked in this thesis, together with other supporting methods, such as interviews and observations as well as archival data analysis. The intervention was held as a set of workshops and has been used as a key research method at the same time. The results capture, amongst others, views from municipal management, private companies, and community (not-for-profit) associations. The essential aim of this research was to enhance the quality of the interactions among the key individuals from these organizations in their efforts to strengthen productive cooperation between the public and the private sectors. Informal public-private collaboration is important. Thus, more understanding of how such collaboration can be used effectively is paramount. This thesis shows that it is feasible to develop collaboration in a specific Swedish non-urban context when successful private firms and a municipality work well together with relevant, not-for-profit organizations that are also located in, and concerned with, the same region. Therefore, when addressing the competitive potential of a location, the quality of the informal public-private collaboration, should be considered. The abductive research approach of this study aims to offer an understanding of how informal collaboration between firms and local, non-commercial partners may take place, aiming for firms to flourish / <p>Nederländernas examen är endast doctor</p>

La consanguinité et l’hybridation sont deux processus génétiques pouvant avoir des effets antagonistes dans les élevages d’auxiliaires de lutte biologique. L’hybridation peut minimiser les risques de dépression de consanguinité (diminution de fitness des individus consanguins), et favoriser l’apparition de phénotypes avantageux. Bien que les mécanismes de la dépression de consanguinité et des conséquences de l’hybridation soient bien connus, très peu d’études ont été réalisées dans le cadre de la lutte biologique. Il convient d’évaluer les effets réels de la consanguinité et de l’hybridation sur la fitness des auxiliaires pour orienter les pratiques de l’industrie de la lutte biologique. Dans le cadre d’une collaboration public-privé, des données ont été produites sur les effets de la consanguinité chez les quatre auxiliaires Allotropa burrelli, Chrysoperla near comanche, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri et Macrolophus pygmaeus. La consanguinité a notamment provoqué une baisse de 30% du succès reproducteur chez M. pygmaeus. Une étude approfondie des conséquences de l’hybridation intra-spécifique a alors été réalisée en utilisant quatre populations de M. pygmaeus. Trois groupes génétiques séparés par un fort isolement reproducteur ont été mis en évidence. Néanmoins, un avantage de fitness pour les individus issus de croisements entre parents génétiquement distants a été mis en évidence au sein de chaque groupe génétique. Ce travail de thèse apporte des données utilisables à court-terme par les entreprises partenaires. Il contribue par ailleurs à créer un corpus de données pour mieux évaluer l’importance réelle des effets génétiques dans les élevages d’auxiliaires. / Inbreeding and hybridization are two genetic processes that may have antagonistic effects in biological control agents (BCAs) rearing. Hybridization can minimize the risk of inbreeding depression (decrease in fitness of inbred individuals), and favor the emergence of advantageous phenotypes. Although the mechanisms of inbreeding depression and the consequences of hybridization are well known, very few studies have been carried out in the context of biological control. The actual effects of inbreeding and hybridization on the fitness of BCAs should be assessed to guide the practices of the biocontrol industry. In a public-private collaboration, data were generated on the effects of inbreeding in the four BCAs Allotropa burrelli, Chrysoperla near comanche, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri and Macrolophus pygmaeus. Inbreeding resulted in a 30% decrease in reproductive success in M. pygmaeus. A thorough study of the consequences of intra-specific hybridization was then carried out using four populations of M. pygmaeus. Three genetic groups separated by strong reproductive isolation were identified. Nevertheless, a fitness advantage for individuals from crosses between genetically distant parents has been highlighted within each genetic group. This work brings data usable in the short term by the partner companies. It also helps to create a corpus of data to better evaluate the real importance of genetic effects in BCAs rearing.

The national curriculum and the School Act emphasize the importance of establishing partnerships between schools and local businesses. The formation of partnerships was expected to be facilitated by the decentralization reforms that took place in the beginning of the 1990’s. These reforms gave schools and municipalities greater scope for adjusting education to meet local circumstances. However, central government has not made financial resources available for stimulating the establishment of school-business partnerships, nor does it penalize municipalities that do not set up such partnerships. The questions in focus in this study are: why do partnerships arise, how are they organised and what factors are important in achieving a partnership which can function in practice? Urban regime theory is applied to explain why collaborations occur and policy network theory is used to analyse how they are organised. A further aim of the study is to examine whether the partnerships can be defined as urban regimes. The study was based on case studies of four upper secondary schools in Sweden, each in a different municipality. These municipalities are all industrialized, but the structure of their industrial base varies. Two are dominated by one or a few major companies whereas the others are characterized by the predominance of many small businesses. The study focuses on how three vocational study programmes – industry, electricity and building - collaborate with local businesses. The study shows that the main explanation of why a partnership arises is that both partners believe that they can gain something by collaborating. For schools, the main reason for establishing a partnership with business is a belief that this will make the vocational education programmes more attractive for pupils. Through partnerships, schools can get access not only to practical experience for their pupils, but also help from business with developing the content of courses and some financial contributions. However, the economic benefits are of limited importance compared with the perceived gains in terms of the development of the educational content of the courses. This goes against results from studies in other countries. For business, it is particularly important to be able to influence decisions about the content of local education. By doing so, they hope to ensure that the pupils, after having completed their education, will enter the local labour market with more relevant qualifications. My research shows that several requirements have to be present for a successful partnership to be established. First, there must be a commitment and firm intentions from both partners. Second, size of the businesses involved in the partnerships is important for how they are organized. Larger businesses tend to see the partnership from a more long term perspective. However, it is also possible to organize collaborations with smaller businesses if they can be united under a common organisation. Third, specific actors make a difference in the partnerships. Devoted and interested key actors who are closely associated with the partnership are very important for the continuity of the partnership The study suggests that urban regime theory and policy network theory are useful for understanding why and how partnerships between schools and businesses are established and retained. However, it can not be concluded that these collaborations in themselves are urban regimes at a more local level. This would require that their focus was much more long-term.